I would not be surprised if increased intelligence was implicated in a neurophysiological trade off with mental health, but the most obvious handicaps of high intelligence come from being in a social environment of lower general intelligence, optimized for lower intelligence.
Location and age cohort based education is designed for the center of the bell curve at the expense of the tails in about every way imaginable. It's a bad fit socially, because large discrepancies in intelligence makes for difficulty in relating. It's crippling intellectually, because beyond being bored to tears, you're not learning how to control and drive yourself toward goals, which is the fundamental skill to be developed in your youth.
Happily, as in a great many things, a first world youngling smarty pants of today has it so much better. Access to all the world's information, access to online training in all the worlds information, and access to smart people who will interact with you.
You know what I had? An encyclopedia! And I was lucky to have it.
Once you're older, self segregation gets easier to accomplish, both socially and professionally, and it makes a difference. People like people like themselves. Smart people will hire you because you're smart, and not so smart people won't hire you because you're smart.
Location and age cohort based education is designed for the center of the bell curve at the expense of the tails in about every way imaginable. It's a bad fit socially, because large discrepancies in intelligence makes for difficulty in relating. It's crippling intellectually, because beyond being bored to tears, you're not learning how to control and drive yourself toward goals, which is the fundamental skill to be developed in your youth.
I went to an elementary school for gifted children, so all of my classmates had above-average intelligence, and we ...
“Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.” ― Ernest Hemingway, The Garden of Eden see here
Did you know The surprising downsides of being clever? Is Happiness And Intelligence: Rare Combination? There are longitudinal studies which seem to imply this: Being Labeled as Gifted, Self-appraisal, and Psychological Well-being: A Life Span Developmental Perspective
I found these via slashdot.
As LessWrong is harbor to unusually high-IQ people (see section B in here). I wonder how happiness compares to the mean. What are your thoughts.