Curse of the High IQ by Aaron Clarey was a really interesting take on how high IQ people suffer and are forced to fit into a society of average and sometimes even dumb citizens. I posted something on Twitter a couple weeks back and somebody replied, "You have to read this book, Curse of the High IQ by Aaron Clarey".
The title intrigued me so I took a quick look, liked what I seen and bought the Kindle version on Amazon for $6.49. Money well spent as far as I'm concerned.
So I rarely consider myself the smartest guy in the room. My friends tell me I'm smart, I get that a lot. In school I remember testing above average. My family tells me I'm smart, but they sort of have to. My point is, I'm not sure if I'm high IQ, or just high 🤣 but a lot of this book really resonated with me!
This book takes a look at High IQ people problems and the way their lives are affected by living in a world of "average" people.
Taken from page 15:
"The purpose of this book is to identify, explain, and provide solutions to the problems that are inherent in having a high IQ."
At times the author does come off a little pompous, but I get it. I've been reading a lot lately, trying to figure out why the world is the way it is. This book made the most sense of anything I've read recently.
Honestly, the world is being run by average people at best. They're put in power by "average" people who elect them. Let's face it, at least in my country, I have a hard time believing our best and brightest are running things. Frankly, "average" is me trying to be kind when it comes to the people in charge. Not to mention a good portion of the average people that voted for them have no interest in politics and vote based on a few social media posts, a tv commercial, a mailed flyer, or gasp, simply by party affiliation.
And so it is with everything. The average people running things, make rules for the average people that elected them. They create average laws, with an average educational system that indoctrinates us into a future life of averageness in an average society. 99.99% of us will be forgotten within two or three generations and never leave our mark on this planet. That's a cold hard fact! Take that fact checkers!
By the time we get out of school, we're now placed in average jobs with average bosses and you guessed it, average employees and the entire cycle continues until death. Somewhere in the process, true genius is either destroyed, beat down, or conforms to the averageness of the society around it. Some may even choose to simply drop out of society when they realize how idiotic it has all become. A few true geniuses will make it through and stand out, but most of those people will fight a constant uphill battle against the averageness around them.
It comes off a bit harsh but that's really what I took from this book. The book then goes on about many obstacles truly smart people will face. They'll probably pay higher taxes, because they have a better job. Finding a mate of equal intelligence is also a challenge. Drug use and alcoholism statistics for above average people was interesting. Depression was another issue covered.
I found the authors thoughts on our "average" school systems extremely interesting. I've said for years that our schools are out dated now. Teachers have verbally regurgitated the most interesting topics for decades now and somehow continue to make them boring, dull and mundane. Even the brightest of students have a hard time keeping their eyes open in class.
Seriously, I've never given much thought to the problems truly smart people face in our society. This book talks about all that and does a pretty thorough job of covering everything from education, family life, friends, employment, and mental health.
Again, I'm no genius, but towards the end of the book the author talks about boredom and the need for distraction in old age. That cracked me up, because I could relate. Like me, the author rides motorcycles and I'm a bit envious of his distance riding adventures. Like him, I find growing old a bore and will probably distance ride until the day I can no longer get my leg up over the seat or pick it up when it falls over. I get it though, it's a distraction and filler for other things lacking in my personal life.
Anyway, I enjoyed this book a lot. I didn't agree with everything, but it's an interesting take on the perils high IQ people face in life. At the very least I found it entertaining and thought provoking. There were many points of view I had never taken into consideration in the past. I do like when a book makes you step out of your comfort zone and look at something in a completely different light!
Personally, I thought this was a good read for people of all intelligence levels 🤣 At the very least, it's an interesting concept and you'll probably walk away looking at a lot of things in life differently. Also, if you're really smart and find yourself depressed and miserable, this just might be the perfect book for you. It could really open your eyes to why you feel like that. Anyway, I'm happy to have this added to my Kindle collection.