# You A Gifted? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 24, 2011, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859 "2011-08-24T03:17:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2011, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859/61 "2011-09-09T11:50:37Z")
> [@THE\_REAL\_GIFTED](#): > > Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter. At the end of the day, it’s what an individual identifies themselves with. I realize the incongruity of attempting to make a serious point in this thread, but I have to say that I see this sort of idea offered all the time, and it irritates me to no end. If a word can be redefined by everyone to mean whatever they want it to mean, then the word is literally meaningless. And since the word is meaningless, the title of this thread now has no more meaning than if it were “You A Fdsnal?” It’s such a wishy-washy way of avoiding responsibility. It’s basically saying “I don’t want to be the one to have to take a stand, because then I’ll have to defend it. So you do it for me, and I’ll just go along with it.” Like I say, I see this attitude a lot, and I don’t like it. Words have meanings. Accept it and defend it. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2011, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859/62 "2011-09-09T12:12:09Z")
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master that’s all.” Alice was too much puzzled to say anything, so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. “They’ve a temper, some of them—particularly verbs, they’re the proudest—adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs—however, I can manage the whole lot! Impenetrability! That’s what I say!” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859/63 "2011-09-09T14:39:05Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > And since the word is meaningless, the title of this thread now has no more meaning than if it were “You A Fdsnal?” I’m changing my user name to **THE\_REAL\_FDSNAL.** ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859/64 "2011-09-09T17:44:39Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > …the title of this thread now has no more meaning than if it were “You A Fdsnal?” OMG I thought I was the only one! Oh my people, stand up for we are beautiful! …and maybe gifted too! (Though I refuse to discuss my “package”, that is private.) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859/65 "2011-09-09T18:49:05Z")
> [@THE\_REAL\_GIFTED](#): > > I think I defined Gifted already, at least in this context. Intellectual Giftedness, Intellectually Gifted. > > Of the top of my head; Highly intelligent, highly creative, intense emotionally, energetic physically, rebellious to the status quo, idealistic, perfectionistic, asks why, wants to know how, likes to experience things, having many many interests— basically an almost overwhelming combinations of those things, but I’m sure I left out numerous factors. I know what I mean when I say I am “gifted” in a certain area, but what do _you_ mean when you capitalize the word? Are you defining it as something distinct from the common use of the word and if so, in what way? ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859/66 "2011-09-09T19:52:00Z")
> [@THE\_REAL\_GIFTED](#): > > Ha, I didn’t initially reply to all these informative posts because I saw it was deleted, but I appreciate that it was resurrected, which I just noticed now.{snip} I read your posts and think, “Is **T\_R\_G** trying to set us up to sell us something?” Bi-Polar Disorder and I have a more-than-nodding acquaintance and in trying to understand this disorder, I’ve heard and read about “Giftedness” and “Differently Inspired” and similar terms and I don’t buy the concept. It is entirely possible for someone with a mental illness to manage their condition through pharmacology and still be able to express their creativity in a satisfying way. The ability to actually finish an artistic work, as opposed to starting a project in manic glory, only to destroy it, half-finished, in depressed disillusionment, more than compensates the artist for any possible loss of anticipatory (over)eagerness and rapid flight of ideas. JMO and thanks for reading it. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859/67 "2011-09-10T02:32:26Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Oh, wait. There’s also my… skill at making toothpick models! You had sex with Twiggy? ---
**Author:** ![Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Full_Metal_Lotus)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859/68 "2011-09-10T09:07:38Z")
I is a gifted too. It good we all come together, make talk about tough life gifted hases. The ungifted, they no know the many pains of genius. When I a little boy, man who say he brain Dr make me wear helmet, my brain so gifted. He say many things, me special, me need safe enviroment for my gifted, so I not acidently eat paint again. The cat was my friend, but he went to happy cat land after he sleep and not wake up. Cheese is gifted with good eating taste. ---
**Author:** ![enigmatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@enigmatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enigmatic)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859/69 "2011-09-10T12:50:07Z")
I tend to assume that genuinely smart people don’t tend to get enthusiastic about being “gifted” because they have discovered that intelligence is much more limited in real world utility than most people seem to expect. Maybe some day I’ll be smart enough to test my theory 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859/70 "2011-09-10T13:14:15Z")
I a gifted. I left on doorstep in cardboard box. You bring back sad thoughts ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859/71 "2011-09-10T14:08:45Z")
Did all you gifted people send thank you notes? Shame on you! ---
**Author:** ![what\_do\_I\_type\_here](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a5b964/32.png) [@what\_do\_I\_type\_here](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/what_do_I_type_here)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859/72 "2011-09-10T16:02:17Z")
This is the weirdest god damn message board. ---
**Author:** ![THE\_REAL\_GIFTED](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e8c25b/32.png) [@THE\_REAL\_GIFTED](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/THE_REAL_GIFTED)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859/73 "2011-09-10T20:43:18Z")
When I said that there’s more where that came from, and I can’t edit the initial post, here are a couple more _Characteristics of Giftedness_ - Sensitivity - Remembering insults forever - Doing three things at once - Doing the outwardly foolish thing, taking up lost causes - Psychic - Interest in life and death - Driven to comprehend, complexity of understanding - Wanting to know the reasons and origins of things - Asks, “What is my purpose?” - Naive - Recognition of falsity, no “trophy friends” - Complexifying solutions - Finding non-conventional solutions, originality - Not motivated by extrinsic awards, discomfort with praise - Passionate - Undeterred by conventional expectations - Self taught, non-sequential learning - Need for precision - Recognition of unfairness, strong sense of justice - Making intuitive leaps, making logical projections - Noticing what no one else does - Manipulation and bargaining - Make and follow their own plans, less teachable - Devise practical experiments to see “What if?” - Saying, “Actually” - Large vocabulary, love of big words - Delayed in toilet training, difficulty in separating from mom - Early sense of responsibility - Not wanting to grow up and face the world - Less physical risk-taking - Zipping through Piagetian stages - Friends of both genders, later sexual interests - Abstract thinkers before having the emotional ability to handle it - Symbolic thinkers - Can animate their fears, powerful emotional imagination You can either take my word for it, or check [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/ThisIsMyGIFTED?sk=info) Not to mention that this list was PhD compiled, but I have a feeling that someone would like a source for this information, because Google searching for it was too much work. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859/74 "2011-09-10T20:47:36Z")
I like to think of “can animate their fears” as, like, creating an army of fear-golems. That would be hella awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859/75 "2011-09-10T21:01:09Z")
> [@THE\_REAL\_GIFTED](#): > > When I said that there’s more where that came from, and I can’t edit the initial post, here are a couple more _Characteristics of Giftedness_ > > - Sensitivity > - Remembering insults forever > - Doing three things at once > - Doing the outwardly foolish thing, taking up lost causes > - Psychic > - Interest in life and death > - Driven to comprehend, complexity of understanding > - Wanting to know the reasons and origins of things > - Asks, “What is my purpose?” > - Naive > - Recognition of falsity, no “trophy friends” > - Complexifying solutions > - Finding non-conventional solutions, originality > - Not motivated by extrinsic awards, discomfort with praise > - Passionate > - Undeterred by conventional expectations > - Self taught, non-sequential learning > - Need for precision > - Recognition of unfairness, strong sense of justice > - Making intuitive leaps, making logical projections > - Noticing what no one else does > - Manipulation and bargaining > - Make and follow their own plans, less teachable > - Devise practical experiments to see “What if?” > - Saying, “Actually” > - Large vocabulary, love of big words > - Delayed in toilet training, difficulty in separating from mom > - Early sense of responsibility > - Not wanting to grow up and face the world > - Less physical risk-taking > - Zipping through Piagetian stages > - Friends of both genders, later sexual interests > - Abstract thinkers before having the emotional ability to handle it > - Symbolic thinkers > - Can animate their fears, powerful emotional imagination > > You can either take my word for it, or check [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/ThisIsMyGIFTED?sk=info) > > Not to mention that this list was PhD compiled, but I have a feeling that someone would like a source for this information, because Google searching for it was too much work. Your Facebook page is your cite? _Really?_ If you don’t start responding directly to queries posted in this thread, I will shut it down. No more cut-and-paste lists. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859/76 "2011-09-10T21:02:52Z")
I noticed, “Can communicate coherently to others” isn’t on the list, not to mention, “understands grammar”. ---
**Author:** ![THE\_REAL\_GIFTED](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e8c25b/32.png) [@THE\_REAL\_GIFTED](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/THE_REAL_GIFTED)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859/77 "2011-09-10T21:10:25Z")
Ha, this is a great thread, as Intellectually Gifted individuals can attest to the number of sarcastic comments about the topic. As if we haven’t heard these before. > [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > If it takes a psychologist or therapist to tell you that you are gifted, then you ain’t fucking gifted. I take the f bomb sarcastically, but psychologically this is a misunderstanding of Giftedness, and a classic factor in the misdiagnosis of Gifted individuals. And Psychologists and/or therapists aren’t the be all end all, but second & third opinions are better indications. > [@](#): > > Originally Posted by **OneMissedPost** > Who decides whether or not people are gifted? > > Define gifted. To be fair, I already defined the context of the word in this post, Gifted as in Intellectually Gifted. > [@Smeghead](#): > > I realize the incongruity of attempting to make a serious point in this thread, but I have to say that I see this sort of idea offered all the time, and it irritates me to no end. If a word can be redefined by everyone to mean whatever they want it to mean, then the word is literally meaningless. And since the word is meaningless, the title of this thread now has no more meaning than if it were “You A Fdsnal?” > > It’s such a wishy-washy way of avoiding responsibility. It’s basically saying “I don’t want to be the one to have to take a stand, because then I’ll have to defend it. So you do it for me, and I’ll just go along with it.” Like I say, I see this attitude a lot, and I don’t like it. Words have meanings. Accept it and defend it. OK. Well for one, Intellectually Gifted Individuals are able to entertain that very idea without having to accept it. Funny enough, the word “Gifted” is one of those words redefined by everyone else to mean whatever they want it to mean, [https://twitter.com/#!/search/Gifted](https://twitter.com/#!/search/Gifted) I’m avoiding responsibility because I don’t want to be seen as the authoritative figure in this discussion. But if it’s put on me straight up like that, then I’ll gladly play that game. Well, Ican tell if you’re Gifted, ahem Intellectually Gifted, based on my background and experience in the niche field of Intellectual Giftedness. But, if not me, “Who decides whether or not people are gifted?” Psychologists, therapists, educators, authors. They’re not the be all end all, but they have concepts of what Intellectual Giftedness is. But by all means, free to start a thread titled You A Fdsnal? > [@Czarcasm](#): > > I know what I mean when I say I am “gifted” in a certain area, but what do _you_ mean when you capitalize the word? Are you defining it as something distinct from the common use of the word and if so, in what way? I think it may just be semantics in my typing, but in your context: “gifted in baseball, gifted in speech, gifted in sales” versus “Gifted is being good at everything”. Basically, capitalized Gifted refers to the term Intellectually Gifted as a field of Human Intelligence. > [@Toucanna](#): > > I read your posts and think, “Is **T\_R\_G** trying to set us up to sell us something?” > > Bi-Polar Disorder and I have a more-than-nodding acquaintance and in trying to understand this disorder, I’ve heard and read about “Giftedness” and “Differently Inspired” and similar terms and I don’t buy the concept. It is entirely possible for someone with a mental illness to manage their condition through pharmacology and still be able to express their creativity in a satisfying way. > > The ability to actually finish an artistic work, as opposed to starting a project in manic glory, only to destroy it, half-finished, in depressed disillusionment, more than compensates the artist for any possible loss of anticipatory (over)eagerness and rapid flight of ideas. > > JMO and thanks for reading it. Did you really mean “sell” or “tell”? Sell as a product / spam, or sell as in an idea? I’m just trying to understand why the post was deleted/flagged in the first place, but selling an idea may be the reasoning I guess. Well, just to let you know, Bi-Polar & Giftedness are somewhat common, and if one is both Bi-Polar & Intellectually Gifted, the term would be Twice Exceptional. And in other cases, Bi-Polar may be a misdiagnosis of Intellectual Giftedness. > [@enigmatic](#): > > I tend to assume that genuinely smart people don’t tend to get enthusiastic about being “gifted” because they have discovered that intelligence is much more limited in real world utility than most people seem to expect. > > Maybe some day I’ll be smart enough to test my theory 😛 I’d say that’s part stereotype and part stigma. Fortunately, I now have a grasp of what the both the stereotype and stigma part means, which is why I’m “enthusiastic about being “Gifted”” > [@what\_do\_I\_type\_here](#): > > This is the weirdest god damn message board. It’s not weird, it’s gifted! See what I did there. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859/78 "2011-09-10T21:11:44Z")
> [@Toucanna](#): > > The ability to actually finish an artistic work, as opposed to starting a project in manic glory, only to destroy it, half-finished, in depressed disillusionment, more than compensates the artist for any possible loss of anticipatory (over)eagerness and rapid flight of ideas. Oh, I’ve known way too many people like that. There’s a real pattern to it. Here we go again, complete with the heavy rationalization about how the lack of any actual achievement, blathering loghorrea, grandiosity unbacked by any objective standard, complete lack of literacy, and possession of objectively-aberrant behavior traits are the VERY PROOF of the extreme giftedness. You know, more than occasionally the mods around here shut down threads I find interesting just on grounds that they’re played out. Then they let something like this abortion of a thread linger on for days. I don’t get it either. ---
**Author:** ![THE\_REAL\_GIFTED](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e8c25b/32.png) [@THE\_REAL\_GIFTED](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/THE_REAL_GIFTED)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859/79 "2011-09-10T21:14:13Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Your Facebook page is your cite? _Really?_ > If you don’t start responding directly to queries posted in this thread, I will shut it down. No more cut-and-paste lists. Seriously? Attacking me without giving me the time to respond? Why no more cut-and-paste lists? Or do I need to cite the cut-and-paste? [http://giftedforlife.com/1401/characteristics-of-giftedness/](http://giftedforlife.com/1401/characteristics-of-giftedness/) There, that citation good enough? Because it isn’t my site, and there are dozens more where that came from. Or as I said, one could just Google it and find links that state that this isn’t coming out of my ass. Or maybe I should contact Betty Maxwell, Ph.D. to bless this thread? ---
**Author:** ![THE\_REAL\_GIFTED](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e8c25b/32.png) [@THE\_REAL\_GIFTED](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/THE_REAL_GIFTED)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859/80 "2011-09-10T21:17:19Z")
Well, I did start this thread because it really is just In My Humble Opinion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-a-gifted/593859.md?page=5)