Book Review: Curse of the High IQ by Aaron Clarey
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.
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Good review. This seems like good food for brain and Amazon's recommendation algorithms. I may have stuff to read for some time.
It really made me think! I'd even go so far to say, this may have been one my best reads of 2022 so far.
It was a good read. The author writes good books. I also finished The Menu released last month and now I finally picked, as recommended by the author, The Subtle Art of not Giving a F'ck by Mark Manson. Rich Dad Poor Dad probably next.
Good review. I will read this book later
If you do, please post another comment and let me know what you thought! Cheers
Having worked with a genius entrepreneur who had a difficult time with the laziness and lack of understanding of others, I can see the point. He was a very giving man who was patient and helpful to those who put forth an effort. He was not forgiving toward those who refused to try.
He always told me, "People are stupid because they're lazy." The older I get the more I see his point. People are given the information in plain language, but then email and ask the question that's answered right in front of their eyes. In our case, we started referring them to the same document with the information spelled out clearly, except via a web page link, where we put that same document. Still, they couldn't see it right in front of them, because they were too lazy to read it. I would say that having it in a video would help, be we had those, too. It didn't help, they wouldn't listen (they would hear, but not listen).
I'm definitely not a genius. I'm in my 60's and I still want to learn. After homeschooling my four children, I realize the best you can do for children is to teach them to read, teach them some math (especially how to care for their finances), show them how to learn on their own, and to keep the love of learning. They will be set for life if they find their passion and learn what they need so they can excel.
Maybe I'll carve out some time to get this book read. Sounds interesting.
Thanks for reading the review and this awesome comment!
I think laziness is a huge factor with a lot of people. I've worked in upper management positions and it really is incredible how you have to spoon feed things to the average person. My boss would always tell me, "Write it out like you're trying to explain it to a 6 year old" 🤣
He had a point though, and it did help. Video always helps too. I personally find myself looking to Youtube for DIY stuff before reading how to do it. It's just easier IHMO. It's also very lazy on my part 😄
This is so true! Instead of being indoctrinated into a system, we should be encouraged to find our passion at a young age and then taught to pursue it! So many people, would be so much happier in their future years!
Hope you get a chance to read the book, I think you'd enjoy it!
No, thank you for posting the review! It makes complete sense when it reminded me of how people are. I really think this is a more recent thing, since when I was growing up, you didn't see as much laziness and lack of understanding you do now. But I see it getting worse every year. Maybe that's what "education" has done for us - it taught us the wrong thing. Learning (self-learning, especially) is better. Yes, a good teacher can help, but unless you apply yourself, you'll just spit out what someone said to you.
I recently found this book recommendation when I scrolled twitter too. Since now I am seeing more than 4 people mentioning this, I should really give it a try. I've never seen a high IQ as a gift, in fact curse is probably something I'd agree on. My parents were so obsessed with IQ that when they know my score, they told everyone about it and put so much pressure on me. Later in life, I discovered a term, "gifted kid burnout" which I guess relates with high IQ becoming a curse. You know, maybe this book will add some more perspective.
I seen a few other recommendations for this book also. I thought it was a terrific read and really made a lot of sense. The author also describes high IQ as more of a curse than a gift. Plus the title 😆
Based on that, I would absolutely make some time to read this. That's really what this book was about. It just puts in writing what you probably already know but needed reinforced in your mind anyway. At the very least, you'll probably walk away with a better understanding of your feelings and also feeling a little better about things because you'll understand more fully why you feel that way.
I remember watching a couple of videos from Jordan Peterson discussing some interesting and even controversial facts about IQ. Personally, I haven't read much about IQ except for the fact it is genetically distributed following the bell curve model.
There was also another guy that got canceled in the social media purge post the 2016 election called Stefan Molyneux who also created a lot of videos about this topic.
I haven't read this book but I will save its name in case it interests me some time in the future.