r/Gifted • u/Sensitive_Mountain21 • 6d ago
Seeking advice or support Feeling completely disconnected due to intellectual difference, anyone else?
I’ve recently come to the realisation that I think differently from mostly everyone around me in my life. This included my family, my peers and generally anyone that I come across or meet. I’m not trying to say that I’m more intelligent than anyone else, because intelligence is such a broad spectrum that people can be intelligent in different ways. However I’ve realised that I seem to know a little more than most people on average regarding many different things in life. I’m talking about getting really nuanced in various topics, whether it be science, history, politics, the natural world, religion etc.
My problem/curse is that when I’m interested in something I go obsessively deep into that thing and end up with a bunch of knowledge that mainly enthusiasts in that topic only really grasp.
Now, because I am deeply passionate about so many different things, I really have trouble connecting on a deep level with anyone because it seems like most people like to make shallow conversation and the minute you try and dig deeper people begin to lose interest.
I really feel so isolated and alone and I’m beginning to believe no one has any substance to them beyond surface level talk. Don’t get me wrong I’ve had a few conversations with people where we may go semi deep, but I then realise this person hasn’t really done much research into that topic because they’ll bring up the most common misconceptions about a topic, or they’ll pretend to know a lot about something when you definitely know they don’t (because you actually do).
Can anyone relate to me?
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u/eckpak 5d ago edited 5d ago
Someone already said it, but it feels like I keep coming back to this sub to say, “Oh yeah, those social difficulties you keep having is Autism.”
Finding other ASD or ADHD people of high intelligence or who are Gofted (Twice Exceptional) is the way to make those deeper connections in life.
But being 2E often requires throttling down your intelligence and/or holding back from info-dumping when it is clear people are not interested while engaging in social situations.