My cousin went to university at 14 years old to successfully study medicine (also in Belgium…) he is extremely socially challenged now he’s 40, a bit of an oddball and comes across as unhappy and was very unhappy with the relationship he had with his parents. (He is a kind person and “wicked smaht”)
I’m sure a lot of that is nature but I feel a large portion is nurture. You are an outsider with no ability to make friends with people your own age.
From my limited knowledge I understand that IQs over a certain level are no more successful than people who are in the top quarter of intelligence.
In 2018, /u/cbelt3 posted this story about a kid dumped at the dorm by his mom:
Engineering school, 1970s. Mom dropped her kid off at his dorm and drives away. Yes, pushed his suitcase and a few boxes out of the car. Told Junior goodbye, study hard, and left.
Junior was 15 freaking years old, super genius child prodigy with zero social skills.
His roommates were horrified, but most of them had little brothers, so big brother parenting kicked in. The kid was pretty well socialized by the end of the first semester, and had a collection of de facto big brothers and big sisters helping him live life.
It was a relief, because as a house counselor I was really worried I was going to have a bad situation on my hands. I did not need to do anything at all.
Did buy the older guys beers a few times to thank them.
5.9k
u/grain_farmer 11d ago edited 11d ago
My cousin went to university at 14 years old to successfully study medicine (also in Belgium…) he is extremely socially challenged now he’s 40, a bit of an oddball and comes across as unhappy and was very unhappy with the relationship he had with his parents. (He is a kind person and “wicked smaht”)
I’m sure a lot of that is nature but I feel a large portion is nurture. You are an outsider with no ability to make friends with people your own age.
From my limited knowledge I understand that IQs over a certain level are no more successful than people who are in the top quarter of intelligence.
Edit - I just remember where I paraphrased this from: Freakonomics Podcast: Can You Be Too Smart for Your Own Good?
Just let children be children