And ... I'm back. Now you'll have to accept my apologies as this is fairly self indulgent, but only to illustrate my point.
There is a fair whack of 'giftedness' in my family, some tested and some not. Those who have been tested were tested back with the SB L-M, with scores in the 165+ range. And yet they are as a whole largely unsuccessful (bar one or two exceptions). When I say unsuccessful I'm not talking about it in the context of not earning loads of cash (though they certainly haven't), I'm talking about not having terribly satisfying lives in general. And to a large extent feeling that they never lived up to their potential (which, if you look at it from the perspective of what they 'could' have achieved - being aware that 'could' and 'would' and even 'should' are all very different things - they have not).
In fact, in many ways, I - who never realised my own potential until I had my HG+ dd, have been the most successful (if the definition is a happy and fulfilled life), even if that state has only been found recently. This is despite what can only be described generously as a 'difficult' childhood.
I have long pondered how this could be. How could these educated, articulate and respected people feel this way. Sure, they can recite Shakespeare and do complicated equations in their heads (none of which I learnt to do), but how do they miss the connections between things that I see? They see - to use JamieH's line in another post - a lot of leaves, few trees and no forest. It's almost like they're stuck. And yet they're super smart.
What my unsatisfied family lack, I suspect, is the thoughtfulness you describe (and to a lesser extent the creativity). Thoughtfulness (as per your definition), I have in abundance. I often think it was this aspect of my giftedness (now given a name - thanks!) that allowed me to move beyond my circumstances - or perhaps my circumstances allowed it to develop. It allows for adaptability and resourcefulness and the possibility to combine ideas, which for me creates a kind of tidal wave of implications that can be seemingly endless. I think that idea of being open to new ideas and open to being wrong are what my family don't possess. They wear their intelligence like a shield that can not be penetrated. Anything that doesn't fit is justified away. It's a trait I see with many professionally 'smart' people I know (and in many case love - so I don't mean to be harsh and obviously I'm generalising) - academics, doctors, lawyers etc. Many of whom don't seem to feel they've done enough with their potential either.
Now, I have the thoughtfulness but possibly not the same extreme IQ as some of my family (though I'd hazard a guess I'm above normal), and I don't score terribly well on creativity tests. This causes a block for me I think, where I ride this ocean in my head but don't have a way of giving it a form or an outlet (yet! - I like to think of my thinking as a work in progress!) So when you talk about needing them all for that unprecedented ability to be realised, I completely get it.
Now, I am conscious my very odd family is hardly a good sample, and I may have completely re-interpreted your comments for my own use (this is what thoughtfulness gets you, endless caveats!), in which case I apologise. But it was great food for thought for me
