Originally Posted by CCN
I think cognitive giftedness is threatening to people. No one likes to feel stupid.

This. I've seen survey results where people are self-assessed at above-average intelligence at a rate of 85%. The same rate would probably be true if they were asked if they were better than average looking, funnier than average, etc. People often have an ability to construct a self-identity that looks very little like the one they present to the outside observer.

This self-identity becomes something like a religious belief, so if you challenge that identity, you might as well have peed on their church/temple/mosque/other. It's not a good way to make friends and influence people.