Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Frustration with 'seeing more' than most everybody

Since this is a gifted issues forum, I hope I am not the only one who feels burnt out/frustrated with the cognitive dynamic of having a deeper understanding of the world around me than most anyone I have in my life (ok, I confess- it's everyone). It took me until my early 30's to revise my good-faith assumption that many other people in society were just as capable as I at comprehending/understanding the things that happen to us and which are around us in society, the world, etc.

But it would seem, over and over again, that they do not.

Now, tell me if I am off here in my summing up of 'objective reality': Every single thing that we observe in life is part of a vast web of potential inter-relatedness, meaning- nothing is B&W, the answers to many questions need to be prefaced with "it depends", and any given issue is necessarily complex in it's make up (in terms of the hows and whys). Once I said to someone I knew who was also highly gifted- "Ok, tell me if you agree- just look at anything around us, and could you see each thing as having a (figurative)little 'meter' floating next to it representing 1-100? The numbers representing the degree to which each figures importance-wise into your current situation?" She immediately said "YES!" as if she had thought she was the only one to think so, and had found a long lost relative.

Ok, where I am going with this is- most people not only do not see the world as populated by complex webs of situation-relative relationships (a tall order, I know!), but they more often than not see the world in a linear, over-simple and (to me) unimaginative fashion that taxes my faith in my fellow people, at times at least.

Am I the only one here?

"Complex webs of situation-relative relationships"

Please elaborate, or give examples.

I'm not highly gifted, but I am trying to understand. ;D

No, your not the only one. But people as a general rule do like simplicity, so it can be hard.

Keeping looking for your crowd. There are others like you out there.

No you are not alone. Though I lack the ability to articulate the complex webs of inter-relation that often overwhelm me and generally just look stupid or crazy. Or both.

Hmm, I have no idea if I know what you three are talking about, but for me -

First, I recognize that everything is connected and that there are many, many layers of "Truth." I really got into analyzing this deeply somewhere between 12 and 19 years old. Then I just accepted it and shoved it to the back of my mind, because I can't deal with all those stupid layers of Truth. I'd be permanently unable to make decisions if I pay too much attention to it. If I feel like going there, I like to read philosophy / spiritual stuff / cultural critiques, etc., from many different points of view.
(Edit: Ok, no, not 100% true. I do manage several layers of Truth quite well, I just don't acknowledge all of them at the same time.)

I was going to post earlier that I often feel overwhelmed and put "blinders" on. I very very selectively let things through. If I were to go somewhere, completely open and noticing everything around me, I think I would just experience sensory overload. I experience this even in a grocery store. I used to go on walks on a nature trail and that is the only place I could be "open".

That is for real world sensory experiences. For subjects I am ruminating over (or just learning for the first time), I also sometimes feel overwhelmed. I imagine a giant puzzle in my head... all the pieces are made up of all these different things that I know about or understand and I can see that all of these things are connected - It is like....the puzzle is a giant map, and suddenly all the connecting roads become illuminated and I can see how everything goes together.

Sometimes I can't quite decipher what I'm looking at - I just know I've made some new connections. Other times, that road suddenly jumps up at me and OH MY GOD I get so excited when that happens. It is like the amazing feeling I get when I hit a perfect, extremely complicated run while singing, or like the first time I read in English or Spanish and really read it and understood (yes, I still remember how it felt when I "unlocked" reading in English.)

Anyway, that is my mental world lol

I think this applies to math, too. I specifically remember understanding algebra and calculus. Once you get the underlying unifying idea, the pieces naturally fall into place.

I think it's a feature of reality.

Yeah. I can relate to the feeling of seeing the world in a more complex light than others . . .
We humans do tend to have a cognitive bias towards viewing others as experiencing life in the same way that they do. A couple of years ago I, likewise, realized that the vast majority of others experience life with less intensity and complexity than I do - for me this realization was exciting, embarrassing, and encumbering - depending on my mood. That being said, I've found that, at times, deliberately focusing on what I have in common with others can help me to be more empathetic and less lonesome.
I read somewhere that it is important for gifted people to have friends (especially other gifted friends) who have many different perspectives/talents/lifestyles � though building these relationships is perhaps easier said than done.

As far as black and white thinking goes � that drives me nuts too. I actually have done some research on dialectical thinking � which, in psychology, seems to mean basically the opposite of black-and-white thinking. I know that in the East people have been shown to think more dialectically and in less simplistic terms (your description of reality as a web of interconnectedness is often used as a brief description of the Buddhist worldview). As someone who tends to see reality in shades of gray, I�ve really enjoyed spending time with people who are part of the Asian culture. Many scholars suggest that Socrates� (or Aristotle or one of the three, I can�t remember ATM) influence on Western thought is to blame for the Western tendency to see the world in terms of good or evil, right or wrong, and black or white.

Although black-and-white thinking has been shown to correlate with melancholy, black-and-white reasoning may be helpful in solving material problems � that is, in developing technology. For example, Louie Pasteur didn�t start with the hypothesis that fermentation is usually caused by microorganisms. Likewise, the explosion of modern medical technology that followed his discovery was not likely precipitated by a common belief that infectious disease is often caused by Pasteur�s microorganisms. Although I am fond of Eastern philosophy, I must admit that most scientific and technological progress was not made in the East.

Any who, sorry for my meandering reply. I�m glad that I�m not the only one who thinks of such things.

-Cory

I go for the both/and approach.

There is good and there is evil and everything is interconnected.

Just because there is lots of grey doesn't mean that you can simply ignore the black and white.

The whole sentiment of seeing the world in a more complex manner than most is like saying you are one of the few who see the trees in a forest.

Imagine how Benoit Mandelbrot felt when he "discovered" fractal geometry and they told him it wasn't "real math".

Hunting The Hidden Dimension

The Middle East / Arabs played a rather large part in adding to our knowledge about Mathematics and Science, and they also preserved a lot of knowledge while Western Culture worked its way through some dark ages. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Golden_Age

Also, I think progress has been made in the East. The Chinese, for instance, invented gunpowder and many other impressive things, long before we invented or started using the same. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_inventions

I don't think our schools like to give credit to anyone else. I used to think our culture was more progressive / creative / advanced also, until I was majoring in History in college.


I do agree with some of the other stuff you said, and I think that might be why DH and I gravitate toward Buddhist type spirituality.