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Comment by floatingatoll | Hacker News Reader

I would never in a million years wish upon another human being the degree of suffering that having a turbocharged brain has caused me throughout my life. Seeing people chase this is like watching a slow motion train wreck. I can think of no more effective way to reduce happiness, success, and human connection. It’s a lonely and distant place to be. Nothing is worth this price. Don’t pay it.

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What? It's completely possible to be smart and still be able to relate and connect to other people. Your intelligence isn't what's isolating you, it's your mindset. I used to think this way when I was younger and it's incredibly unhealthy.

I've generally found that the most intelligent people have had overall delightful dispositions, and it's the above-average-intelligence folks who, being obsessed with smartness, are far less happy.

I think you'll find that only a smallish subset of above average intelligence folk are obsessed with smartness. Those are probably the less happy ones.

You should read up on some history. The most intelligent people ( newton, einstein, etc ) were far from being delightful people with delightful dispositions and far from being happy.

Just from the other day, "A study of ethicists finds they’re no more ethical than the rest of us".

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19529374

I think people are simply people, no matter how smart or educated they are. Prone to jealousy, pettiness and subject to all of human pitfalls. Of course the smarter and more educated you are, the more damage you can cause.

>> Nothing is worth this price. Don’t pay it.

I hesitate to pass judgement on another's life choices. Some people want to do certain things and are willing to sacrifice everything, including their own happiness, to do that thing. If you want to be an astronaut, if you want to win an Olympic medal, you will sacrifice. If this drug allows a person to pass a test, to win a position that they otherwise would not, who am I to deny them?

Try spending time with military pilots, astronauts or elite mountain climbers. They can be very nice people, until you get between them and work. Don't ask an astronaut to delay a flight for a wedding, or to donate a kidney. Every one of them would take this drug if that allowed them to beat out the competition. Happiness, theirs or anyone else's, is secondary.

Intellectually humble people tend to possess more knowledge, study finds -- Psypost 31/03/2019

https://www.psypost.org/2019/03/intellectually-humble-people...

I don't think the issue is intelligence but how were you raised and what values were emphasized by your parents.

'You are smart!' is one of the worst things you can say to your children. It places their own self image on a dependency of results in an ever increasing difficulty of tests.

'You did a great job this time! I hope you enjoyed the challenge!' places their own self image on their effort, not on the results.

It seems a small change, but the resulting mindset could not be more different.

You can mentally train your way out of that. For instance, some monks can generate gamma waves off of the proverbial charts when doing a compassion meditation. For the more cerebral aspects of self-inflicted suffering and with a lower barrier to entry, cognitive behavior therapy should yield some results.

If everyone had it then most of those problems would go away no?

There are a full complement of problems that have nothing to do with other people. For example, imagine never being able to rest your mind again, no matter how intense the leisure, no matter how strong the intoxicants, no matter how tiring your thoughts. Sleep isn’t restful either. Most people would crack in 30 days or less.

How specifically is your brain "turbocharged"? Is this something you have been diagnosed with? Have you always had it? Is it hereditary? Why do you think most other people would not be able to cope with this condition? Has this condition conferred any advantages such as professional success?

I think most people would not be able to cope because they undervalue the importance to their self and sanity of brain downtime: daydreaming (and idle websurfing), zoning out (and intoxication), and sleeping (and dreaming).

are you turbocharged or just suffering severe insomnia and anxiety?

The first diagnosis was at 18 months old, so I’m not sure how to answer the question as framed since I don’t have clear memories from that time.

You were diagnosed with having a turbocharged brain as a toddler?

That happened.

They were composing their first Reddit post as they came through the birth canal.

"I....I'm sorry to inform you, your baby has a turbo-charged brain" sobs burst out

/r/iamverysmart

Please don't do this here.

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