[Hdier]

I am officially gifted, and I was wondering how many other INTJ's are to. Remember that gifted does not mean smart, so here is a link to the wiki:
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Here are some of the characteristics:

Generally, gifted individuals learn more quickly, deeply, and broadly than their peers. Gifted children may learn to read early and operate at the same level as normal children who are significantly older. The gifted tend to demonstrate high reasoning ability, creativity, curiosity, a large vocabulary, and an excellent memory. They often can master concepts with few repetitions. They may also be physically and emotionally sensitive, perfectionistic, and may frequently question authority. Some have trouble relating to or communicating with their peers because of disparities in vocabulary size (especially in the early years), personality, and interests. As children, they may prefer the company of older children or adults.[4] Giftedness is frequently not evenly distributed throughout all intellectual spheres: an individual may excel in solving logic problems and yet be a poor speller; another gifted individual may be able to read and write at a far above average level and yet have trouble with mathematics. It is possible there are different types of giftedness with their own unique features, just as there are different types of developmental delay. Some gifted individuals experience heightened sensory awareness and may seem overly sensitive to sight, sound, smell and touch. For example, they may be extremely uncomfortable when they have a wrinkle in their sock, or unable to concentrate because of the sound of a clock ticking on the other side of the room. Hypersensitivity to external stimuli can be said to resemble a proneness to "sensory overload", which can cause persons to avoid chaotic and crowded environments. Others, however, are able to tune out any unwanted distractions as they focus on a task or on their own thoughts, and seem to seek and thrive on being in the midst of lots of activity and stimulation. In many cases, awareness may fluctuate between conditions of hyperstimulation and of withdrawal. These conditions may appear to be similar to symptoms of hyperactivity, bipolar disorder, autism-spectrum conditions, and other psychological disorders, but are often explained by gifted education professionals by reference to Kazimierz Dabrowski's theory of Positive Disintegration. [5]

[binofhay]

How does one become officially gifted? Does this involve some sort of certificate from a shrink?

[Max T]

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If our responses to that IQ thread, where many INTJs rated themselves above the forum's average IQ, is anything to go by...

... then I can suspect what the typical answer to this will be!

(And that deduction only required an average forum member's IQ)
:-)

[rocksteady]

I suspect gifted is just another way of saying INTJ
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[Hdier]

Sorry, when I say officially gifted I mean that I was given a test in kindergarten, and was put in a special program (which was excellent) until 5th grade, when I move across the country (literally).

BTW, I'm not asking if you've taken an official test or anything, just a quick self-diagnosis will do.

Also, even though someone who is gifted probably has an IQ, someone who has a high IQ is not necessarily gifted. If you have a high IQ, you probably bright, but that's different than gifted. Once I find the sheet of paper we got, I will quote it so it's easier to see the difference.

Right of the top of my head, a few that I can remember are:

• Gifted will ask more questions in order to fully understand the topic, while bright children will grasp what is given to them quickly.
• Gifted children can relate to seemingly unrelated things to eachother easilly, bright children can't.
• Gifted Children will tend to think outside the box, and bright children inside.

And so on, and so forth. Anyways, when I first read this (a couple of months ago), I kept on thinking 'Wow, a lot of INTJ's are like this!', so I decided to check my hypothesis and see how many actually are gifted. Or, at least a rough estimate.

Here's an example: In math (one of the subjects that I am 'gifted in'), we had about 5 minutes to do homework at the end. I was surprised to find out that most people were on the first problem when I had finished the first page. I observed the intelligent (but not gifted) kid in the class, and he was getting through them quickly as well. However, I believe that the major difference was that he had to think about it more, and go through a process in his head, which he did incredibly quickly. I, on the other hand, looked at the problem and allowed my brain to process it (we were finding the relationship between x and y). I was aware of what was going on, but I wasn't actually going 'OK, I do this, then this' and so on. Remember, this is just the educated guess of a Freshman in high school.

[rocksteady]

I understand what you are asking, I was put in the gifted program in school as well, I had a high school reading level in like 5th grade. But I am serious when I say, it was essentially a group for the INTJ's in school. So gifted really is another word to describe INTJ's and probably a couple other personality types. Everyone on this board would probably be described as gifted by most of the other personalty types.

[Hdier]

Yeah! A chance to turn this into a competition! I had a college grade reading level in 5th grade.
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I hear what your saying, man. Everyone in the group was at least an INT, sometimes P and sometimes J.

[binofhay]

	Originally Posted by Hdier To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Also, even though someone who is gifted probably has an IQ, someone who has a high IQ is not necessarily gifted.

I think I was a gifted and/or precocious child who is now an average INTJ adult, if there is a such a thing. I fit a lot of the giftedness qualities you've listed. However, my intelligence is average at most. People think I'm much more intelligent than I am simply because I'm very curious, tend to ask lots of intricate or unusual questions, enjoy reading academic-type books, like to do experiments for fun, etc.

I'm not concinved that IQ has anything to do with how smart someone is.

[AresX9]

	Originally Posted by binofhay To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	... I'm not concinved that IQ has anything to do with how smart someone is.

I'm starting to believe that too. Someone can have a tremendously high IQ like 150-160 but still not be able to apply basic Physics to a real-life situation.

Terms like smart, intelligent, and bright are all subjective to the students that a potentially Gifted child may be compared to. Not only that, but just because a child has been identified as Gifted during elementary school doesn't necessarily mean that the individual will stay in the Gifted status that they were identified in for the rest of their lives. People do change over the time, and nothing can stop that. In my school, most of the Gifted students are on Honors level, when only a handful of us are "truly Gifted" and on the AP level (Myself included). There's only about 7 of us that I'm aware of.

I'm not saying that bad teachers can't affect a student's understanding of a topic, they do. If a teacher isn't properly teaching a subject by following the book they issued, the student will be confused as to where the class is currently at. Or, if the teacher uses worksheets from a completely different source in replace of teaching with the book, there will be a sense of direction that will make the student unaware of what to do.

[banzai]

My parents never put me in any sort of gifted program because we couldn't afford it, but I took advanced and extra-curricular academics all the way K-12. I scored at a "genius" level on the MENSA entrance (although I'm not a member... waste of money) but I don't feel that I am nearly as crazed about mathematics or out of touch with common sense and reality as other people I've met in this level, thus I've concluded that my score was merely another example of my ability to do something well.

Things have typically come to me very easily, and when that is someone communicating information to me, they almost get frustrated about how persistent I can be about the deeper problems and holes in logic that whatever they're saying might suggest.

I've had similar experience in school... I finished my assignments far before anyone else, and to the dismay of any classmates being graded on a curve, my "haste" didn't ever seem to mean that I missed a lot of questions.
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If I were to describe being "gifted", I would say that it is different from all other examples of intelligence in the sense that you are able to naturally solve things with great intelligence without trying too hard. Like a gift, the answer isn't something you often have to work for. This is a problem in certain things that there are simply no way to get around, because it made me very lazy... I don't think I've ever actually done homework at home, besides those silly presentations and such.

[Paul V]

It was suggested to me when I was about to start first grade, but my pediatrist decided I needed the emotional growth that could only be provided by social interaction with people my own age.

Boy, was he wrong.

[Circe]

I wouldn't be so sure that not skipping a grade was a bad thing. . . I skipped second grade because I was reading at an extremely high level. When I moved from first to third grade, I was still in the gifted program making straight A's. The older kids held this against me and made my life hell. Young children are shallow and petty, and they treated me as if I was some kind of freak. I remember that one girl bit herself, showed the mark to the teacher, and accused me of attacking her. At one point, my teacher had placed me in a small group of other students, and every single one of them moved their desk away from mine and left me, sitting alone in the middle of the room. Because of my age difference, I was ostracized and constantly bullied. By fifth grade I was almost incapable of talking to someone my own age because I couldn't trust them, and by seventh and eight grade, I was one screwed up kid. I didn't escape this hate until high school.

[BlackHawk]

I consider myself fortunate, then. I went to a school specifically for gifted children since Kindergarten. There were all sorts of personality types . . . We actually took the MBTI test as a class and I was the only INTJ. Lots of INFJs, INTPs and similar types, though.

[Paul V]

Originally Posted by Circe To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I wouldn't be so sure that not skipping a grade was a bad thing. . . I skipped second grade because I was reading at an extremely high level. When I moved from first to third grade, I was still in the gifted program making straight A's. The older kids held this against me and made my life hell. Young children are shallow and petty, and they treated me as if I was some kind of freak. I remember that one girl bit herself, showed the mark to the teacher, and accused me of attacking her. At one point, my teacher had placed me in a small group of other students, and every single one of them moved their desk away from mine and left me, sitting alone in the middle of the room. Because of my age difference, I was ostracized and constantly bullied. By fifth grade I was almost incapable of talking to someone my own age because I couldn't trust them, and by seventh and eight grade, I was one screwed up kid. I didn't escape this hate until high school.

I got worse than that, and I was still in normal grades.

However, you could be right. All the suffering I went through has made me wiser. I'd probably be a naïve nerd if I had went to a gifted school.

[binofhay]

I was homeschooled so fortunately didn't have to deal with the vacuous inanities of "peers". To this day I have a hard time making friends my own age. Right now I'm friends with more faculty members than fellow students.

[Meyer]

I would say that I am average or possibly slightly below for an NT. As far as the majority of people that I am around I would definitely say that I am more "aware". Although my shrink said I was extremely gifted.
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I know what your thinking, INTJ with a shrink? Shes the one person I know though that can converse with me on anything from philosophy to goal oriented issues. A brilliant INFJ. Much smarter than I am.

[rocksteady]

Originally Posted by Grayscale To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

My parents never put me in any sort of gifted program because we couldn't afford it, but I took advanced and extra-curricular academics all the way K-12. I scored at a "genius" level on the MENSA entrance (although I'm not a member... waste of money) but I don't feel that I am nearly as crazed about mathematics or out of touch with common sense and reality as other people I've met in this level, thus I've concluded that my score was merely another example of my ability to do something well. Things have typically come to me very easily, and when that is someone communicating information to me, they almost get frustrated about how persistent I can be about the deeper problems and holes in logic that whatever they're saying might suggest. I've had similar experience in school... I finished my assignments far before anyone else, and to the dismay of any classmates being graded on a curve, my "haste" didn't ever seem to mean that I missed a lot of questions. To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. If I were to describe being "gifted", I would say that it is different from all other examples of intelligence in the sense that you are able to naturally solve things with great intelligence without trying too hard. Like a gift, the answer isn't something you often have to work for. This is a problem in certain things that there are simply no way to get around, because it made me very lazy... I don't think I've ever actually done homework at home, besides those silly presentations and such.

You and I have a lot in common brother! Word for word same experience as me. It took me a while to figure out that I was different. I think its due to my heavy intuition score, i get like 88%. It's almost like we use our brains like search engines, and put them on autopilot let the answers crank out.

[niffer]

Yeah, they told my parents that I was gifted after a test in kindergarten also..

[mielikki]

Gifted, so they say. ("they" being those that tested me)
Intellectually, that is. I have always had fairly poor social skills. So after being accelerated in school, I suffered quite a bit. I find it easier to cope now in middle age, but adolescence was truly painful.

[TruorTupnm]

I was never supplied with such tests, so I don't know, but what I read sounded much like the I. N. T. J. From the quote that you gave, I gots everything but the superly great memory (since mine is a bit selective and not perfect in every way). For the hypersensitivity stuff, Argh. I have plenty but didn't know that it had anything to do with being gifted.
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Merely a common thread among such?

[mielikki]

Originally Posted by TruorTupnm To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I was never supplied with such tests, so I don't know, but what I read sounded much like the I. N. T. J. From the quote that you gave, I gots everything but the superly great memory (since mine is a bit selective and not perfect in every way). For the hypersensitivity stuff, Argh. I have plenty but didn't know that it had anything to do with being gifted. To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Merely a common thread among such?

I don't know if my sensory issues have anything to do with being "gifted". I think it has more to do with not-too-incipient Asperger's Syndrome. I have one child with high-functioning Autism, and another with Asperger's. They have different fathers, so perhaps the apple isn't falling too far from the tree. I have decided not to pursue that at the moment. My doctor just grins at me and asks if I really want to know....

[OneBadMother]

INTP here, but I skipped a grade and was ahead of my class for reading level for all of elementary and middle school. Probably still nowadays, but I'm much less ahead of everyone else than I used to be, since I'm in college and generally surround myself with intelligent and/or hardworking people. Never got tested for "gifted", but everyone knew hands-down I was a shrewd child.

[Antares]

Agreed. I don't think IQ has anything to do with Giftedness. I know a very smart individual (IQ 141) and he isn't exceptional at anything. I'm serious. He has a shallow understanding of the world and is extremely ego-centric. I'm currently fourteen but I currently play piano at a music college graduate's level, even though my musical knowledge is mediocre. My sight-reading abilities are far beyond that of my teachers (and they have masters degrees) and two of them withdrew because their skill level is not high enough to teach me (I'm now taught by a prestigious professor). I showed interest in science ever since I was six while my peers were still watching cartoons. Might I add that I've never had much patience for fiction... I think that my reading level is beyond that of my peers as well, but I cannot really tell since my library consists of mainly non-fiction and while I can work with them, I have a low tolerance for similes and metaphors.

I enjoy interacting with older people. I can easily find friends among teachers, faculty, my mother's friends and my friends' parents. I'm friends with many higher-classmen and 'nerds'. I don't very feel comfortable around people my own age. Although I have a broad social circle of acquaintances and a group of closer friends at around 10 or 15, I feel that I have to reduce my use of synthesis and vocabulary. I play immature with them because otherwise I probably wouldn't have any friends. The only people my age who can really relate to me are mostly quiet, introspective and knowledgeable individuals with whom I can chat for hours about the finer things in life. Emotionally, I'm quite a loner. INTJ's are gifted individuals along with a several other types, but unless they tone down, they stand out as a sore thumb among their peers.

[OneHertz]

I was tested for that stuff in grade 7. We had some school wide test and the top3 individuals were given the test to determine whether they were gifted or not. I was one of the three, although the thing was, at the time I had about 6 months experience learning/speaking English (I barely spoke) so I failed that part miserably and wasn't allowed into the gifted program even though I smoked the logic and math parts. Pity.

[INTJoe]

I do not consider myself gifted. My IQ is somewhere around 130, and I've got a college degree in a pretty difficult discipline, and did so in shorter time than most of my peers.

Big deal. Through playing poker and posting on poker forums (LITTERED with INTJ's...), and posting on here, I've come to realize there are many many people out there smarter than myself. Like Ray Liotta, I'm just another schnook who orders lasagna and gets egg noodles and ketchup. When my life is nearing the end, and I look back on it, if I've done anything extra special with my time here, I may consider myself as leading a gifted life. But right now, it's all "potential".

It's kind of like a sports analogy. You know back in grade school, I'd dominate geography bees, spelling bees, and math bees, and score 99th percentile on State standardized tests with little effort. My teacher called my mom one day because I "didn't try" on the state exams because I "blew through it, turned it in, and slept". My mom told her to call back when she gets the results. I got 99th percentile and the teacher called to apologize profusely to my mother. lol. She assumed because I was a goof-off who didn't try hard, that I was not smart.

Anyway, my point is, that when we are young, we are a "large fish" in a small bowl. I'll bet several of us scored most intelligent in our class of 30 students or whatever. Then as we age, we get put into tougher classes with other bright kids. Then maybe we are top half, but not top-tier. Then in high school we are put in even better courses and perhaps struggle. Then college we may get an undergrad degree and try for Med school, or Law school and have a tough time getting in, or not get in at all. We've now become a small fish in a big bowl. We are no longer special, like everyone told us in elementary school.
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Back to the baseball analogy. It's like a kid who can hit a baseball further than anybody on his street, and everyone tells him how awesome he is, because nobody sees anyone hit better than him. THen a new kid moves in and hits the ball 10% further. Or that same kid ages, and plays on good baseball teams but becomes more "middle-of-the-pack" as he progresses.

Chris Leak won the national championship for Florida as their Quarterback last year. The guy has probably started on every football team he's every played on, and has always played at the highest level possible. Winning QB on the National Championship football team. He did not get drafted in the NFL draft. He will not play football as a quarterback in the NFL because he is not good enough. He isn't as "gifted" as he was told his whole life.

Sorry so long!