American author Henry David Thoreau wrote:
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
Indeed, those who have an IQ in the gifted range march to the tune of their own drummer. This often puts them out of step with the rest of the population who typically formulate their opinions based on the prevailing opinions of their tribe. Past visionaries, like Copernicus, Galileo, Darwin, and Einstein often faced resistance and ridicule, and in extreme cases, death. Today, visionaries in First World Countries typically face public ridicule and sometimes scorn.
Through the eyes of those of average IQ, the gifted are often seen as emotionally stunted and limited in social intelligence (caricatured by Sheldon in the sitcom Big Bang Theory.) Someone of average intelligence can empathize with others by imagining how he or she would think or feel in a similar situation. This enables them to relate to others in a natural and comfortable way. However, when interacting with those outside their circle of gifted colleagues, the gifted cannot use self-reference to understand how others feel. In Einstein: the Life and Times p. 186, biographer Ronald Clark wrote about Einstein and physicist Frederick Lindemann:
The two men were united by one thing: the view that human beings counted for little when weighed against the splendid problems of physics. Lindemann, according to one colleague, “had time for a few dukes and a few physicists, but regarded most of the rest of mankind as furry little animals.” Substituting “pacifists” for “dukes,” much the same was true of Einstein.
A humorous example of the intense struggle for recognition is captured in the interaction between two gifted Soviet mathematicians, Krein and FoiaŞ described by Paul Halmos, (in his book I Want to Become a Mathematician, p. 314) during his 1965-visit to the U.S.S.R.:
Most of our three hours together was a decibel contest between Krein and Foias. They were good-natured some of the time and not the rest, and they were trying to out-point each other all the time. Krein would begin to explain something at the backboard, and, in mid-formula, FoiaŞ would say “I have a question,” and proceed to explain something of his own. Krein said, “I did that in 1940,” and FoiaŞ countered, “ah but not this general–let me show you the proper method…” It was back and forth: I did it first, no, I did it better, no my student did it more general.
Many of those who circulate daily among the average population would understand that there are much more effective ways to obtain recognition, but in the circle of the gifted, the accepted protocol for modesty and the prohibition of self-promotion are less important than establishing superiority.
These observations are generalizations, so there are, indeed, exceptions. Many gifted people have excellent interpersonal skills (EQ) and many average people are socially inept. However, when gifted people have low social intelligence, the reasons presented above offer some explanation.
