People at opposite ends of the intelligence spectrum suffer difficulties that come from their distance from normality. The world is designed for people of normal or average IQ. The graph below shows that those of IQ less than 85 constitute only 16% of the population as do those of IQ greater than 115.
Both groups suffer similar social problems. Those who are intellectually different from people of average intelligence tend to have different interests from the average that place them on the fringe or outside normal social groups. The mentally challenged, depending on their degree of intellectual impairment, are typically excluded from social groups. When a bunch of guys gather together for a tailgate party, they usually don’t invite a mentally-challenged person or a “nerd. For more information, visit What are some subtle similarities in a genius and the mentally challenged? – Intelligence and IQ
There are also, different difficulties that each group faces. While those in the low IQ group have difficulty succeeding at school and qualifying for high income jobs, those at the high IQ level may face fierce competition in securing their chosen occupation. A high school student wishing to enrol at a top university has to study hard to score well on exams and SATs. A Ph.D. student has to invest years of effort and perhaps substantial sums of money to earn a doctorate and then scramble for a university appointment.
Those in the low IQ group tend to feel intellectually inferior to those who learn quickly and speak with more sophistication, while those in the high IQ group tend to feel inferior to those of even higher intellectual gifts. So it seems that our levels of happiness seem not to be absolute, but rather relative to our achievements relative to our expectations. An example of the anguish experienced by those in the top intellectual echelon was captured in the 1997 movie Good Will Hunting. When Fields Medalist, Professor Gerald Lambeau, acknowledges that the young janitor at the University, named Will Hunting [played by Matt Damon] has superior mathematical talent, he says:
I can’t do this proof. But you can, and when it comes to that it’s only about, … it’s just a handful of people in the world who can tell the difference between you and me. But I’m one of them… Most days I wish I never met you… Because then I could sleep at night, and I wouldn’t have to walk around with the knowledge that there’s someone like you out there… And I didn’t have to watch you throw it all away.
We humans often make the mistake of externalizing our difficulties and unhappiness, believing that if only we were more intelligent, more beautiful, more athletic or more affluent, we would be happier. However, the capacity for a substantial degree of happiness and contentment really resides within us.
