It doesn't matter what you're born with, it matters what you do with what you have. Should we rate people on luck and chance, the improbability of a genetic mutation? Or should we rate them on their dedication, determination, and perseverance? I say the latter. And I say that as someone who might fall into the category of the former.
People like the young boy shown in the original post, or the one in the video, are few and far between. They aren't going to take everyone's careers and make it pointless to work, you still have much to do with your life.
I have known scores of profoundly gifted individuals throughout my life. They would wow me in class with their perceptiveness and mental agility. But they lived very miserable lives for the most part. I mean it was non-stop work and feelings of failure. A lot had mental problems as well. Others were just too lazy to apply themselves and simply coasted through life. Even so, these types have their purpose in life as we have ours. I mean Mozart is probably the epitome of a classical composer, and its not likely anyone will rival him any time soon. But how boring would music be if less talented composers never gave us their work?
Very true. I don't think I'd consider myself 'profoundly gifted' and I hate to say this since it makes me sound arrogant, but I am quite intelligent. If you believe IQ is an adequate comparator: when my elementary school tested my IQ in 5th grade it was rated at 146 or so (and yes it was a professionally done test, not some free online test). However, since about the age of 9 or 10 I've had some of what you might call mental problems: introversion, some inability to handle certain social situations (usually I don't know when people are sad or angry, and if I can tell I usually have no idea what to do or say), very severe depression that has bordered on suicidalism (though I've never actually seriously considered going through with it because of my personal life philosophy, lets just hope I never happen to take drugs that inhibit my reasoning), and other similar things. I also have the same issues you've mentioned with regards to being too lazy to apply myself and simply coasting through life. Interestingly enough that supplies me with very strong feelings of guilt, self-hate, and, as you said, failure, but that just tends to demotivate me further. Its a somewhat perpetual cycle that I can see into, but find it hard to do much about.
Anyway, that is just my opinion on the matter.
Edited by DoomAndGloom, 26 February 2012 - 02:58 AM.