The Curse of the High IQ

By: Aaron Clarey

Narrated by: Jason Brooks

Length: 3 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's Summary

Society, by statistical necessity, needs to focus on the majority. It needs to be built and designed for "the average". Society, by moral necessity, also needs to focus on the disadvantaged and disabled, helping those who cannot help themselves. But while the majority of society's resources, attention, and infrastructure is dedicated to average or below-average people, little-to-none of it is dedicated to the abnormally intelligent. And while having a high IQ is an overall net benefit in life, being a statistical intellectual freak is not without its drawbacks. Welcome to The Curse of the High IQ.

Whether you fall asleep during class, constantly ram heads with your boss, can't understand why people watch the Oscars, are an alcoholic, or are accused of having ADD, having a high IQ can be a maddening experience. What you see as the obvious solution is what the "normies" will fight against tooth and nail. Those Ds you keep getting in English? Your superior mind being held hostage by the boring and inferior mind of your teacher. And you'd like to start a family? Good luck finding an intellectual equal for a spouse. And so while the world obsesses on their own problems, no one is paying attention to the problems of the abnormally intelligent. However, that all changes now with Curse of the High IQ.

Curse of the High IQ is the first book specifically written for abnormally intelligent people. It identifies and addresses a litany of problems intelligent people face, analyzes them and provides solutions. But more importantly it aims to bring sanity to those who struggle with abnormal intelligence, especially those who are unaware they have it. So if you're constantly at odds with society, are suffering from depression or ennui, can't find any reason or agency in life, or just plain can't find any friends, consider purchasing this book.

©2016 Aaron Clarey (P)2016 Aaron Clarey

Few solutions. Many complaints

A lot of this book is spent in the author distancing himself from the rest of society by placing all of his personal value in peoples intelligence and what they get on an IQ test. He is very miserable and tries to project that into everyone else with high intelligence but offers up very few solutions and paints a very dark dry image of reality. He has an extremely fixed mindset and it is this, not his IQ that has caused his world to be so dark. This is coming from a guy that scored 154 on my IQ test. This book does not reflect an optimal or even effective view of reality and is little more than a redundant advertisement for alcoholism.

covert malignant narcissism

I never write reviews, but I really feel like I have to today. I made myself listen to this entire piece of garbage, and honestly I question my own sanity for doing so. The author is angry, and lives in a constant state of victimhood. I feel sorry for those close to him because I can only assume that he is judging them with every word they say.

Being intelligent does not mean that you have to be condescending, rude, elitist, or a pure victim of society.

I test at 137, I live an overall happy life and, gasp, I like "swingy stick" aka hockey.

Please don't get this book, unless you're just looking for a reason to be angry.

Good book. Disagreed with one of the conclusions.

The narrator was great, and a joy to listen to.

This book condenses a lot of information, and helped me gain some perspective. Even though I disagreed one of the arguments, I still recommend it, and found it informative.

(Spoiler Warning.)

I disagreed with one of the conclusions. What I got was basically: Use Welfare if you feel like it, as you are taking from those that take from you. I understand the sentiment, but that's not anywhere near true. When one uses Welfare, they are stealing from those that have yet to be born, as most countries are in massive debt.

Great, Real Advice, Holds No Punches

This is not a book for the faint of heart, Aaron tells it like it is. If you are highly intelligent and frustrated with life, you will find this book eye-opening. Personality tests, self-help books, spiritual practices are ways to cope with not fitting in, and ways to adapt better to a world where you do not and will not ever fit in. However, reading this book will help you realize exactly WHY you don't and will never fit in and how to make practical improvements...and hopefully stop beating yourself up.

Simply amazing

I am High Commander of the Hot Dude Army and I approve of this message in its absolute entirety.

I loved it!!!

I understand now why I get so annoyed at family reunions everyone talks about football smh and complains about Trump😭. I usually keep to myself because I'm the only self employed person in my family. When they ask how my biz is going I can see they're not really happy for me when I tell them my biz is growing and everything is great

Visionary

This book may help you to think about and plan for the future in an intelligent way, by understanding why you think the way you do and why others misunderstand you.

Written by a pompous entitled narcissist.

Couldnt get past the first chapter. This book seems to be written by someone who's only bragging rights are based on a relative 'high' score on an IQ test. The kind of test that's been proven to be very narrow in its testing and leaves out criteria for many other types of genius.

if you're offended by this book, it wasn't for you

listening to this book was like having theatre seats to my own mind mixed with straight forward ideas on how to overcome the challenges of dealing with people who, are genuinely nice, but still can't operate on a higher level. It also helps me appreciate my mental superiors and the patience they have shown.

Egotistic, unaware, angry child

I don’t know the person who wrote this but they have a sad life. I have an iq or 138 so I would qualify as “abnormally intelligent” as Aaron states. However he is just griping about his experiences in life and worships being his own boss. He knows his IQ but not his facts. He states many claims without proof of such claims. The book is largely anecdotal and pathetic. He has a sad life and needs friends. Tho some people have high IQs, this doesn’t mean everyone else is dumb and useless. What a preposterous and lonely claim to make. Yes, having a higher IQ means you will often come to better and quicker conclusions and solutions to things, but it doesn’t mean every inefficient solution is the best. Welcome to humanity. I would assume the person who wrote this was a 24 year old narcissist who hasn’t learn to respect humanity or the world around them. IQ is one of many ways to evaluate human beings, not the primary way. Tell me you solving some physics issue for a new technological device is more important than seeing a crippled veteran man sing with a beautiful voice sing the song “imagine” by John Lennon. Your life is lacking. I feel sorry for you. Not because of your IQ, but because of your loneliness which you perpetuate yourself by honestly being an egotistical asshole.

Brilliant.

If you have a brain and are not an indoctrinated leftist moron then you need this.

just brilliant

a great short book that puts so much into perspective without the waffle. I look forward to reading more from the author.

answers many questions I had about myself

and people around me. It's lonely, it's confusing, it can be even scary to live a life and not realizing you are too much to those around you.

Clarey's usual pugnacious and amusing style.

Aaron Clarey is one of those people that you're never quite sure how seriously to take, but who never fails to both entertain and thought-provoke. There's a lot of questionable logic in here based on his own personal prejudices. I'm not convinced that IQ is as much of a fixed quotient, or a determinant of personal traits as he claims in this book, nor am I convinced by dubious assertions like "only dumb people are religious", but despite all this, he never fails to make you think in interesting and different ways about our social norms and interactions.

His amusingly strident and provocative ranting is entertaining enough to see you through the parts of the book where one is inclined to doubt his thesis - and his argument is strong enough to interest you during the rest of it.

It's all very interesting - as long as you don't think too carefully about the angry, nihilistic premises on which it's based.

The narrator is good to, and captures the tone of the author well.

Is he really this bitter?

He makes some good points but it's mostly just opinion and preaching. Maybe I'm just not as abnormally intelligent.

Very insightful

Thanks for the great insights. So I am not crazy 😁. First chapter was a bit tough to get through with the long lists of names being called to make a point (gets a lot better afterwards). The overall tone might be a bit negative and some expressions may not have been very ‘politically correct’, but to say that compromises the value provided is just nuts!

Not actually very clever

I enjoyed some of the caricaturing but was overall unimpressed by the absence of good data to back up very speculative arguments.

Bitter tone throughout. Being in the top 1% (the author by his own admission isn't) still means that 1 in 100 people are like you so you're not that rare.

It's basically just a 4 hour rant

It's basically just a 4 hour rant. I was hoping for something a little more insightful.

Probably the worst book On Audible

The writer seems to think that his 138 IQ is some sort of disability. Referring to someone with an IQ of 95 as a retard is unacceptable. His view of education and teachers is so distorted and far from the truth.
My IQ has been measured at 151 and I think that gives me the opportunity to interact with people of all intelligences without being so judgmental or feeling superior. I don’t regard those less fortunate as “parasites” which is a word frequently used in referring to those on social benefits. I might ask Audible for a refund on this rubbish.