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.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

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.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

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

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

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.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

One of the worst books I’ve ever read.

Even as someone with mildly high IQ (130-140 range), this book was awful. I have never left a negative review on Audible, but that is actually how bad it was.

The person who wrote this almost certainly has some type of psychological issue that needs to be worked on with a professional. There was absolutely nothing of actual substance in this book, just a clearly disturbed individual complaining. He actually has a lot of points that I would consider valid, but he ruins any chance at getting them across in a credible manner by grossly over-exaggerating them, acting as if they were absolutes, and not suggesting any real solutions whatsoever!

I was hoping for a book that was going to dive deeper into the shared traits amongst those of us with higher IQs, mainly to see how we all related to each other. Instead, I got a 4 hour rant because life isn't fair and the author wants the whole world to change for him. Newsflash: different people have different strengths and weaknesses. We aren't any better or worse than any other human being just because we won a genetic lottery to operate at a cognitive level that is only impressive when compared to others who also had no say in their intelligence level.

The author had an opportunity to bring light to a real issue, but unfortunately failed completely to do so. If i was someone with low-average IQ reading/listening to this, all this book would have done is make me want to further isolate high IQ people from myself.

Absolute waste of money/credits.

**Great narrator however.**

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

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.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

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.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Great over all

Yes, it may come off elitist, and rude toward the "dumb" people (which was a bit uncomfortable to listen to at times). But, as the author states, "I didn't written this for them, I wrote it for you". Overall, an asset for the high functioning brain. This world was not designed for you. This book explains how and why.. It also has a few tip on how to deal with it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Aarse-hole!

Perfect! Worth EVERY penny...and honestly I will be buying some paperback copies to shove in the face of a few loved ones that struggle with "the curse"

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

The Captain nails it once again

What made the experience of listening to The Curse of the High IQ the most enjoyable?

Humorous and insightful take on the pitfalls of being more intelligent than most of the people around you. Really hits home.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Brilliant.

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

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

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.

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

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.

1 of 4 people found this review helpful