Quote:
Originally Posted by paulycoll
I'll tell you my understanding of this , i do think that high achieving sz are a minority in sz demographics. Amongst the general population 100 seems to be the average iq , with most filling in around that score. Now if thats the general course what kind of metrics would a sz demographic generate , the same median score? There are many studies that show that cognitive deficits around the area of attention and general cognitive function in youth and adolesents can be a predictor for developing mental illness. This is hard to take but this kind of data is hard to ignore , infact in a sea of mixed messages in this area , the truth is important in coming to a more measured and real assesment about life in general and ones relation to it. I encourage people to go out and look at the data. It strikes me that we all seem to be running around measuring ourselves against the expectation of others , i think to truely know oneself is an incredible advantage.
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Well they are for sure a minority...people with relatively high IQs are always a minority even for well people something on the order of 1% but in that regard is the guy with a 100 IQ sitting at home writing a book every night or a blog or anything? Or is he just watching cable TV becuase he's stuck working 2 part time jobs trying to get by? What is he doing to advance the field...is he doing anything intersting enough to put in a book...hanging out with your friends at the pub is rarely worth writing about. If he's truly an average joe he may be married with kids and good luck finding time for anything else. I don't see a lot of "average" people who are sick or well writing books or advocating for anything. However, I don't see people with autism complaining when Tammet or Grandin represent them....are they average...in no way....can everyone live up to their standards...no. That's not the point of role models....they are there to break the glass ceiling. I mean at Yale somebody told Saks she should just take a year and work as a cashier in fast food...can you imagine...she was at the top of her class now has two advanced degrees and a MacArthur genius award and she could have been working part-time at McDonalds instead because some pdoc told her that was all she could do. It's not like they are laying out a plan that everyone can fufil it's more like there there was a tree that had fallen across the path and they pulled out a chainsaw and got to work restoring the road ahead for everyone who could follow. Some people have cars, some have bikes, some are just walking and at the end of the day some will have gotten farther down the road than others but they are all capable of making progress because somebody cleared the path. But you have to know the path is clear otherwise why do more than sit home and watch TV? All these people writing books and promoting advocacy are simply telling you the path is clear now. So where are the average guys? They are just walking the path...why write about walking the path when somebody has already made it across the country and written about the amazing things they've seen and done? What would be new about it? Sure I made it to the Grand Canyon and have lots of great pics but what if someone who is a much better photographer made it there two years ago and already posted pics? It doesn't mean I never made it to the Grand Canyon just that I would choose to put that kind of thing on Facebook for my immediate friends and family rather than flickr or deviantart. So picture an average guy...1% of the population has full sz and 25% recover...that means you have to know 400 people before you ever even meet one of these people. Let's increase the odds a bit because you would actually have to know them pretty well for them to disclose a sz diagnosis since they probably aren't an advocate but just a guy trying to get by. They aren't someone you will meet at the pdocs office because they are done with psych....they don't need peer support because they haven't had symptoms in twenty years...so you won't find them on PC. How would you ever meet one of these guys? So it seems like they don't really exist and yet they could be your neighbor. Go where there are lots of people and ask there. Have you tried reddit? I think you should...