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After browsing around on the internet, i found a website that displays tendencies of people with high IQs, listed here:

underachieving
anger and frustration
high energy, intensity, fidgeting, impulsivity
individualistic, nonconforming, stubborn
disorganization, sloppy, poor handwriting
emotional, moody
low interest in details

I realised that most of these have been symptoms i may have been displaying for years (since childhood) And i recently dropped out of high school (final year) because of how boring i found it to be. I wondered if anyone here might have any idea's that would actually get me to re-focus on my education or if i could find some sort of training to be able to actually focus on normal education in the first place.
I think one of the biggest problems we face today is lack of direction. Try out new things (even those you would never think of trying,) discover what you enjoy the most and you shouldn't have a problem from there, or you'll end up as one of those genius cab drivers.
Imagine your perfect job and self-study as much as possible. That might lead you to official education in that direction or a job if you can teach yourself well enough.

Also, even if it's not challenging, finish high school. It's a major barrier in eventual employment.
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Fenixp: I think one of the biggest problems we face today is lack of direction. Try out new things (even those you would never think of trying,) discover what you enjoy the most and you shouldn't have a problem from there, or you'll end up as one of those genius cab drivers.
I think the main problem though is my attention span - even when i pick up stuff related to my hobbies (i want to learn to program for example) I find it hard to concentrate longer then 10 minutes and by then i want to move on to the next thing.

(oddly, this doesn't affect me when gaming.)
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Nroug7: I think the main problem though is my attention span - even when i pick up stuff related to my hobbies (i want to learn to program for example) I find it hard to concentrate longer then 10 minutes and by then i want to move on to the next thing.

(oddly, this doesn't affect me when gaming.)
Try out simple labor. Carpentry, gardening, whatever doesn't require that much attention. That might eventually lead to a kick in the right direction. Sure as hell helped me.
Nobody really knows what they are going to do once they get as far as high school, or even into college. If you have a community college, try getting into a bunch of different subjects and see where your attention lies: Physics, biology, chemistry, ceramics (Yes, you can have a healthy career as a ceramic's expert, or a ceramic engineer), so on. It's going to be cheaper than digging up one of those $5k a year schools.
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Nroug7: I think the main problem though is my attention span - even when i pick up stuff related to my hobbies (i want to learn to program for example) I find it hard to concentrate longer then 10 minutes and by then i want to move on to the next thing.

(oddly, this doesn't affect me when gaming.)
Maybe it's partly about how complex everything is becoming these days. It's still easy to pick up a game and start playing it, and you virtually get immediate results.

Things like programming take a long time before you start feeling a sense of accomplishment.
ignore this.
Post edited March 31, 2012 by marcusmaximus
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Nroug7: I think the main problem though is my attention span - even when i pick up stuff related to my hobbies (i want to learn to program for example) I find it hard to concentrate longer then 10 minutes and by then i want to move on to the next thing.

(oddly, this doesn't affect me when gaming.)
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agogfan: Maybe it's partly about how complex everything is becoming these days. It's still easy to pick up a game and start playing it, and you virtually get immediate results.

Things like programming take a long time before you start feeling a sense of accomplishment.
My money goes on the fact a game kind of rewards you every few minutes. I know i could quite easily learn a programming language if i took the time to read a few books (A couple of days maybe) but such time actually feels like years to me and i feel i could be using the time better but i end up wasting it anyways.
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Fenixp: I think one of the biggest problems we face today is lack of direction. Try out new things (even those you would never think of trying,) discover what you enjoy the most and you shouldn't have a problem from there, or you'll end up as one of those genius cab drivers.
This exactly

Plus, I know there's debate on this, but apparently there's three different types of learning

~ visual
~ auditory
~ tactile

Perhaps finding the one that suits you best from past experiences may help you to focus better?
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Nroug7: After browsing around on the internet, i found a website that displays tendencies of people with high IQs, listed here:

underachieving
anger and frustration
high energy, intensity, fidgeting, impulsivity
individualistic, nonconforming, stubborn
disorganization, sloppy, poor handwriting
emotional, moody
low interest in details

I realised that most of these have been symptoms i may have been displaying for years (since childhood) And i recently dropped out of high school (final year) because of how boring i found it to be. I wondered if anyone here might have any idea's that would actually get me to re-focus on my education or if i could find some sort of training to be able to actually focus on normal education in the first place.
I have a feeling where you are asking about motivation to become further educated that you have already figured out the reality of failing to become educated. In simpler terms, do you want to flip burgers working under some almost as minimally educated person who is probably not as smart as you are, for very minimal income and live accordingly, or do you want a decent job and the niceties of life that go with the income having one enables you to earn?

With that question out of the way, the motivation becomes clear. You want a decent job where you can utilize the good mind God gave you and earn a decent living. You know what you need to do to attain this. There is no free lunch. There is no magic. There is simply work. That's right. You need to work your ass off and you will be rewarded.

In your case, part of working your ass off may during high school involve suffering with boredom since you are smart enough to teach the classes you are taking. I am making a big assumption there but we'll just entertain that idea for now. Let's assume that is true. So what to do?

That is easy. Take the highest level, most difficult classes your school makes available to you and do the work to earn straight A's across the board. Next, you will want to look into doing community service during your free time after school. Why? Because this is looked upon quite favorably by colleges and universities during the admissions process and also during the financial aid applications process if this applies to you.

You have very little time left to complete high school. I hope you have applied yourself and gotten good grades so far because this is going to affect who will accept you into their college or university. If not, at the very least make a stellar showing of the rest of your time and explain during admissions interviews why earlier grades are not as good and later grades demonstrate your true ability.

Now we get to the good part. When you get to college or university, you can explore many avenues of learning. Consider it an adventure of self discovery. You do not need to know who you want to be when you grow up when you first arrive there. You can figure that out during your studies while you are there.

As for challenge, a good college or university will give you all the challenge you want. It is up to you to take that on, to go above and beyond what is asked of you and to excel. Just because an assignment requires you to do x and y does not mean there is anything preventing you from also doing z and turning in something demonstrating extra effort and learning.

I challenge you to do the hard work of returning to high school, finishing it and then going on to college and earning yourself a perfect 4.0 GPA. If you are as smart as you are thinking (and I am not saying you aren't) then you are capable of this. Go do it then! You will be richly rewarded for your efforts for the rest of your life.

There is no shortcut to excellence. You have to do the work. This includes developing a gifted mind.
Post edited March 31, 2012 by dirtyharry50
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Fenixp: I think one of the biggest problems we face today is lack of direction. Try out new things (even those you would never think of trying,) discover what you enjoy the most and you shouldn't have a problem from there, or you'll end up as one of those genius cab drivers.
avatar
shane-o: This exactly

Plus, I know there's debate on this, but apparently there's three different types of learning

~ visual
~ auditory
~ tactile

Perhaps finding the one that suits you best from past experiences may help you to focus better?
There is so much more then three... what you are describing is a mix, I think, of Kolb's learning cycle and Bloom's taxonomy.

A brief overview of learning theory
Post edited March 31, 2012 by amok
Sometimes you have a high IQ, sometimes you have ADHD, sometimes you're a product of the current instant gratification culture and sometimes you're just lazy.
If it's #3, you could always try something like Visual Studio Achievements ;)
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Nroug7: After browsing around on the internet, i found a website that displays tendencies of people with high IQs, listed here:

underachieving
anger and frustration
high energy, intensity, fidgeting, impulsivity
individualistic, nonconforming, stubborn
disorganization, sloppy, poor handwriting
emotional, moody
low interest in details

I realised that most of these have been symptoms i may have been displaying for years (since childhood) And i recently dropped out of high school (final year) because of how boring i found it to be. I wondered if anyone here might have any idea's that would actually get me to re-focus on my education or if i could find some sort of training to be able to actually focus on normal education in the first place.
avatar
dirtyharry50: I have a feeling where you are asking about motivation to become further educated that you have already figured out the reality of failing to become educated. In simpler terms, do you want to flip burgers working under some almost as minimally educated person who is probably not as smart as you are, for very minimal income and live accordingly, or do you want a decent job and the niceties of life that go with the income having one enables you to earn?

With that question out of the way, the motivation becomes clear. You want a decent job where you can utilize the good mind God gave you and earn a decent living. You know what you need to do to attain this. There is no free lunch. There is no magic. There is simply work. That's right. You need to work your ass off and you will be rewarded.

In your case, part of working your ass off may during high school involve suffering with boredom since you are smart enough to teach the classes you are taking. I am making a big assumption there but we'll just entertain that idea for now. Let's assume that is true. So what to do?

That is easy. Take the highest level, most difficult classes your school makes available to you and do the work to earn straight A's across the board. Next, you will want to look into doing community service during your free time after school. Why? Because this is looked upon quite favorably by colleges and universities during the admissions process and also during the financial aid applications process if this applies to you.

You have very little time left to complete high school. I hope you have applied yourself and gotten good grades so far because this is going to affect who will accept you into their college or university. If not, at the very least make a stellar showing of the rest of your time and explain during admissions interviews why earlier grades are not as good and later grades demonstrate your true ability.

Now we get to the good part. When you get to college or university, you can explore many avenues of learning. Consider it an adventure of self discovery. You do not need to know who you want to be when you grow up when you first arrive there. You can figure that out during your studies while you are there.

As for challenge, a good college or university will give you all the challenge you want. It is up to you to take that on, to go above and beyond what is asked of you and to excel. Just because an assignment requires you to do x and y does not mean there is anything preventing you from also doing z and turning in something demonstrating extra effort and learning.

I challenge you to do the hard work of returning to high school, finishing it and then going on to college and earning yourself a perfect 4.0 GPA. If you are as smart as you are thinking (and I am not saying you aren't) then you are capable of this. Go do it then! You will be richly rewarded for your efforts for the rest of your life.

There is no shortcut to excellence. You have to do the work. This includes developing a gifted mind.
I was thinking of an alternative: Here in Australia we have Educational organizations known as TAFEs. If you do an advanced diploma in TAFE (After pumping around $5000 into study, definitely worth it though.) you get an OP of 6, which can be used to get into University. 6 is quite good as plenty of university studies require an OP equal to or lower then 6. In keeping in line with my tradition: I don't want an overly fancy science job or anything like that, I Don't want to make any contributions to humanity's science, evolution or technology. All i need is a decent job and enough to live comfortably, as an observer.
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Nroug7: My money goes on the fact a game kind of rewards you every few minutes. I know i could quite easily learn a programming language if i took the time to read a few books (A couple of days maybe) but such time actually feels like years to me and i feel i could be using the time better but i end up wasting it anyways.
The trick is finding a balance. What worries me is that you already mentioned getting bored with hobbies. Had you not mentioned that, then I'd have said something like "Go and study something that interests you").

I think you need to find techniques to help you keep your attention span on whatever you're having to deal with. For example, I remember reading some advice that if one goes to a class where one finds the subject boring (or maybe the manner in which it is being taught makes it boring), one can try a different mindset. Imagine that you're a critic. Evaluate the person giving the class. Are they providing the correct information? Could they have made a point in a different way? Have they missed any fundamental issues?

One thing I really regret is that I took a really passive route during my studies. I wish I'd spent more time interacting with whoever was giving the class. And had I been more interactive, they might have paid more attention to me and maybe classes would have been a lot more fun.