I’m finding this whole line of thought very interesting. I was extremely gifted until I was about 16. (Reading Freud & Jung, university physics texts, etc etc before I was 12. In math, I would understand the concept the teacher was introducing merely from looking at the equation he put on the board, and which he would spend the next two or three months explaining to everyone else.) I had many of those characteristics that were listed in a previous post. But I came from a highly dysfunctional home that damaged me severely and squashed me, my personality, my intellect, my being. I’m now working on learning how I learned efficiently back then so I can apply it to increasing my learning ability now, as well as unblocking myself. My brain doesn’t seem to process information as quickly as it once did, it’s no longer automatic and instant absorption of info, and the flashes of brilliant insight are gone. I had no friends (I lived in a small town with close minded peers – my abilities were absolutely not desireable) back then, and I had many teachers who also were very critical of the way I approached learning then (perhaps they were intimidated?) Many of my abilities have been damaged and I no longer have access to them - at this time. I'm hopeful that, with time and effort, I'll be able to get at least some, if not all, back again.
