What if you were a child who had gifted people that ruined their own lives try to live vicariously through you by putting unrealistic pressure to be the very best? Let me be dumb in peace.
I don't think that's quite right, I have very low self esteem. On the other hand, I do see overconfident kids who think that they are the next einstein.
I don't know, I was diagnosed as gifted (official tests), and the crushing pressure to be the only one in class or the family forbidden to make any mistakes (teachers, kids, jealous members of family and family friends were very heavy with incessant taunting/mockery/bullying and waiting for me to fail) led me to be tremendously anxious, awkward and paranoid as an adult. My mother has been stressed by it too, she was lost at some point and didn't know how to handle all of this so kinda took it on me too and I'll always feel responsible for the isolation it led her in, she lost people she thought of as friends or sister because of the fact that my IQ was higher than the norm. I hated what I was and people tended to look at me like a freakshow. (I don't want to whine on my life, but my point was: this is a real problem that some people experience, and I'm willing to bet that at least a good half of people who commented here are realistic and not infatuated spoiled brats.)
YAAAAS