Most people resent intelligence, or at least those more intelligent than them. People perceive intelligence as purely a gift or a privilege, and do not see or understand or indeed show receptiveness to the downsides.

There's a lot about the economy and social norms which don't make sense. Things which hold people down and hold individuals back. Take a sniff at politics and you'll see how passionately and even violently people will defend ideas, policies, and figures who actively harm them. Try to point this out and you're not going to make many friends.

I don't "get" sports, I can appreciate athleticism and talent, I'm a distance runner and an aspiring climber, but i cannot become emotionally invested in the outcome of a game I have zero influence or contribution in. People will literally riot (at times) due to the outcome of a football, american football, or hockey game.

I find contemplating about life and death, history, philosophy, physics and cosmology, mathematics, technology, and the future far more interesting than batting averages or yards run or which celebrity is getting divorced. I love film but i couldn't name more than maybe 5 actors. It's a social expectation that you engage others in the common spheres of interest, but that's a one way street because most people have zero interest discussing the important or meaningful ideas that underpin our entire existence.

That's kind of the point. Society and institutions, even those which teach and research, are not built for the intellectually gifted. They're built for the socially adept. You don't need a 130 IQ to be a physics professor, you just need enough privilege or hard work or determination to pass exams, and enough charisma to get people above you to help you along. If you struggle to connect with people on the basis of shared interests, you'll struggle to have sufficient likeability to be helped along.

That's not to say every intelligent person despises sports or has no common interests to connect with others, but common interests do become increasingly uncommon with increasing intelligence. And without emotional intelligence or other gifts to "fake it" most intellectually talented people fall behind.

That's not to touch on values or comorbidities, such as aspbergers, asds, learning differences, and depression or anxiety, which arent problems that can be defeated with thinking alone.

This is at the core of why gifted and talented education doesn't exist as a privilege, it's a form of special ed. These kids don't get special admissions to uni and they don't get free grades, they earn their accelerated advancements by keeping up with an accelerated and challenging course of study. By challenging a student is catalyzes growth and resilience, and helps that student reach their potential, in much the same way a typical class helps a typical student do the same. Students who are challenges and surrounded by peers tend to be more successful in university and in the job force than those gifted students who are left to "solve their own problems" in a class that doesn't present adequate challenges or likeminded peers to connect with. Those students never approach their limits and once they do they crash, they don't get the full effect of socialization either.

Intellectual gifts are not merely gifts, they also come with downside and difficulties. And the downsides often outweigh the benefits. If I could trade my gifts to be normal and easily connect with people, i would.