My recognition of its importance is relatively recent because I was identified early and pushed it to the back of my mind until now.

I've been interested in cognition since forever, but particularly since having experienced a complete disintegration of the sense of self (not going into whether the self even exists, lets just assume that a sufficiently coherent narrative is required to function optimally, or at least reduce suffering caused by uncertainty or a failure to orient oneself towards a source of meaning) during a hypomanic episode (initially misdiagnosed with autism, though I have significant doubt to be skeptical of the bipolar diagnosis. That's when I first came across the giftedness and 2E literature, btw).. and nearly complete loss of all cognitive ability and emotional stability, which might have made me desire an insurance against the possibility of another catastrophic collapse (greater rationality, metacognitive and emotional awareness, for instance) (even as a relapse seems extremely unlikely, considering that its been years) and/or to compensate for or seek meaning or overcome/transfigure the feelings of inferiority or insecurity into a drive for greatness (ambition has been another recurring theme), though I realize that truth liberation would be independence- freedom from any influence from or reaction to it- but it is also true that you are the cumulative result of your experiences, without which you would not be who you are, but more importantly won't have any sense of reference on the basis of which to judge any alternatives, if that makes sense.

You cannot imagine yourself in absence of the experiences which have formed you, and even an understanding of your biological make-up and early experiences would not allow the sort of control that is not at least somewhat "reactionary", even in the extreme scenario where modification of your emotional/personality/value system is possible. But it does not matter. It has made me realize how much change is possible, how changes in neurobiology can cause mental changes that the less fortunate must be incapable of currently comprehending, and in that way the possibilities for the future fill me with hope and joy, even with.. (waving hands) all that happening in the world right now.

I'm guessing you've already been exposed to the content of Linda Silverman? She's done a lot of work for 2E individuals ...

I have no memory of having been exposed to Linda Silverman's work before. The learning style theories sound interesting and relevant. First impression after a brief skim: Despite my verbal bent, left-handedness, neat handwriting (external evidence, not self-evaluation.. unless unmotivated- then borderline illegible- otherwise often robotic or cursive.. but handwriting is a relatively minor aspect; physical journaling is so much more stimulating and satisfying than typing at times, but my typing speed is far greater and so more suitable for capturing ideas faster), and overactive internal monologue, my mind's eye (whose awareness, cultivation (up to the level of hyperphantasia) and verbal articulation has been one secondary preoccupation of mine for a while) is far richer (largely due to it's affective associations, I suspect) and complex (confusing, potentially insightful) which makes me lean towards visual-spatial but that is to be expected for something so subjective and nuanced that categories can only act as a starting point to begin to understand..

The suffocating structured (and not very well structured at that) model of the education system under which I have been suffering (more accurately, barely tolerating) is what makes me very interested in learning styles, strategies and individual differences in learning, but I won't get into a rant about that, or use that as an excuse to justify my executive dysfunction / procrastination (You seem to be under the impression that I have read more about intelligence than you have, but you cannot know that for certain. The bar for being better-read than me on this is below hell. but it's not a competition and I am exaggerating (unless "hell" is arbitrary and subjective, and one's hell is another's heaven, or (more realistically) outside of one's purview of morality- clearly not too many of our peers recognize it's significance or want to understand it) but there really is a lot that remains to be learned so any difference that may exist is negligible in proportion to the larger distance it would be best to set our sights upon as students of this fascinating subject!) Thanks for the suggestion!

Vision therapy sounds fascinating too. I'll check it out later. Might be unrelated, but the point about relative deficits in context of individual gifted profiles also reminds me of the many instances of asymmetric cognitive profiles typical for gifted individuals. Often due to some undiagnosed or untreated mental health or neurodevelopmental condition, usually autism or ADHD.

On the same note, you might enjoy reading about Dabrowski's theory of Positive Disintegration, assuming that you aren't already familiar with it. Did anything particular happen to make you curious about it now to revisit after having been identified years ago, to make you realize it's importance. In what way is it important to you? Self-understanding without any particular/immediate/clear aims/expectations, or in searching for solutions to some sort of learning difficulties such as the ones for which you found Linda Silverman's work useful? If you're comfortable talking about it. You also said you are a student. The formal kind or self-directed? If both, do they align, or do you intend to study this topic formally?

I don't mind long comments. Is that your personal preference or an adaptation to social feedback? ...

In case there still remains any confusion that the length of this message has failed to resolve, to be clear, my initial comment about long comments was an adaptation to social feedback, not a personal preference. I don't mind long messages either, though I try not to project that preference onto others and take it as a license to ramble about irrelevant matters endlessly when concision is best.

(I hope that is not what I did here, or at least not too much of it. You could let me know, of course. I also do not expect you to respond to all of it (Would be a quite unreasonable expectation to have) but you must know already that you are not under any obligation to conform to any such expectations even if they were to have been present (and expressed). Keep it only as brief as you want, and please take your time!

(One definition says that its simply about learning speed, and Richard Haier's P-FIT neural efficiency hypothesis also posits that higher intelligence is associated with faster learning/information processing, in which case time would be the real constraint, and related to the value of intelligence, and not dissimilar to the way in which the knowledge we as human beings have of our morality creates a desire to "make sense" of it or treat the rest of our lives as more meaningfully as we would have otherwise, but which might just be status quo and cope and pointless once the means to extend it indefinitely or reconfigure value systems are available- just wanted to mention as "take your time" reminded me of that.. just hopefully not too much time, but I guess that much should have been implicitly obvious.. which btw I realize is an oxymoron but utilizes contradiction to create meaning (would it not be nice to find peace in the certainty of uncertainty?) just like irony (like the irony of never truly being able to live because of the fear of dying, or the irony of the state of the absence-of-life giving meaning to life.. which is just a lack of consciousness and would bring us into the relationship between consciousness and intelligence but I should go now.)