*For everyone asking, Einstein's estimated IQ of 200 was cited by Amy Wallace in her biography of William James Sidis* Try brilliant.org/Newsthink/ for FREE for 30 days, and the first 200 people will get 20% off their annual premium subscription.

This is not a story about a man who had remarkable gifts...it is a story about a world where people destroy anyone who has remarkable gifts....

The reason why smart people go crazy is that there are so many dumb ones that are hellbent on driving them mad. In this chase the media was basically bullying him for decades..

Lack of affection from his parents. Constant attacks from the media. Bullying from his peers and never fitting in … Yeah that’ll that’ll destroy anyone

Everyone, from parents to Colleges, from students to the press, literally everyone broke this young man. He never once was able to experience life by himself and at the end he was left to rot. Poor poor soul. R.I.P william j sidis

Just because he was a genius, doesn't mean he had to make an extraordinary contribution to society. Especially when that society didn't treat him well.

“If you knew what smart people knew you’d be depressed for life” -a book I read

Imagine the ego on his parents claiming it was the way they raised him that allowed for his genius. What a great way to ruin a childhood and cripple your own child.

I find it remarkable that in an age without the internet, social media still managed to haunt him and contribute to his detriment in mental health.

His parents failed him by not letting him have a childhood. The key was mentioned early on, his father thought play was frivolous and unnecessary. Play is essential, not only, but especially, in childhood.

Being treated like this, knowing you are much smarter than everyone else but seeing others suceed in life is indescribably painful

To get the full picture of Sidis's life, it's important to include more information from his sister and his close friends. They refute much of what appears in his biography. He lead what many would consider an unremarkable life by choice . He simply wanted to be left alone and not be treated like a circus freak or spectacle everywhere he went.

I think the problem is when a man just wants to be normal and not use that insanely rare gift, it frustrates too many people that could use or need his skills.

If their parents just saw him as a child and allowed him experience the happiness of his age , probably nobody would have have seen him as machine rather than human.

How sad. I knew my biological children had lots of intelligence but my father pushed me to succeed to the point where I didn't have a normal social life in my teens. So when my kids came along I gave them lots of opportunities to learn, and an enriched environment in which to do it, but left the pace of learning up to them. I did the same with my foster and adopted children because, to me, success is being happy with your life and what you are doing.

"they didn't read him fairy tales, they read him greek myths" what is the difference

He sounds a lot like my brother who was a genius. He could read fluently by the age of 2 yrs old. My parents didn’t do a thing. If you knew my parents you would know that they did nothing to further his intelligence whatsoever. He was just naturally intelligent. He was a member of Mensa. He also had Asperger’s syndrome. He was obsessed with trains and collected train numbers. He was also obsessed with computers. Despite his amazing intelligence he was never able to put any of it to any use. I think this is where the huge failure of my parents came in. They knew of his amazing capabilities but never nurtured any of them. No encouragement. Nothing.

Not everyone with brilliant mind wants a Nobel prize or fame. Nothing wrong with living the life one wants for oneself, no matter how "simple" it is.

Even the greatest minds can’t outshine bad parenting and bullying

Tragic that people are so very cruel. It's thought people are often envious when someone shows extremely high intellect. Thus, it is sad. Imagine what may have developed if he has been given accepted. Tragic.

I've seen time and time again brilliant people do nothing with their gifts. Including myself, though I am by no means near the top. The pressure is too great when it's from those who only care about your intelligence. When you're someone who is highly sensitive and prefers to take in life slowly and serenely, the pressures of capitalizing on your brilliance become loathsome. Geniuses are people too. They deserve to have their absolute humanity taken into consideration when considering their potential. Nurture all aspects of your mind, including your dreams. That's the key to success. And please love your children and let them be who they are. Teach them everything, not just the things that you plan for them to use to impress society. Nurture their person

highly developed intelligence is nothing without emotional stability and a strong character which is exactly what his parents COMPLETELY neglected

Anybody that has experienced burnout would understand, William must have suffered extreme burnout and needed a long recovery.

"The person with the most potential in life could still turn out to be nothing "

I’m not as smart as that but I have an exceptional memory. There have been benefits of that but the most negative aspect is that there are both bad and very painful memories I would rather forget or at least not have triggers where I feel like I’m reliving them. I can’t imagine what it would be like to experience the world the way he did and not be able to share that with anyone.

Learning 8 languages by age 8 is some scary level intelligence. This dude is gifted beyond belief.

He was so smart, he decided to do easy jobs, now that is brilliant.

Never argue with idiots. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. - Mark Twain

I read that as little as a 30-40 point difference in IQ between 2 people is enough to make connecting/socializing extremely difficult. He was 150+ points out of range of everyone he ever met. 😔 💔

The fact that he educated his sister when her father refused and she eventually got into college because of it is a lifetime success in itself. It really is sad how society in general stigmatize high IQ people into thinking that if they don't achieve great things then they are a failure. A normal, average life is not acceptable. A friend of mine was pretty high IQ and I remember her being stressed out all the time cause parents and teachers kept shoving that in her face over any little mistake. She was in all sorts of AP classes, honor roll, valedictorian, etc but never enjoying anything. I will never forget when she dropped out of MIT, her parents made that her goal, that they were livid and said she had thrown away her life. She spent years afterward drifting from place to place and frequently getting into drugs and alcohol. Thankfully today she has cleaned up and is "just" a massage therapist to the dismay of her immediate family. At least today she is happy and calm and has cut all ties with them since her "failure" to become great kept causing friction between them.

It's easy to miss the tremendous role luck plays. From finding your best friend, to meeting your mate, to getting your hard work recognized. They are all lucky breaks.

I knew a fellow with what seemed a bright future. He had a high IQ...and went to a school for the gifted. To my knowledge he was not pushed by his family to do anything he didn't want, just pay attention to his studies. Last I heard he was working a low paying job as a waiter. Being different carries its own set of problems.

"Super intelligent" does not necessarily mean "super creative" or "super analytical." For instance, a child may exhibit super intelligence by memorizing all the encyclopedia and learning 20 languages, but it does not necessarily mean the child will grow to be super creative like Edison or Shakespeare, or super analytical like Einstein. A child may exhibit great piano skills at age 5, but it does not mean he's going to be the next Beethoven.

Childhood trauma has enormous consequences. So sad. Many children become the unwitting subjects of their parents' experiments, albeit unintentionally.

its honestly sad how people can just completely ignore the gifts someone has, but rather choose to make fun of their lack of common experiences

In my opinion he did leave his mark by investing his energies in building something meaningful: he advocated and acted in favour of human and labour rights.

A story I needed to hear today, as a wage slave who hasn’t chased his dreams or fulfilled what may have been his full potential. Unsung indeed until people like me live through you. Rest in justice, sir.

Poor William. The world is so cruel to people who are thought of as different.

The fact that his parents did not teach him how to tie his shoe laces or how to take a bath says it all. Shame on those parents!

Understanding something is much more valuable than memorizing something

A child should be treated normally, receive affection and also accept rules of conduct, play with other children and not spend all day thinking about his future and what will come of it, watching and fearing that he will not be able to meet expectations does not allow the soul to be present in the present

His parents treated him like a machine, a test subject. not a human. The fact that his parents claim that his intellect is because of upbringing and not genes... they've basically admitted that he grew up broken and unable to live a normal life, because of them. My heart breaks for him, he deserved to be raised with love, support, encouragement, play and everything a normal child should have had. Of course he could not function properly into adulthood, being a functioning adult is so much more than pure intellect. It's communication, being able to receive and give out love, being resilient and feeling secure, knowing how to take care of one's own needs and so on. He was taught none of that. This is a very saddening example of bad parenting.

His parents ultimately created something that resembles a human being, but different enough to be declined by society. There is only one thing worse than not being happy and that is being unable to be happy. He was in prison from the day he was born. I know that many parents justify themselves with "I haven't exactly read a parenting manual" - a video like this should probably be the foundation of such a textbook.

God bless this extraordinary young man!

Poor guy, it really just sounds like he was autistic and never received the care or know-how to function properly. Masking and the social pressures of family/society no doubt was crushing let alone his day to day struggles. He sounded like a really nice guy, I wish someone knew how to care for him and nurture him so his brilliance and mental health could have flourished.

It’s sad. It seems like the pressures from his parents forced an inevitable imbalance in his life. You can’t control an entire childhood like that and then expect social competence when you leave him on his own in the world. Also disgusting from the media who does the same type of stuff today. It’s even worse that a lot of us continuously disseminate bs and bullying like this in todays society

Sidis struggles somehow felt very similar to the ones I had in my youth due to my undiagnosed (at time) autism; maybe he could have achived way more if he wasn't too focused in Perfection, but also with mundane Happiness. He was kinda the opposite of Richard Feynman, who had half of his IQ, but wasn't pressured by his parents to be exceptional, just stimulated to be curious and find pleasure. Instead of taking math and science too serious, he just went "Hakuna Matata", started to look at life around him and let the curiosity do the work, that's how he became a great teacher and did amazing discoveries. Being born and raised gifted shouldn't be taken with a duty to be successful through a path of misery, but as tools to make your life more enjoyable and less painful for you and others, that's how success really comes.

It's best to hide what you have, people are foolish and jealous of others for having more. Behaving or saying stupid things here and there makes you more approachable and likable. People are jealous of a lot of things, always act humble and lift others up. It's about how long you can survive not how bright you shine for a short period of time.

We relatively all have the same "smarts". For some people, it is just focused on some areas, but they will lack in others. There are so many talents that the brain can be good at: from art to logic to understanding people to memory to creativity to sports to street smarts to so many other unnamed areas.

He just needed someone to love him when he was young, not as a genius, but as a fallible human like everyone else, unconditionally. The best way to raise a genius is to provide love and safety without giving unnecessary attention to the intelligence. Otherwise they begin to feel like they have to perform incredible feats just to be seen .

My sister has 2 Phd's and passed the pennsylvania bar exam to become a lawyer at age 64. She is one of the most miserable people I have ever known. Mean as a snake , uses her intelligence for hurting people.

At 19 years old, my IQ was measured at 147 and I thought that was high. I have since then learned that 147 is not as high as I thought it was.

I randomly met a guy on D3 and, while grouped with him, he tried to convince me he had an IQ over 260. I asked him if he realized that meant he was literally one of the smartest humans every to live, far surpassing Einstein and Hawkins. He said yes. I left group and blocked him.

Love is so mysterious and so tragic. To think this man carried a picture around of this women for over a decade not knowing that his affection for her was not even a star in her life's galaxy of accomplishments. That is incredibly sad and probably far more normal then any of us will know.

Quite the leap there from “highest IQ ever recorded” to “smartest man who ever lived”

I ve just discovered this channel very good!!

Dealing with politics in the USA today I have a hint of how this man felt.

I was poor, scruffy and a bright pupil. My classmates where annoyed when I scored higher than them. It doesn't pay to be different, you have to learn to defend yourself from bullying and social exclusion. Thankfully I got the hang of spotting verbal attacks and countering them. A punch sometimes worked also.

How different the story would have been had these so called college students been just kind to this child. I despise bullies.

A gifted young man destroyed by envious, malicious people. “If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too, but there will be no special hurry.” ― Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms

Dang. He could have been even greater than the Unibomber! If only Harvard profs had done excruciating "humiliation experiments" on him.

This is why narcissism is one of the most vicious psychological disorders. Just being better at something injures the narcissists pride, which then prompts them into viciously attacking to tear that person down, so they're not better anymore. That's why the newspapers attacked him from the start and kept gloating about him having low status jobs.

Parents thought life consisted of intellectual success. Forgot about the basics like keeping clean, learning to play and get along with others. Example of the difference between intelligence and wisdom on the part of the parents.

IQ does not equal "smartness". That is way too blunt. High IQ is like a great tool to get logical tasks done but it doesn't necessarily mean a person is "of smarts" overall in life.

I have often pondered: should I pretend not to know something I know that I know in order to placate the fragile egos of those who prefer the comfort of their own ignorance? In this video I have my answer.

He did " fail to achieve greatness" . People failed to acknowledge his greatness.❤

It's a CLASSIC case: Parents taking full credit for their child being a prodigy... when in fact, it's mostly due to a fluke combination of genes.

I had a friend in school seemed to be very very smart, but you take a book away from him and he was dumber than a box of rocks. No common sense at all.

I love your channel!

A gifted boy raised by parents who were utter sociopaths intent on moulding their son into their image of perfection. He'd probably have succeeded without their intervention.

He needed a best friend, the kind who cares and willing to listen and perhaps help him to focus on some life adventure that fitted him well.

Giving children IQ tests is one of the greatest curses of modern times. It puts unreasonable pressures on some, tells others there is no hope for them, and makes others prideful and lazy. IQ means nothing. People have a variety of gifts - social, academic, physical, spiritual. Defining people by a number - and deciding from that what their life path should be - is wrong.

From the story and some reading I've just now done on him, it seems that he may have been on the spectrum. In those days, it seems that very few, if anyone, understood autism and were just cruel to someone who they perceived "different" from themselves. Really, not much different than today. Dumb bullies still harass and attack people for no reason.

Experiencing a romantic rejection can be incredibly tough. I still remember my first rejection vividly-it was a brutal blow that left me feeling shattered. Thankfully, I was able to weather the storm by seeking the help of a life coach who guided me through the healing process and helped me bounce back stronger than ever.

"You've come here to solve our engineering problems?" "Oh no, I want the job with the least amount of responsibility." When you're insanely smart, you have a much greater appreciation of simplicity. Like a tranquil evening in the wilderness. The last thing you want is a complex life or a life full of complexes, for that matter. I remember reading about this guy. They said he cracked and was broken ever since. I still am cross with the parents for this. Didn't teach him to tie his shoes....ye gods.

I got first place while in middle school and continued to have straight A in high school. I was also obsessed with living a “Perfect Life”. I learned too late that life is not perfect and spending your time reading and learning instead of socializing and making friends makes life very depressing. Knowledge and experience are two different things.

I think he discovered that those ruling the world, be it on grand scale or in the daily environment, either pushed him aside, or tried to exploit him without duely paying what he deserved. They all looked upon him either as a competitor to neutralize or as a resource just to exploit. Every expert aiming at explaining his tragedy, keenly avoid this obvious explanation, because they have done this themselves with others. The dentist offering the sum of money, surely did it to get some knowledge he could capitalize upon manyfold himself, to take an example.

I think you will see this in any workplace too...incompetent bosses / workers exploiting smart, hardworking workers, who want nothing for themselves but to get the job done. Eventually, after years and years of putting up with it, the smart worker becomes very depressed, and accused of 'being lazy' when they hit back and say 'no'. My tip to anyone in this situation (it happened to me): establish your boundaries early and REFUSE to do anyone else's work who is too lazy to do it themselves.

The world is not ready to house such intelligent and brilliant minds. We as a human community need to evolve further.

The highest IQ ever measured is 230 and was recorded for mathematician Terence Tao. The American writer Marilyn vos Savant follows directly behind with 228.

Sometimes you just want to stop fixing other people's problem and just want to focus on your own.

His parents and the society over eager to see exceptional people fail... were the reason of his sad life

That is indeed a lot of pressure to live under. Not to mention the obstacles in his own intelligent mind to battle with. If I were of that high of an I.Q. I can imagine it would eventually come down to the awareness of how trivial and cruel the world/people can be and I would simply want to unplug.

I have never heard of him. This is tragic. What a brilliant mind lost. Very tragic.

imagine being surrounded by complete idiots all the time - that what his life was like

Most of the very smart people I know are reclusive or at least avoid serious encounters and relationships with others. I have also heard them say more than once that they would simply like to stop thinking and wish they didn't know so much. That it would be best if they were simple minded and lived in blissful ignorance like so many. There is also the emotional quotient to deal with. You may know something but not be prepared emotionally to deal with it. Another factor is risk aversion in an irrational way, knowing the risk, being able to quantify it between alternatives but just not being able to accept it.

This really strikes a nerve for me. It's deeply saddening to see the impact of my husband's troubled past on him. Growing up, his parents neglected and abused him, he doesnt remember his mother warmth or loving toward him, she was always cold and would put all her frustration on him , leaving him with emotional scars that still haunt him today. Their constant pressure to succeed and their lack of love and support have left him paralyzed with fear of failure. Even his friends have teased and belittled him, further undermining his confidence. It breaks my heart to witness this, but I'm here for him, supporting him in his healing journey. I pray every day that he finds the strength to overcome his past and reclaim his brilliance. His parents and his friends have failed him.. And my love goes out to all the children and adults who has been going through this, please remember there is someone will love you and take care of you. Don't give up on healing and seeking help from those who truly understand. You all deserve love and care. ❤

He is bullied so much that it's no wonder he ended up so badly... 😞

As soon as I saw the title I predicted just how much of an outcast he would be. Cuz a smart person, such as William, in a pool of stupid people will find it incredibly difficult to exceed to their highest potential for everyone and the world they made actively work against him, leaving him alone to slowly self destruct.

Being intelligent is difficult. I’m no genius, but I’ve always been gifted. It’s a lonely life. Dating is hard bc most can’t/don’t/won’t keep up. Depression is common. People always assume you’re some stuck up know it all. I started avoiding parties because anything I brought up was like alien to others while they discussed the Bachelor. Luckily, at 39 I found my wife and she’s also very smart (masters in chemistry).

I have been looking into the case of William James Sidis also called by family members "Billy" for about a year now. Great Video! Accurate! Just a few corrections and additions. Firstly addressing the dog myth. Many wrong things have been said in the newspapers which has shown to be entirely wrong having no chance of being verified until later. He even as I have read reportedly had a dog as a pet when young. He also supposedly was happy in his childhood demonstrated by his mother's later biography and memoir brimming over with humor and fun. Also, seem to play with other kids his age and even went bowling in one occasion with a former friend Norbert Wiener (Mister Cybernetics) at one time. While it is still true that he had very few friends. One friend he had was his roommate the playwright Samuel Nathaniel Behrman. Something that stuck with him was his love and hunger for knowledge which he kept with him throughout his life. Afterward well into his adulthood, from his mom's notes it seems like they have kept in good touch even until his 40s while Sarah was living in Miami and his sister working as a high school teacher. Portrayed with Billy sending jokes to both his sister and mom and even visiting his mother occasionally. He had collected well over 2000 unique transit tickets in total when he passed away, found later by his sister and mother, which is a ton! Then in his 30's continuing by writing and publishing the book; Notes on the collection of transfers together with some aid from his friends who shared his enthusiasm in the hobby. Comment on when teaching at Rice University. Stating he was asked to leave because of various reasons like not fitting in well, being made a laughing stock by students older than him, his reported untidiness, and finding a replacement who would take his place. He was teaching Euclidian geometry at the time. His mentioned IQ of 250-300 seems to be a myth with his sister Helana "bessie" Sidis, saying things like: William know all of the world's languages while my father only knows 42. Aswell as a mistake in interpreting william's civil service exam test score which was 254 of the candidates. It could also be just a myth growing out of the scrutiny of the press at the time as this is one of the most calumnious spreading of false news in history. There is not a single evidence that he ever even took an IQ test which would even be highly dubious. An IQ more than 160-170 is really hard to measure, not to mention the the steady climb of 30 points from 1900 to 2012. The psychological setting of loving the story of Genius and the like seems to play an important role. The languages he knew also at different levels of "knowing". Like reading 3 pages of a book, puh. His grades from Harvard indicate an A in french & C in English weirdly enough. Norber Weiner commented on the lecture in which he attended stating in his book Ex-Prodigy: "The talk would have done credit to a first or second-year graduate student of any age...talk represented the triumph of the unaided efforts of a very brilliant child." Having many good friends who enjoyed his company, forming clubs, playing sudoku, singing songs and much more it seems like he had found a good company, with a notebook containing long lists of names from many different states under which was interested in collecting. After a while of being anonymous, he was pleased of inviting people to where he would tell Indian lore while snacking, singing songs and the guests listening to the prodigy talking for hours on end. During some period, he was fairly fond of writing fiction, helping his friends including his best friend "Isaac Rabinowitz" with some mathematics made as an exception and sometimes still discussing math with his younger sister while in school. Other notable works published under pseudonyms were: Collisions in Street & highway transportation, The Tribes & The States, Grey Wolf, he also was a fanatic of boston history, telling stories and facts about Boston in the newspaper really demonstrating his love for history. Also interestingly enough notes from his time in the asylum under his prison sentence as well as an invention of a perpetual calendar. In the time of his childhood, his mother had left her job to take care of william and nourish his genius even before he was born. In Amy Wallace's book it is stated that Mathematics could not be a more distasteful subject to him way back when he was 6, later being instructed by his parents he moved on with speed. Also important to note how much dedication in which was invested in his studies with having 2 years from 9 to 11 for studying and preparing for harvard and that harvards curriculum was very different from how it is today with Calculus being one of the highest courses in mathematics at that time. Being one of the subjects of the dramatic tale called genius often comes with really hard work or false information, many time both. His parents seem to brag alot publicizing him fore the public. As in Boris Sidis's (father) book "Philistine & Genius". The sidis method lived on a fair bit with Sarah (mother) being in contact with the president at the time and teaching around the globe to numerous schools and parents. Still beliving that every normal child could be a genius she was certaint it would make a big impact. If you want to know more and find all sorts of more than not validated trivia or things not listed here then visit "Sidis.net", also look at Sarah Sidis's own memoir of stories and trivia from his later life. Thanks to Daniel H. Mahony who has been researching about William for over 10 years. Unfortunately also passed away a while ago. Some quotes from William showing a part of his humor when Sarah were conserned about his weight: "A layer of fat acts as an insulator". "Honey, have you seen my belt around the house". An also interesting fact is one of his relatives, including his previously famous cousin show host Clifton Fadiman or that his other cousin being named William James Fadiman (writer & producer at hollywood) showed that his mother affectionate as she was were possibly trying to convince her sister of going in a similar trajectory maybe in an extreme degree. Also written in Amy Wallace's biography which is very recommended to read if you are interested. As per his character, it is probably up for debate, but from some memories from students, teachers, roommate, friends & his mother it seems like he was pretty egoistic and quiet. Saying when soon graduating college that "I wonder if this day will be famous because this is the day in which I was to graduate". When asked about calculating under what day a certain date would fall pacing a moment and answering selfishly. Being disrespectfull to elders while questions were asked during his teaching of 4 dimensional bodies. Though we do not really know if all of this was true, he seemed to have kept his childish charm all throughout his life. Being a kid, vulnerable still yet as amplified to the spectrum of life. Another word which could describe a lot is tragic or it may be (essentric). Remember that with a story like this there are always false accusations, beliefs, and wrong evidence of the whole truth while being a part of history. At William's death he was said to be well respected by his friends and perhaps had found his perfect life after all.

“He’s a completly normal child he just doesn’t play and graduated in a insane amount of time”

It's always a good day when Newsthink posts a new video

I have realized overtime.. The smartest people are the scardest The kindest people are lonely The messed up are the most depressed The givers never get back The most perfect people want the opposite Media, Society, and this world is messed up But you can choose what to do and I really mean it You can ignore and go on with life You can help and change Or choose an other path or make your own But first you have to learn to take care of yourself But honestly just live a simple happy life

"It was later acknowledged, however, that some of the claims made were exaggerations, with a researcher stating "I have been researching the veracity of primary sources of various subjects for about twenty-eight years, and never before have I found a topic so satiated with lies, myths, half-truths, exaggerations, and other forms of misinformation as is in the history behind William Sidis"

It's sad that the people that make you smile, are the one who suffer the most, but i really enjoy his comedy, and I love him in lonely island and broooklin 99

What a sad, sad story. The things he might have done. Too bad his parents didn't realize the importance of the other things in life that may have gave him happiness. He was still, only human.

I think today this can easily be identified as child abuse and neglect. His parent used him as an experiment and they ruined his life.

Poor soul, screwd up by his ambitious parents, completely separated from his generation and from himself, his creativity killed in favour of learning. It's not what you know but what you do.

His IQ score came from one source, his sister Helena Sidis. As a father I would rather see my son playing, having fun and enjoy being a child