What is it in the psychological make up of honor students that causes a small percentage

[liberalhistorian]

26. Part of it is the dirty little secret

that, in this contemporary society, there is, unfortunately, little place for them other than in a rareified academic world that most people often just don't understand. It's a very real human need to feel connected to and a part of others and a group, whether you recognize it or not, and, for all of our hypocritical lauding of the "innovative" and the "creative" and those who move us forward by using the "American spirit of originality and invention", we don't really practice it in the real world. We want and expect conformity and are suspicious of those who do not fit what we believe to be "normal", and they know that.

People who are different are often made to FEEL that difference constantly, daily, almost everywhere they go. Some, like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, (and, in earlier times, those like Thomas Edison) embrace it and use it to move forward and make the inventions and changes they envision. Too many others, though, either don't or don't know how, or are constantly being pressured to be "normal" by those around them, including family (as I believe was the case with this shooter), who don't want to deal with such difference.

My young adult son has Asperger's Syndrome and I've watched him grow up having to deal with it, as he's dealing with it now. He still has yet to find his "groove" and his social impairments make it that much more difficult for him to do so, despite his genius-level intelligence and original way of thinking. Actually, that may very well be WHY, as it intimidated even his own teachers often. If he didn't have a strong foundation of continuing family love, support and acceptance, things might very well be different with him emotionally.