Kid genius

The whole point I'm trying to make is advocating the development of metacognitive awareness, something that is, in my opinion, unbelievably essential for adult maturity and something of which too much of the world has little to no grasp. The idea here is that an individual is capable of recognizing the social attributes of their current location and community, and responding in kind to them so as to positively contribute to the overall composition of the group. In other words, a Nobel laureate walking into a Chicago inner-city school district to give a college-level parasitology lecture would most likely have a neutral to negative effect on the community in which they've entered, as the majority of the students would most likely not understand a single aspect of their lecture, and thus the time would be effectively wasted (and perhaps even "turn off" the students to aspirations of higher education due to the exceedingly poor attempt at designing a lecture tailored for the appropriate audience).

So what does this all mean for an individual? Never stop challenging your intellect and learning everything you can - lord knows the world needs its brilliant minds. However, focus enough of your mental energies into developing an awareness of the world around you and how you fit into that world, responding to external stimuli in a way that is beneficial to the community, not you alone. Perhaps an easier way of saying this would be don't be an arrogant jerk, be patient with those with minds that aren't as quick as yours, and find receptive ways to communicate to your audience.