2 to 3 standard deviations above average would be on the right side of the standard bell curve diagram.
Those actually in the middle usually don’t develop genuine delusions of grandeur because they would encounter, and compete with, many people moderately smarter than them in day-to-day life.
Whereas the moderately above average rarely genuinely interact, let alone compete, with modern day Einsteins.
I call it the moderately-above-average syndrome.
Someone with Einstein smarts or Napoleon level wiles, and with delusions of grandeur, seem to get along fine, at least judging by history.
But folks that are only 2 or 3 standard deviations above average, and who maintain similar pretences, inevitably come out a bit unbalanced.
There’s also a similar concept in sociology with the anxious upper-middle classes.
Sounds like something sorta similar to the Midwit meme.
2 to 3 standard deviations above average would be on the right side of the standard bell curve diagram.
Those actually in the middle usually don’t develop genuine delusions of grandeur because they would encounter, and compete with, many people moderately smarter than them in day-to-day life.
Whereas the moderately above average rarely genuinely interact, let alone compete, with modern day Einsteins.