It does mean something. Specifically it means you learn differently than other people, because you store and process information differently. It is neither accurate to be expected to function the same as other people nor to expect other people to function the same way you do if you are a significant outlier.
Particularly during schooling it can be lonely, isolating and incredibly boring. It is easy, under those circumstances, to either build yourself up as better than people around you or come to hate and hide your intelligence so you can pass as one of them. Both are a loss to society.
It is not an accomplishment, any more than having diabetes is an accomplishment, but it is a fact of life and trying to pretend it doesn't matter is futile.
The point I was trying to make was that intelligence itself is a bad goal - it's a means to an end. Being smart makes things easier, sure, but it's not really something to be proud of by itself. 'Metric' was probably a bad word choice.
Particularly during schooling it can be lonely, isolating and incredibly boring. It is easy, under those circumstances, to either build yourself up as better than people around you or come to hate and hide your intelligence so you can pass as one of them. Both are a loss to society.
It is not an accomplishment, any more than having diabetes is an accomplishment, but it is a fact of life and trying to pretend it doesn't matter is futile.