Sheldon Isn’t As Special As The Big Bang Theory Made Him To Be
While the rest somehow had similar traits, Sheldon was unique because he was presented as a generational genius. Growing up in Texas, he supposedly stood out because the state wasn’t known for its academic institutions, which meant that he wasn’t exposed to similar minds during his childhood. The prequel has already dispelled this with Paige’s debut — a fellow child prodigy who unfortunately fell through some hard times recently. Young Sheldon season 7, episode 2, “A Roulette Wheel and a Piano Playing Dog,” doubles down on this as Sheldon struggles in Germany for his summer study program.
Sheldon is humiliated when the teacher tells him that he needs a tutor. While he is still skeptical about it, meeting another child prodigy, who already has an undergraduate under her belt, convinces him that he isn’t as smart as he thinks he is. Worse, he even admits that she is more knowledgeable than him. This makes him look so ordinary, especially since Sheldon himself realizes the harsh truth about the level of his intellect. At least with Paige, he is still competitive, but he learns right away that he is no match for his German rival.
Why The Pasadena Gang Tolerated Him In Big Bang Theory
There was an idea that Sheldon’s brain just didn’t have a balanced development. While he had a high IQ, he also had disappointingly low EQ, which made him unable to engage in even the simplest social interactions — as proven by a doctor’s visit in Young Sheldon. It was also the supposed reason why he can be rude and hurtful, even to his friends. The Pasadena gang assumed, however, that Sheldon’s bad behavior wasn’t intentional. Instead, being socially-inept was just simply how his brain worked. Because of this, they were more than patient with him despite multiple transgressions over the years.