Impressed by a French crime collection, Excessive Potential grew to become a runaway hit when it debuted on ABC in 2025. The collection facilities on a lady named Morgan (Kaitlin Olson), engaged on the janitorial workers of the police station, who finally ends up utilizing her observational abilities and intelligence to offer a break within the case.
Morgan’s capacity to attach particulars that the detectives don’t lands her a consulting job with the police power. It’s also the results of a excessive IQ and a few very distinctive abilities on Morgan’s half. Morgan’s Excessive Potential is predicated in actuality – and it’s not the primary time the concept has been utilized in exhibits like this one.
Morgan’s HPI In Excessive Potential Defined
Morgan Calls Herself A Excessive Potential Mental
Within the pilot episode of Excessive Potential, when Morgan affords up her reasoning for believing one of many suspects in a case is definitely a sufferer, Selena Soto (Judy Reyes) is impressed by her capacity to retain that data. She even calls Morgan’s skills a “present.”
Morgan, nonetheless, notes that she has a genius-level measured IQ and calls herself a Excessive Potential Mental, somebody who has the capability to retain extra data and observe greater than the common particular person. Morgan’s hyper-observation skills are what assist her all through the primary season. She doesn’t see it as a present.
Morgan particularly corrects Soto about it being a present, saying:
No, not a present. I obsess over each little drawback I see. My thoughts is consistently spinning uncontrolled, which makes it inconceivable to carry a job, relationship, a dialog. Not a present.
Morgan exhibits her actual evaluation of her present all through the primary season will not be solely mistaken. She misses dates as a result of she obsesses about instances, stays up all night time making an attempt to piece collectively data, and continuously corrects these round her, a lot to their chagrin.
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Whereas all of that looks like a detrimental, it’s balanced out by the great Morgan does. She sees lacking items and connective particulars and “has a compulsion to set issues proper,” which is what permits her to unravel the threads of the homicide mysteries.
The entire instances in Excessive Potential’s first season are vastly completely different from each other and require very completely different data bases. There are uncommon frogs, the orientation of church buildings, altered movies, and extra. Morgan is ready to retain all the data she wants to grasp all the things.
Does HPI Exist In Actual Life? (How Correct Is Excessive Potential’s Depiction Of It)
An HPI Is Very Actual
Whereas viewers may assume Morgan’s Excessive Potential appears inconceivable, it’s truly very actual. It’s referred to as Excessive Mental Potential in actual life, and there’s additionally a variant referred to as Excessive Emotional Potential, which entails emotional intelligence.
Excessive Mental Potential is usually termed “HIP” amongst teachers. It’s additionally a time period synonymous with “gifted.” For an individual to be formally thought-about HIP, they should have a examined IQ of over 130. Whereas IQ checks have been seen as biased prior to now, they’re nonetheless probably the most trusted technique of understanding cognitive intelligence.
These labeled as HIP don’t merely have a high-measured IQ, although. They’re additionally acknowledged to usually have atypical methods of constructing connections between issues on this planet round them. As Morgan notes within the present, many HIPs have photographic recollections.
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Many HIPs even have issue sustaining focus whereas processing a lot data, or can get bored after they already perceive the data persons are throwing at them. That may result in many HIPs being recognized with Consideration-Deficit Hyperactivity Dysfunction (ADHD), however as C2Care factors out, not all HIPs have ADHD.
The “signs” related to HIP embody:
- Boredom at school
- IQ above 130
- Perfectionism
- Simple Memorization Expertise
- Problem Sustaining Social Relationships
The traits related to an individual thought-about to have Excessive Mental Potential are precisely the traits Morgan reveals within the present. The collection has been capable of provide a remarkably correct illustration, even when among the viewers may discover the present far-fetched.
What Are Different Reveals That Characteristic HPI Characters
HPI Characters Populate Crime Reveals
Excessive Potential is the one collection to outright verify a personality to have HIP. Regardless of that, it’s truly straightforward to attract parallels between Morgan’s traits and different characters in crime exhibits that probably share that label.
One present that Excessive Potential has been seeing comparisons to because the pilot episode premiered is Psych. Shawn Spencer (James Roday Rodriguez) and Morgan share numerous the identical traits. From memorization abilities to boredom with lectures to near-photographic recollections, they use their abilities to unravel crimes in related methods.
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In fact, the distinction between them is that Morgan is up entrance about her cognitive skills, whereas Shawn pretends to be a psychic to elucidate them away. Curiously, Rodriguez has been directing Excessive Potential episodes himself, which permits an actor with the same background to assist Olson deliver HIP to life.
Psych will not be the one collection to have such a important character. The Mentalist had Patrick Jane (Simon Baker), Felony Minds had Spencer Reid (Matthew Grey Gubler), and extra just lately, Discovered had Margaret Reed (Kelli Williams). These characters all have related ability units, however all of them display them in another way to unravel crimes: Jane is a human lie detector, Reid excels at sample recognition, and Margaret focuses on studying feelings.
Morgan is the most recent in a protracted line of probably HIP characters, which assist to make crime exhibits much more compelling. Morgan, nonetheless, is perhaps one of the crucial real looking variations of an HIP on tv, which helps Excessive Potential to face out from the remaining.
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