High IQ members and the nature of intelligence

Originally posted by Off_The_Street
I have a couple of friends who are in Mensa, an organization of "gifted" people. I have been invited to a couple of thier 'dos' and found them to be pretty slow in the social outlook. I'm not saying that intelligence and socialization are the components of a zero-sum game, but there does seem to be some correlation.

I'd always figured "intelligence' was the ability to reason coherently, based on whatever data was available, and to avoid letting what you want to believe get in the way of what really is.

To be honest, I don't see much of that brand of "intelligence" here.

Proof that you can be absolutely brilliant and still have no idea what's going on.

I apologise for being slightly skeptical, but either ATS is the Mecca of geniuses on this planet or people are exaggerating or giving inaccurate figures.

I would definitely think that you're going to find that a HIGH percentage of ATS members are in the above average, even genius range of IQ. Some of it may just be the lack of "official" testing, and relying on Internet IQ tests, etc. though.

As for myself, I usually don't like IQ tests, because they give me a complex and confuse me. The first IQ test I did was when I was 16 and I scored 155. After that I took another test and I scored 100. I then took the National IQ test of UK and scored 135. I took some professional hard tests online and scored 170. Then I took the International High IQ society tests and scored 135. If I summarize my scores from all the tests it would go from one extreme to the other: 100, 116, 120, 135, 155, 160, 170. I'll average that and give my IQ as 136.

Now either I have a very erratic intelligence, or there is something fundamentally wrong with the IQ tests.

Something wrong with the tests. How can you test something subjective like intelligence, with a test? Of course the numbers will be all over the place.... According to most tests I've ever taken, I should be frickin' Doogie Howser or something, and as much as I'd like to believe it, I'm just not that kind of genius, hehe.... Out of curiosity, I'm going to take the tests you linked to though. If I score lower than I normally do on these, I'll probably post the number, but otherwise....nope.

You won't go into metaphysical stuff? You don't know what you're missing.

I meant I wouldn't go into it on this thread...suffice to say, I've proven to myself that mind over matter is a reality, just can't do much with it, hehe...

However, I would really like to know what it is like to have a very High IQ such as 1000. I think you would see patterns in everything, in rain, in clouds, in stars. You would probably be able to formulate an entire treatise on maths and astronomy in your mind. I really wish I could experience that.

You're in luck, new show coming on soon..."Numbers" about a guy who does just that, and uses it to solve crimes....or you could catch an episode of an older show called "Probe" from the 80's, hehe.... 1000 eh? I don't even think Steven Hawking dreams of that range, hehe...

[edit on 20-1-2005 by Gazrok]

Your score is: 122


116-125 Significantly above average.

I had 1:53 left to spare to take the test (12 min test) on the odd ratio questions I did not even think about it and just selected one. And on the mile per hour questions ie the Sub I did not even bother to calculate in my head. As well as the house painting question and I selected undetermined for every question that asked about Geek and nerds, Zork, etc. The only one I actually selected an answer on those types of questions was to say that Sue was younger.

So basically without really trying to maximise my score I got a 122.


OH and I thought for a moment about the ostriches and the lions but with 15 heads and 50 feet I just said screw it and hit 10. (right or wrong I did not care)








[edit on 20-1-2005 by robertfenix]

"
(+/- 5 points)

175-180: 1 in 10 million: 2 mentions: 27 Americans
165-175: 1 in 1 million: 2 member: 270 Americans
155-165: 1 in 100,000: 3 members: 2,700 Americans
145-155: 1 in 10,000: 4 members: 27,000 Americans
135-145: 1 in 1000: 23 members: 270,000 Americans

I am providing a link to a few high ceiling IQ test:

httpd.chello.nl...
www.jouvetesting.org...
www.highiqsociety.org... "


I just did one of the tests form the 2nd link without trying and listening to music and eating breakfast and i got over 140, now i am going to do the 12 minutie one.

Ok got over 170 on the timed one, these tests that you found are very good ones, much more challenging than the other ones i have seen online, but now i have to clean my room, so bye bye

IQ means little to me, mine is high, top 2%, but I agree with Rude Gyal:

"You can have the highest IQ in the world and still be a total idiot to me. IQ is by no way a measure of the likeability or general knowledge of an individiual, it doesn't take into account street smarts and other learned behaviors that really don't prove intelligence but still counts when evaulating how smart a person is."

I agree totally.
IQ is culturally biased, narrowly focussed, and does not predict even academic success very well, let alone anything else.
I prefer qualities like love, respect, trust, faith, etc.

How would a 200 IQ person do if they took a IQ test written up by an Australian Aborigine? I bet they'd fail, especially if a one week outback practicum was part of it.


[edit on 1/20/2005 by BlackGuardXIII]

BlackGuardXIII, Your values are right on!!. You have to Love what you stand for, accept it with a certain amount of rejection, to get your point across.
From there, where do we go with such talent that has been presented here? IQ, has nouthing to do with passion! So much of it is here...
Again, such a waste.... I see a new thread! Indigo , where is your thought? on this?? After all you started this profound question Is there a solution to understanding our weakness? Can we take it to a new level? what can... you do to make difference? The World needs these answers! We can talk all day folks, regarding our smarts... or sometimes lack of it.... that's me!
I'm sick of our priorities thus far... Forest Gump comes to mind. Stupid is what Stupid does... I'm guilty!

It's come to a point, we have lost a generation of life as a result of our short insight. How much more can we take, or in this case give up?
Formulate some solution/concept and get back to me... Talk is talk, I suspect you know the rest of that line.



[edit on 21-1-2005 by jessemole]

[edit on 21-1-2005 by jessemole]

Indigo I used your links and scored an average of 2 points lower than my official test results from a few years ago. I was surprised since I expected lower scores because you guys had said IQ's fall with age.

as for so many with high IQ's in the US and here on ATS, first off, I'm not originally from the US, for whatever that's worth and ATS has a large concentration of intelligent people because of the content of the site. I guess intelligent people always have questions and they also like to deny ignorance.

Originally posted by BlackGuardXIII
IQ is culturally biased, narrowly focussed, and does not predict even academic success very well, let alone anything else.
[edit on 1/20/2005 by BlackGuardXIII]

Back in highschool my psych teacher hit us with a few slanted tests to prove exactly what you're saying.

First I took a verbal US citizenship test... in spanish. Even most of my answers on proper names were not accepted because I wasn't pronouncing them "properly". (Since the test was in spanish, American pronounciation/accent was considered a severe mangling of the names).

Then I took an IQ test where all the analogy questions were based on outdated or foreign pop-culture and the language questions were in spanish. If the teacher had the materials she told us she would like to have given pattern recognition questions that required 3D glasses, just to really drive the point home that how you are raised to see things is a huge factor in most tests.


As for the aboriginal angle, you don't even need tests for that. If a person can't learn to tie his shoes or prepare his own meals and otherwise care for himself over here, he's legally incompitent, basically a "retard".
"Functional" people over here would be legally incompitent in other places. We probably couldn't learn to navigate between islands without a compass like some people can. We probably couldn't learn to seek out water or track animals on the level that some people can.

Sometimes the difference between riding the short bus to school and being a pillar of your community might just be a matter of where you were born.

My iq is only about 75, little higher than the president.

I have two paper published on PNAS, one submitted to Nature. And I am 24 years old and I am postdoc in U.C.Berkeley.

There is no existing culturally neutral IQ test. This also plays a factor in many individuals scores. There will likely never be a univeral standardized test that will be able to objectively measure everyone in the world.

iq tests that use just shapes and you have to find out patterns, with no words at all are not culturally biased

for example:



^^ from the hoeflin test

i guess the "?" mark is culturally biased somewhat, but remove that and just tell the user to fill in the then blank square and its not culturally biased

The way of thinking is somehow different: for every issue I usually think about the event, its cause, the result of the event and various aspects of the result, i.e. the result for different stakeholders and their reactions to the result and what effect their reaction will have on the result.

I see things under a multiperspective in a chain of cause-effects.

The view of life is very simple: we exist for a moment. Our brain works thanks to the electricity produced by the heart. When the heart stops, that's it. Nothing else. If there is something after life, you will realize that you have been cheated, as certainly things are not as you think they are. We are too small to see what's really out there.

Morals/ethics: there are no morals in this world. I tend to cross the line if the purpose is worth it.

Tolerance / relationship: I am a highly sociable person. I do not believe in friendship, but I believe in love for self and others.

Emotions: highly balanced, never get upset, I cry and feel strong emotions if I see any form of life suffering.

Spirituality: I still have to figure out which version of religion is the right one.

Skills: strong analytical, visual and logical.

World and nature: Our world is an infinitely small part of something so huge that we can't understand. I see meaningless human beings in front of such greatness.

Mental abilities: I feel my body as an empty shell. If I concentrate I can feel and touch the inside of the shell. I feel everyone around myself as part of my family, as if every person was my brother or sister. I am rather slow understanding simple jokes and statements.

A person with an IQ of 1000 would be very unhappy to live in such a sad place. I think the more intelligent you are the more you can see the truth behind the walls of deception. A person with such an IQ would be a prisoner of the government and be a matter of national security.

The nature of intelligence: better developed/trained subsystems. The limits of intelligence are finite without knowledge.

My IQ is 143.

reply to post by Indigo_Child


Here we go , you ready?...I got an IQ might be low might be high......you ready?...........YOU CHIP ME U WONT LIVE TO REGRET IT

6+5 = an extra slice...wanna share

EDIT: So we dont Forget it

[edit on 5-11-2007 by N.B.A.Y.S.O.H]

Actually, many of your highly intelligent people are relatively unsuccessful in life.. Many of them really don't fit in any particular social circle and they jump from career o career to find a "fit." I have a pretty decent IQ, but I don't brag on it because it really doesn't matter..

I will say this, I despise blatant ignorance, which abounds in this world.

When I look at the religio-political and materialistic philosophy that exists in the world today, I tend to think that we are in trouble. However, I am not going to get into that here...

reply to post by The Vagabond


Interesting- last time I posted in this thread I was still working construction. Few years later and I'm putting transfer applications in to Stanford and Harvard (and planning to test for Mensa soon, not that it matters, just mentioning it for context- I only care about it for my transfer aps)

The interesting thing about this is that previously I was assuming some kind of correlation between education and IQ, and talking about how experiences can make IQ misleading.

Having spent a few years around these academic types though, I think I see significant differences between intelligence and education.

The primary difference seems to be discipline. Most of the profs I've dealt with are not quick wits by any means. None of them are outright dull, but I've enjoyed fencing with those I had the greatest advantage over (one of them became so frustrated with me in debate that we ended up stepping outside to handle it like children, but we were separated before I could get myself expelled, thank god). The thing that puts them in a position to teach something useful is their willingness to devote ungodly amounts of time to learning the minute exceptions to rules, technicalities, and historical trivia of their disciplines.

I'm a poli sci major. If you want a campaign strategy or an analysis of some recent development, talking to me will get you as much if not more than talking to my advisor. On the other hand, if you want something DONE about it... you should probably go to Dr. G.

So far it seems to me that the problem with having a high IQ is that you have to work harder than most people on the ability to take on step at a time and actually go through the motions of implementing your ideas.

There are certainly historical examples of individuals who very nearly wasted their genius because they were slow to develop discipline (or have it thrust upon them).

Long story short, being sharp is great at parties, but in and of itself it's of questionable utility in most cases... unless you're just looking for something to pat yourself on the back about.

Originally posted by LadyV

I've been tested. I have a high IQ...I won't tell what it is..because it doesn't matter. It does not equate to success in life, it does not equate to wealth or happiness, or being anything special. Actually your emotional Quotient is more important that Intelligence Quotient.

True Words..
I also have been tested to have a rather high IQ.. not considered massively genious.. but above normal high IQ..

I will agree to all the words stated above.
i've not takin a.. EQ? test tho... i find that interesting.. never heard of it.

-G

Like Copernicus has stated in another thread, A high IQ is nothing without the support of a high EQ.

Let me give you my own example...

Adolf Hitler : High IQ, more than likely a fairly low EQ.

Nikola Tesla : High IQ, supported with what would probably be a high EQ.

Compare the two extremes I've given you and determine if IQ by itself is of any significance, or even relevant to modern day life.

[edit on 6-11-2007 by DeadFlagBlues]

Or have a high IQ and double post your previous response in quotes... Whatever works.

[edit on 6-11-2007 by DeadFlagBlues]

id like more info of the EQ thing.. ill be checking it out but i might miss some stuff so any known links are welcome.

-G

reply to post by GlahES


EQ is considered "emotional intelligence."