The Trouble with High IQ • Hacker News Board

Re: The Trouble with High IQ

#41

Post by cubano » Sat, Oct 28, 2017, 5:50 PM UTC

31b3r3t7 wrote: post #33

markcmyers wrote: post #6

Mensa members are a small subpopulation of Americans with high IQ, so it's a stretch to conclude that high IQ is the problem. To me it's more plausible that someone seeking to boost self-esteem and social status by joining a weird organization tends to be a more troubled person than intelligent people in general.

It may only be a coincidence, but I do have high IQ and exactly the kinds of problems they mention in the article. I'm not American or a member of Mensa. I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and inflamatory reactions to certain foods. I also have high anxiety. Strong emotions or stress can be overwhelming enough to give me gastritis or even ulcers sometimes.

Welcome to the human race. We all feel that way at times I would tend to believe.

Re: The Trouble with High IQ

#42

Post by numismatex » Sat, Oct 28, 2017, 5:51 PM UTC

markcmyers wrote: post #6

Mensa members are a small subpopulation of Americans with high IQ, so it's a stretch to conclude that high IQ is the problem. To me it's more plausible that someone seeking to boost self-esteem and social status by joining a weird organization tends to be a more troubled person than intelligent people in general.

Except it's been documented in several studies outside of Mensa. Use Google before you open your virtual mouth.

Re: The Trouble with High IQ

#43

Post by hmschreck » Sat, Oct 28, 2017, 5:53 PM UTC

lemagedurage wrote: post #30

loeg wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It may well be that higher anxiety people are more likely to join Mensa.

That sounds counterintuitive to me. "People with anxiety are more likely to join a community."

You would be amazed in this instance. Mensa has a reputation for being very 'superior', very 'elitist', and that's the type of organization that is more likely to attract the more typically anxious or neurotic personalities.

Re: The Trouble with High IQ

#44

Post by Protostome » Sat, Oct 28, 2017, 5:53 PM UTC

So there is a correlation between having psychological problems to being in Mensa. Since no causation was demonstrated here, not even for the sample in this study, the conclusion is not more than a clickbait.

Re: The Trouble with High IQ

#45

Post by BurningFrog » Sat, Oct 28, 2017, 5:54 PM UTC

austincheney wrote: post #23

I am above average intelligence and nothing pisses me off more than stupid people (especially stupid people gathering in large numbers). I can withstand nearby gunshots or explosions without emotional stress (I am military), but stupid people proclaiming their awesome wisdom really alters my emotional state. I had to stop visiting Ars Technica. Their news is great, but I wish I could turn the comments at the bottom c…

As a smart person it is unavoidable to be surrounded by people dumber than you.

In general it's not very smart to be angry at unavoidable realities.

One perspective shift I find helps is to not think of myself as normal and others as stupid, but to think of others as normal and myself as extra gifted in this area.

Re: The Trouble with High IQ

#46

Post by beautifulfreak » Sat, Oct 28, 2017, 5:57 PM UTC

Terman in 1922 found similar levels of "maladjustment" in a long term study of the gifted. Women are more susceptible, and it increases with both IQ and age. http://prometheussociety.org/wp/articles/the-outsiders/

Re: The Trouble with High IQ

#47

Post by Kenji » Sat, Oct 28, 2017, 5:57 PM UTC

A minor insult such as a clothing tag or an unnatural sound may trigger a low level, chronic stress response which then activates a hyper body response.

Oh my god. This. So much this. Things like that drive me nuts.

Re: The Trouble with High IQ

#48

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Oct 28, 2017, 5:57 PM UTC

loeg wrote: post #16

hprotagonist wrote: post #8

Neuroskeptic is, unsurprisingly, skeptical: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/2017/10/22/in... Secondly, I have concerns about the sample. This wasn’t a study of high-IQ people. It was a study of Mensans, a self-selected subgroup of high-IQ people. 6.5 million Americans fall in the top 2% of IQ, and only 55,000 of them are members of American Mensa. In other words, Mensans make up about 0.8% of high-IQs,…

It may well be that higher anxiety people are more likely to join Mensa.

[deleted]

Re: The Trouble with High IQ

#49

Post by SubiculumCode » Sat, Oct 28, 2017, 6:03 PM UTC

bhauer wrote: post #21

I wonder if anyone will point out that limiting their study to Mensa members was a mistake. Oh wait, that is what most of the comments are saying.

Mistake is harsh. Limitation is better. Finding a.sample given a set of resources can be extremely difficult.

Re: The Trouble with High IQ

#50

Post by numismatex » Sat, Oct 28, 2017, 6:11 PM UTC

olympus wrote: post #13

Perhaps more appropriately "the trouble with Mensa members." A study consisting only of Mensa members might not generalize to all people with IQ >130. There are two things needed to get into Mensa: 1) a high test score on a qualifying test, and the important 2) some reason why it is worth it to pay $70 per year to be a member. Reason 2) is why I think that these results might not generalize. Many people join Mensa fo…

Google is your friend. You should use it before you form opinions. Several studies outside of this have different population samples with similar results. Nice bias toward exclusive groups, though. Stay normal.