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High IQs are associated with mental and physical disorders

scientificamerican.com

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Re: High IQs are associated with mental and physical disorders

#161

Post by yt-sdb »

toyota86 wrote: post #143
rory wrote: post #5

> It’s also possible that people who join Mensa differ from other people in ways other than just IQ. For example, people preoccupied with intellectual pursuits may spend less time than the average person on physical exercise and social interaction, both of which have been shown to have broad benefits for psychological and physical health. Is Mensa really an "intellectual pursuit"? I'm not sure exactly what Mensa does…

> people insecure enough to join an IQ-restricted club I don't understand this sentiment. There are race/ethnicity-restricted clubs, men-only clubs, athletic clubs, equestrian clubs, farmers clubs, car ownership clubs. However, when it's about IQ (something which you say you hold in disdain), suddenly out come the insults. Insecure nerds, right? They only have their insignificant test scores, they must be a despicabl…

Maybe this analogy will help: joining a high-IQ club is not like joining just any athletic club. It's like joining an athletic club that's restricted based on a metric. What if you wanted to join a hiking club in your area but found out the only way to join was to prove you hiked X mountains first? I could see why that would turn some people off. It's not the interests; it's the cutoff.

Re: High IQs are associated with mental and physical disorders

#162

Post by tbalsam »

cauthon wrote: post #137
no_one_ever wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really care one way or the other, but my impression is the group offers a setting for like-minded (read 'higher-IQ') individuals to come talk about anything and not just the thing they are there for.

> like-minded (read 'higher-IQ') individuals But what topic are they of like mind about? "High IQ" individuals might be left-wing or right-wing, religious or secular, capitalist or communist, etc. The only theme likely to be in common among all Mensa members is a pride in their IQ.

That seems like quite an assumption, friend.

I think most people in that category love having people to have intellectual conversations with. I've been in a space with people who are naturally incredibly high IQ, and there's a special kind of comraderie that comes from not having to go through the lonely exercise of scaffolding everything that you're deeply passionate about.

It's community. Pride in IQ != The main reason to be centric around an IQ.

I've tested well in that sphere. It's an incomplete measure, but it does measure something, and I like being around/with people at that caliber in the "IQ" arena.

I want to be challenged. I want to have community where my heart is in intellectual things. I don't want someone to just absorb my information-excited rants, I want someone to fight me on them and challenge me to grow.

Most of all, I don't want to feel isolated or lonely in my experiences. We all desire community around what makes us us. It's a fundamentally human thing, I think, and denying it because it's some measure that some people use to prop up their insecurity feels a bit hurtful and/or harmful to people really seeking community there.

Not currently a member of any sigma-type IQ-only organizations. Just my thoughts. I love other kinds of people too. But people who think in that level and way are my safe people, and I can feel seen and heard with them.

Note: there's EQ and a host of other things not mentioned here. I'm just talking about the above specific insight in general. :)

Re: High IQs are associated with mental and physical disorders

#163

Post by carabiner »

HPsquared wrote: post #147
carabiner wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meanwhile, we see significantly less depression in higher levels of educational attainment: https://figshare.com/articles/figure/Weighted_prevalence_of_...

Someone who has high IQ and depressed, may still perform poorly at school. This can also be a vicious cycle. High IQ alone isn't sufficient for educational attainment, it's not even particularly necessary in most fields: for most people education is a matter of hard work and rote learning.

Of course. Gifted students are sometimes failed by schools. But I think it's safe bet that a random large group of college grads will have a higher average IQ than adults who only finished high school. Don't you?

Re: High IQs are associated with mental and physical disorders

#165

Post by SavantIdiot »

no_one_ever wrote: post #125
SavantIdiot wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's interesting. I joined and was immediately turned off by the group. The difference with joining a chess club is you get to play chess. So let's turn your proposal around: What do you get to do in a High IQ club that is different from any random collection of people? Besides talk about how you are in MENSA?

I don't really care one way or the other, but my impression is the group offers a setting for like-minded (read 'higher-IQ') individuals to come talk about anything and not just the thing they are there for.

The irony is: by your own definition, what makes you like minded is that you are all in MENSA.

Hey, let's start a "people who wear blue shoes" society. We're all like minded, I bet the conversation will be fascinating.

Put another, less sarcastic way: there's no guarantee they will be interesting because there is literally nothing guranteed to be in common except we're smart. But a chess club will be, because everyone talks about chess. This is why I found MENSA dull.

But also, this isn't a subjective analysis: it is a logical deduction. I'm identifying sets and drawing conclusions. You know, rational Ayn Rand stuff.

I'd rather hang out with dumbasses who can woodwork, or dumbasses who can tune car engines, or dumbasses who can cook, or dumbasses who can run marathons, over smart people who have no other connection to me other than we all scored high on an arbitrary test.

But as you said, YMMV.

Re: High IQs are associated with mental and physical disorders

#166

Post by zaphirplane »

SavantIdiot wrote: post #96
pizza234 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Update: I'm reading people with (more) negative experiences. I guess YMMV :) Still, I wouldn't draw absolute conclusions based on this. I was a Mensa associate, and participated to evening meetings in two countries (evening meetings are only part of the activities). You're assuming, with "people insecure enough to join an IQ-restricted club", that associates sit on a high horse due to their IQ. It was quite the oppos…

That's interesting. I joined and was immediately turned off by the group. The difference with joining a chess club is you get to play chess. So let's turn your proposal around: What do you get to do in a High IQ club that is different from any random collection of people? Besides talk about how you are in MENSA?

No idea and not vested. I don’t see the difference between that and a group of friends, because not all groups of friends exist because of a shared activity, some exist because they like to be around each other

Re: High IQs are associated with mental and physical disorders

#167

Post by underwater »

GekkePrutser wrote: post #88
rory wrote: post #5

> It’s also possible that people who join Mensa differ from other people in ways other than just IQ. For example, people preoccupied with intellectual pursuits may spend less time than the average person on physical exercise and social interaction, both of which have been shown to have broad benefits for psychological and physical health. Is Mensa really an "intellectual pursuit"? I'm not sure exactly what Mensa does…

I've never joined Mensa but I very clearly see the thing about neglecting physical and social pursuits because they are harder than intellectual ones :) Makes sense to choose things you're naturally good in, it's not really a 'preoccupation' as such. Someone who is great at sports will tend to focus on that. It's just natural to direct yourself towards pursuits that come easily. The problem with this thing of course…

Adopting a sedentary lifestyle isn't very smart. You'd think a club of high-IQ folk would know better.

Re: High IQs are associated with mental and physical disorders

#168

Post by astrange »

centimeter wrote: post #76
zpeti wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same publication that two days ago posts about how climate anxiety is a white issue... At least they could stop calling themselves "scientific" american.

That doesn't clash with my observations at all. Environmental activists of all strains, including climate enthusiasts, are overwhelmingly white.

This may be a consequence of the place you live in or the language you're reading their material in. I expect there are plenty of people doing environmental things (possibly under other names) in Africa/India/China.

White people also invented "rolling coal", so we have both extremes.

Re: High IQs are associated with mental and physical disorders

#169

Post by DaveExeter »

rory wrote: post #152
Mountain_Skies wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I joined to have something to put on my otherwise bare resume coming out of university. Never renewed my membership. Their magazine was better than I expected but the local newsletter didn't inspire me to actually show up at any meetings. From the few other Mensa members I've met, it seemed like they were active members in order to be able to socialize with people who were of "birds of a feather" so to speak rather t…

I can relate to this. I put my SAT score on my resume until I was 23 or 24. Kind of embarrassing, but I was desperate for a way to show I was smart.

What's embarrassing about that?

If I were hiring, I would like to know every applicant's SAT score.

Re: High IQs are associated with mental and physical disorders

#170

Post by TheKnack »

ndiscussion wrote: post #2

This is a survey of people who joined MENSA. I would posit that most normal, healthy, high-IQ folks never bother, and there's a selection bias at play.

One can just listed to the podcast "My Year in Mensa" to confirm this as a major issue with this research.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-year-in-mensa/id149...

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