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My IQ

blog.tanyakhovanova.com

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Re: My IQ

#11

Post by DanBC »

I'm keen to know what the research is about cleverness and overthinking and multiple choice questions.

One of the most intelligent people I know IRL has trouble with the UK driving licence theory questions because she very rapidly provides 6 correct answers, and then has to try to detangle her correct answers from the choices.

I suspect that she'd do better if she tried when she was drunk (not the practical!!) because that would filter out the overthinking.

Of course, maybe this is all post rationalisation and some people just are lousy at some stuff.

Re: My IQ

#12

Post by salgernon »

paisawalla wrote: post #2

Great insight. Regarding Mensa itself, or any claims to intellectual superiority: one of the big lessons of my life has been that being intelligent has no intrinsic value. If you are unable to manifest your intelligence in a way that can substantially (disproportionate to your effort) improve your life or the lives of others, then your mind doesn't matter. It has no impact in the world, and I am not the first person…

I met a genius that worked in the shipping department of the first software company I worked for. (Back when people shipped software.)

But working in the shipping department was only what he did in order to persue his passion, which was bird watching and photography. That is where he expressed his genius, although he couldn't make a living from it, it made him happy.

Reminds me of http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson_Bentley who first photographed snowflakes. His genius never gained him fortune.

Re: My IQ

#13

Post by codewright »

DanBC wrote: post #11

I'm keen to know what the research is about cleverness and overthinking and multiple choice questions. One of the most intelligent people I know IRL has trouble with the UK driving licence theory questions because she very rapidly provides 6 correct answers, and then has to try to detangle her correct answers from the choices. I suspect that she'd do better if she tried when she was drunk (not the practical!!) becaus…

I'm in this weird position of being excellent at the meta-reasoning required to ace a test and just smart enough to back it up, but not being very creative or powerful intellectually.

I was able to ace the National Latin Exam, my drivers' tests, and my handgun license test all without studying. Just from picking what seemed the most rational/logical in the context of a test.

I'd rather be an over-thinker. I'm terrible at a lot of things that demand pure intellectual horsepower. I'm primarily useful for just producing code, not really at higher-order thinking.

Re: My IQ

#14

Post by 46Bit »

salgernon wrote: post #12
paisawalla wrote: post #2

Great insight. Regarding Mensa itself, or any claims to intellectual superiority: one of the big lessons of my life has been that being intelligent has no intrinsic value. If you are unable to manifest your intelligence in a way that can substantially (disproportionate to your effort) improve your life or the lives of others, then your mind doesn't matter. It has no impact in the world, and I am not the first person…

I met a genius that worked in the shipping department of the first software company I worked for. (Back when people shipped software.) But working in the shipping department was only what he did in order to persue his passion, which was bird watching and photography. That is where he expressed his genius, although he couldn't make a living from it, it made him happy. Reminds me of http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilso…

There's a great deal of the population who spend their lives working in shops and so forth doing relatively menial work. Why they're doing it is not about intelligence at all, it's all about drive.

A driven person who's terrified of Maths and Sciences is unlikely to become a leading Physicist, but they might well power through enough basic sums to successfully establish businesses.

An intelligent person who's not driven might never achieve anything like fame, at least in their lifetime, but they still probably enjoy their free time and passions.

Re: My IQ

#15

Post by Shenglong »

|Cow, hen, pig, sheep

The standard answer is supposed to be hen, as it is the only bird.

I believe the standard answer is a "hen" because it's the only one that is gender-specific. In fact, it is distinctly the odd-one out because it doesn't even refer to a specific genus (or even family) of animal.

I'm all for creativity (I have the same complaint often) but there needs to be some sort of standardization in communication and society. A genius who can't communicate any of his/her ideas might as well be no genius at all.

Re: My IQ

#16

Post by spec_laconic »

paisawalla wrote: post #2

Great insight. Regarding Mensa itself, or any claims to intellectual superiority: one of the big lessons of my life has been that being intelligent has no intrinsic value. If you are unable to manifest your intelligence in a way that can substantially (disproportionate to your effort) improve your life or the lives of others, then your mind doesn't matter. It has no impact in the world, and I am not the first person…

My best friend in HS happened to be a genius on paper. Got straight A's freshman and sophomore year, ended up doing less well junior and senior year, and, when he got to college, failed out. He now parks cars in a garage. I don't really care for IQ levels, I think they're mostly meaningless.

Re: My IQ

#17

Post by jeffdavis »

paisawalla wrote: post #2

Great insight. Regarding Mensa itself, or any claims to intellectual superiority: one of the big lessons of my life has been that being intelligent has no intrinsic value. If you are unable to manifest your intelligence in a way that can substantially (disproportionate to your effort) improve your life or the lives of others, then your mind doesn't matter. It has no impact in the world, and I am not the first person…

I'll add that being able to work well with others is usually what determines whether you can manifest your intelligence in a useful way.

Working well with others takes many forms: being able to inspire and lead are obvious ones; but also the ability to take constructive criticism from others and learn from their perspectives -- which can be hard to do when you perceive the other person to be less intelligent (and perceiving others to be less intelligent is a problem by itself).

Re: My IQ

#18

Post by Zarkonnen »

That was pretty much my experience with the Mensa test too. The straight mathematics section was quite easy. All the pattern-matching ones were maddening because you could construct good chains of reasoning for all the options.

Re: My IQ

#19

Post by DanWaterworth »

Shenglong wrote: post #15

|Cow, hen, pig, sheep The standard answer is supposed to be hen, as it is the only bird. I believe the standard answer is a "hen" because it's the only one that is gender-specific. In fact, it is distinctly the odd-one out because it doesn't even refer to a specific genus (or even family) of animal. I'm all for creativity (I have the same complaint often) but there needs to be some sort of standardization in communic…

> I believe the standard answer is a "hen" because it's the only one that is gender-specific.

What about cow?

Re: My IQ

#20

Post by DanBC »

codewright wrote: post #13
DanBC wrote: post #11

I'm keen to know what the research is about cleverness and overthinking and multiple choice questions. One of the most intelligent people I know IRL has trouble with the UK driving licence theory questions because she very rapidly provides 6 correct answers, and then has to try to detangle her correct answers from the choices. I suspect that she'd do better if she tried when she was drunk (not the practical!!) becaus…

I'm in this weird position of being excellent at the meta-reasoning required to ace a test and just smart enough to back it up, but not being very creative or powerful intellectually. I was able to ace the National Latin Exam, my drivers' tests, and my handgun license test all without studying. Just from picking what seemed the most rational/logical in the context of a test. I'd rather be an over-thinker. I'm terribl…

Yes!

This person I mentioned - when she doesn't understand something she'll ask a question. And then she'll ask another question. And then she'll ask another question. And she'll keep going until she gets it. And because she's asking questions, and really thinking about it, she gets a deep understanding.

Me? I ask a question. Someone gives me an answer. I think to myself "ok, so I kind of get it" and then I drop it. So I have a broad but very shallow knowledge.

I have learnt to ask more questions, and to ask better questions. (Also, importantly, to use available online stuff to try to answer the questions I ask before I find IRL people.)

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