Higher IQ

[Mermaid]

As some of you may have noticed I've had other threads talking about intelligence, the malleability of it etc because I am geniunely interested in it, I'd prefer not have any comments about how I shouldn't worry about this, how I should think less about this and do my best etc. This thread is not because I want to compare myself. I'm simply interested in how brains work differently, what are the signs, in what way they are different etc.

Now to the question; are there any members here with an or any members who know someone with a higher IQ of >120? If so:
1) How did you fare academically?
Fair in grade school and undergrad, straight A's in grad. It was all about my willingness to concentrate.
2) How fast did you learn a new concept?
Depends on the topic of the concept. If it was something I was interested in, really fast. If not, I really really had to concentrate.
3) Did you have to study much outside of school?
See answer to #2
4) What was difficult for you to learn and what wasn't?
Math = hard, medical sciences = easy.
5) How did it feel being around people that had it a bit more difficult to learn new concepts, remember things, solve problems etc
I'm very patient. Sometimes it's tiring to have to slow down, but not usually.
6) When you solve a problem in let's say mathematics (you can use another example) what is your approach and thought process when solving it?
I hate math and have always sucked at it. I would have to take a lot of time to write the problem down in a way that allowed me to see the whole thing at once. Which is not always the best way, but I have to think the whole thing through every time. I can't seem to retain formulas or shit like that. For some reason I don't trust them.
7) How was your experience when learning a new language? Did it come to you easily?
I learned pretty passable Spanish as an adult. I wouldn't say it was easier for me than for anyone else. I promptly forgot most of it as soon as I stopped using it though.

Personally I believe someone with a higher IQ has a much better and much more efficient thought process combined with a more powerful subconscious (pattern recognition, memory and such is very important too).

Answers above. I tested at 140 as a kid, sightly lower as an adult.

[RozKek]

So, I personally think that IQ tests are suitable for testing one's ability to take IQ tests rather than measuring anything particularly useful predictive about intelligence.

Someones IQ is a good indicator in how good they will do in life i.e how succesful they'll be, their lifestyle choices etc. So, it isn't only an indicator about how good someone is at taking tests, if we think statistically, you guys have a higher chance of being more succesful than me, if we exclude other factors like birthplace etc.

[Jackalope]

So, I personally think that IQ tests are suitable for testing one's ability to take IQ tests rather than measuring anything particularly useful predictive about intelligence.

Someones IQ is a good indicator in how good they will do in life i.e how succesful they'll be, their lifestyle choices etc. So, it isn't only an indicator about how good someone is at taking tests, if we think statistically, you guys have a higher chance of being more succesful than me, if we exclude other factors like birthplace etc.

I sincerely doubt that the correlation is very strong.

BTW, by excluding those other factors - which are significant - you essentially make any statement bout correlation meaningless.

[Jackalope]

Not to mention that "successful" is an entirely subjective assessment.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I'm not sure I've ever taken a standard IQ test. As for the rest:

1. I did very well academically, but that isn't really a fair assessment. I made sure to take classes I already knew I'd do well in.

2. Like others here, it depended largely on my level of interest.

3. No. Outside of school was for stealing beer and chasing girls.

4. Maths and economics were a stumper, as I found the subjects intensely dull. History and literature were a walk.

5. Don't recall. I think one of them eventually became Prime Minister.

6. Learn as much as possible about the subject before tackling the problem. If it's a real world type problem, I try to find out what else has been tried before I start.

7. I learn languages without undo difficulty, but I tend to forget them if I don't use them. I used to have conversational Russian and French, now I get by in Irish and know enough Maori to get my face slapped.

Boru

[ignoramus]

My IQ was tested when I was around 13

Wow! Mine's between 15 and 20!
Have you reached the "tying shoelaces" milestone?
I have! I've got 2 more semesters than I should be fully toilet trained!   Woot!

[bennyboy]

As some of you may have noticed I've had other threads talking about intelligence, the malleability of it etc because I am geniunely interested in it, I'd prefer not have any comments about how I shouldn't worry about this, how I should think less about this and do my best etc. This thread is not because I want to compare myself. I'm simply interested in how brains work differently, what are the signs, in what way they are different etc.

Now to the question; are there any members here with an or any members who know someone with a higher IQ of >120? If so:
1) How did you fare academically?
2) How fast did you learn a new concept?
3) Did you have to study much outside of school?
4) What was difficult for you to learn and what wasn't?
5) How did it feel being around people that had it a bit more difficult to learn new concepts, remember things, solve problems etc
6) When you solve a problem in let's say mathematics (you can use another example) what is your approach and thought process when solving it?
7) How was your experience when learning a new language? Did it come to you easily?

Personally I believe someone with a higher IQ has a much better and much more efficient thought process combined with a more powerful subconscious (pattern recognition, memory and such is very important too).

Mine was once measured at 147.  However, looking back, it must have been an older-style test.  They asked math questions that required basic math knowledge (actually, I missed one on triangle lengths because I hadn't yet encountered the Pythagorean theorem, which was a little unfair).  The also asked, "Who wrote the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire?"  That I knew at age 13 that it was Edward Gibbon was more a function of nerdiness and my family's lack of cable TV than real intelligence in my opinion.

1)  I got high 90s or 100% on almost all tests, but often failed to do homework assignments, especially if they were about things that seemed easy and would take too much time.
2)  I learned concepts about as fast as teachers explained them in class.  Most of my teachers were decent, and exlained things well enough.
3)  I never, ever had to study except for things like history tests, where I would spend a couple hours remembering names and dates, or biology, where I might be required to remember a few dozen names of different bones or whatever.
4)  The difficult things for me were things requiring organization and participation.  For example, I was constantly screwing up chemistry experiments because I was distracted trying to find out what would burn, explode, or otherwise do something interesting, and I never took careful enough measurements to get good results.
5)  I never looked down on my classmates.  However, I can say that being in a slow class was very boring, and this led to some very serious consequences in high school-- ditching classes, even some minor criminal behaviors, just because life was SO FUCKING BORING.
6)  The process depends very much on the question.  In general, I'd try to look under or behind the question: what's the POINT of the question?  What knowledge is the teacher really trying to get at with this question?  This was important, especially in math, because I could sometimes get the question just by intuition or by a non-standard method-- but I knew that unless I could spit things out the WAY the teacher was looking for, I could get a poor grade.  "Show your work," right?
7)  When I started learning Chinese, it was VERY hard for me.  I did a 1-year course in a couple months in a special summer class, thinking I was such a smart guy and I could do it.  I literally studied more than 12 hours per day, and ended up with a B+.  It was probably the proudest grade I ever got, but wow!

As an aside, I've learned that I have what I'd call learning disabilities.  In particular, in reading comprehension where you have to understand what the "author means," I can never understand what they fucking mean.  If a writer says, "The volcano exploded," then maybe the teacher wants me to answer, "The writer was indicating danger."  But I'm thinking that's too obvious-- maybe the writer is secretly expressing a metaphor about fatherhood or something.  To me, everything might have a million different meanings, but to the simpleton who wrote the test, the literal meaning is almost always "it."

[Jenny A]

As some of you may have noticed I've had other threads talking about intelligence, the malleability of it etc because I am geniunely interested in it, I'd prefer not have any comments about how I shouldn't worry about this, how I should think less about this and do my best etc. This thread is not because I want to compare myself. I'm simply interested in how brains work differently, what are the signs, in what way they are different etc.

Now to the question; are there any members here with an or any members who know someone with a higher IQ of >120? If so:
1) How did you fare academically?
2) How fast did you learn a new concept?
3) Did you have to study much outside of school?
4) What was difficult for you to learn and what wasn't?
5) How did it feel being around people that had it a bit more difficult to learn new concepts, remember things, solve problems etc
6) When you solve a problem in let's say mathematics (you can use another example) what is your approach and thought process when solving it?
7) How was your experience when learning a new language? Did it come to you easily?

Personally I believe someone with a higher IQ has a much better and much more efficient thought process combined with a more powerful subconscious (pattern recognition, memory and such is very important too).

First of all, IQ tests evaluate a number of specific skills but ignore others. People who correctly apply logic to abstract propositions, easily find patterns in number sequences, can rotate shapes in their heads, and unscramble words do well on IQ tests. With the exception of the later, which I do only moderately well, I excell at those tasks. Consequently I have an IQ over 130. But with the exception of remembering concepts, I don't have a particularly good long term memory. My short term memory ain't that great either. I spell badly. I don't proof so well. I'm not particularly good at adding numbers in my head. And while I learn to read and write them fairly well, and learn their grammar easily, I positively suck at learning to speak and worse yet hear foreign languages. I'm dyslexic too. On the other hand I get no credit on IQ tests for being able to read novels and history at about a hundred pages and hour. So that high IQ implies some things I simply cannot live up to but misses one of my greatest academic assets.

So, on to your questions:

1) How did you fare academically?

Poorly in grade school, fair in high school, well in college, very well in law school. Less emphasis on adding and spelling plus the advent of the PC made all the difference.

2) How fast did you learn a new concept?

Easily. I often figure them out ahead of a teacher or instructions materials.

3) Did you have to study much outside of school?

Nope.

4) What was difficult for you to learn and what wasn't?

Language and brute force memorization were hard, everything else was pretty easy.

5) How did it feel being around people that had it a bit more difficult to learn new concepts, remember things, solve problems etc.

Frustrating.

6) When you solve a problem in let's say mathematics (you can use another example) what is your approach and thought process when solving it?

Depends on the problem. Often I just see the answer and the work is in figuring out why it's right.

7) How was your experience when learning a new language? Did it come to you easily?

Awful. See above.

[Rev. Rye]

Now to the question; are there any members here with an or any members who know someone with a higher IQ of >120?
Yes. When I was a kid, I had my IQ tested, and I scored 176. I'm not sure which test was used (though my therapist thinks it may have been the Weschler). Admittedly, I take these results with a grain of salt.

 If so:
1) How did you fare academically?

Fair to middling early on in school, partly because of school teachers making a point of not adapting to kids on the autism spectrum (even if the law said they should). Of course, after Junior year of high school, I no longer had to take gym class. My GPA went up an entire point after that. By college, I can only remember getting lower than a B in two classes (over several years).


2) How fast did you learn a new concept?

Pretty damn quick if I could put my mind to it.

3) Did you have to study much outside of school?

No.

4) What was difficult for you to learn and what wasn't?

If it interests me, it's easy. If it doesn't, or involves serious levels of social skills, it's not.

5) How did it feel being around people that had it a bit more difficult to learn new concepts, remember things, solve problems etc

For the longest time, my thoughts were "what the fuck is wrong with these people?" Sometimes, I've actually flat out said aloud that I was surrounded by idiots in my high school classes and in at least one case, the teacher actually agreed with me. More recently, I took an accounting class, and looking at someone next to me bungling the Excel portion of an exam spectacularly, it took a load of willpower for me to not just commandeer her computer and do her exam myself.

6) When you solve a problem in let's say mathematics (you can use another example) what is your approach and thought process when solving it?

Look up possible solutions, try and plug them into whatever I'm trying to solve, and see what works.

7) How was your experience when learning a new language? Did it come to you easily?

As a kid, I learned a new language every year. Sadly, I wound up forgetting most of them. Sadly, I did not fare as well in foreign language classes later in my life (whether the Latin classes in High School or in the German classes I took in college), probably because of my habit for trying to write my own sample translation sentences. Honestly, some of the things I came up with terrified my German teacher so much I had to talk with the dean.

Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what a high IQ is even meant to fully mean. In theory, it should involve higher levels of thought, but, honestly, empirical evidence doesn't necessarily bear it out. Apparently, Stanley Kubrick was tested in his youth and actually scored below average (honestly a bit unfathomable for anyone who knows anything about Kubrick), and, conversely, Joachim von Ribbentropp, who managed to end up high enough on the Nazi Totem Pole to be executed at Nuremberg despite having little to no ability to do ANYTHING Hitler assigned him to do (seriously: look up his time as German ambassador to England; it could be turned into a sitcom and you wouldn't have to change the historical record at all) and somehow wound up scoring 129 on the Weschler.

[Alex K]

My answers are very similar to rob's, actually. I didn't become a maths teacher though, but I've taught classes@uni and am a textbook author. I've given many maths lessons to fellow students in school. I really dislike rote memorization of vocabulary, but since I spent a few years in the US, I became rather fluent in at least that one foreign language without having to study too much. My French and Spanish are in a bit of a sad state these days, I guess I would become relatively fluent if I lived there for a year or so.