# What it's actually like being surrounded by geniuses...



## daleks_exterminate (Jul 22, 2013)

I've seen IQ getting thrown a lot around this forum (especially in debates) as an excuse for all sorts of bizzare things: used for justifying racism, used for justifying sexism, etc. I've constantly stood on the side of "IQ is one way of measuring intelligence, but is lacking" and people made weird assumptions about that....

I've personally been in a situation where a language school gave me an IQ test to see "what program I'd qualify for" and then rolled out the metaphorical red carpet because "I'll be able to learn a new language incredibly quickly" haha I have ADHD and they so far have been very wrong about that.

I've known people who were approved or denied for specific jobs due to a required IQ assessment these are typically given online anyway, are just pattern recognition, and really aren't going to typically assess if someone will actually be good at that job. It's a terrible metric.

*The way we measure intelligence doesn't accommodate for the fact that some people cannot stay focused or motivated, or that some struggle with specific areas. Like, some IQ tests measure math comprehension sometimes, so a certifiable genius with dyscalculia would be rated below average.*

SO.... I recently decided that this would be a kinda fun thread. *The two adults that I'm closest to, spend the most physical time with, talk to the most etc are both certified geniuses (that's not a real phrasing, pretty sure, but does sound hilarious).* They're both Mensa members.

One is my husband, who had an IQ of 152+ (measured in elementary school), and now 144 as an adult. Was that due to smoking weed before your frontal lobe was fully developed @Pifanjr?  )

The second, is my best friend, who at 13 years old, maxed out an extensive test for 8-14 year olds. They later scored around 138 on the official Mensa test (a much shorter test, which is just pattern recognition).

*I'm going to post the dumb shit they do and I to deal with on a regular basis. *


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## daleks_exterminate (Jul 22, 2013)

First up....

This last Monday, my best friend suggested we "go eat at the gas station down the street" BEFORE I got on the bus to go meet for a movie. I asked about maybe sitting down instead, but that if he wanted to just get something on the run instead that was fine. He then said (I think when i was already in the bus) it was a joke because it's a restaurant in a former gas station and he made reservations. Cool, cool. Well.... It was great, but i was a bit under dressed (as I dressed for a gas station and being comfortable in a movie).


















I hope they enjoyed my ridiculous boiler suit. 🤣


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## daleks_exterminate (Jul 22, 2013)

Wednesday morning (temperature - chilly): my husband carried our child to the car sans shoes for daycare, because child "didn't want to wear them in the car". I said I thought that maybe it was not the best idea, because he might forget them. He said he wouldn't. So, 30 mins later, I find out that shoes were forgotten... kid was crying because kid wanted to play outside in the garden (it's a Montessori daycare, and there's a lot of outdoor playtime). He's trying to figure out when the nearest shoe store opens and I was trying to help with that, but apparently, daycare had a spare in kids size, so it wasn't so bad this time. 😅

Did i mention that I'm ADHD? Life with a genius: when the person who has the worst short term memory in the world has to remind the smartest person in the room to remember a task.....no way that can go wrong 🤣.


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## daleks_exterminate (Jul 22, 2013)

Last time I went to a Mensa weekend: was mostly nice, had good conversations with a couple of people, played some board games, won some board games, watched an adult male quickly mix his pieces in with the pieces in the box so final score couldn't show how badly I beat him... *twice. *he was magically able to count his score while I was just observing games, but suddenly lost that ability the second I joined in and won. Note: all other players were male. Correlation, perhaps? 

🤣🤣🤣


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## daleks_exterminate (Jul 22, 2013)

Based off of pattern recognition.... my father may be a genius. He used to actually get pretty mad at me if he asked me a license plate number that passed us for 1.6 seconds and I couldn't recite it.... He could, and thought that was something everyone should be able to do, as you may need that information while driving. 

....I've literally never needed to memorize anyone's license plate number while driving to date. I'm still waiting for that to somehow become a useful skill as I've gotten okay at it out of necessity of not wanting to be in trouble (although....nothing near the like of my dad's freaky photographic memory). 

(I don't have a number though, and I'm not sure if he's ever been tested, so this may not be relevant to thread?)


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## Electra (Oct 24, 2014)

daleks_exterminate said:


> Based off of pattern recognition.... my father may be a genius. He used to actually get pretty mad at me if he asked me a license plate number that passed us for 1.6 seconds and I couldn't recite it.... He could, and thought that was something everyone should be able to do, as you may need that information while driving.
> 
> ....I've literally never needed to memorize anyone's license plate number while driving to date. I'm still waiting for that to somehow become a useful skill as I've gotten okay at it out of necessity of not wanting to be in trouble (although....nothing near the like of my dad's freaky photographic memory).
> 
> (I don't have a number though, and I'm not sure if he's ever been tested, so this may not be relevant to thread?)


At least he has a photographic memory or awesome short term memory! But I remember playing this number-game that trains you to memorize number came in extremely handy when I worked as a cashier. My memory for numbers temporary became like 5 times better after a while practicing.


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## mia-me (Feb 5, 2021)

I subscribe to Cattell's theory of fluid and crystallized intelligences. The former is an inherent ability to problem solve without prior experience or learning and the latter, learned/experienced knowledge. Memory is primarily the latter since it can be learned and must be maintained or the skill's forgotten, although this presumes that there aren't any psychological/neurological issues which can erode on memory.

As a generality, certified geniuses can be a mixed bag, except that they're more prone to being eccentric. Having a high IQ doesn't guarantee conventional success since there's no obligation to succeed in this manner. That said, there's a greater likelihood that if high IQers wish to conventionally succeed, they're more likely to do so. Analogous, having inherent artistic abilities but rather than focusing on talents, people choosing STEM careers.


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## ENTJudgement (Oct 6, 2013)

The U.S military already concluded that if your I.Q is below 80, there are literally no roles you can fill within the army without you being a liability.


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## 497882 (Nov 6, 2017)

daleks_exterminate said:


> I've seen IQ getting thrown a lot around this forum (especially in debates) as an excuse for all sorts of bizzare things: used for justifying racism, used for justifying sexism, etc. I've constantly stood on the side of "IQ is one way of measuring intelligence, but is lacking" and people made weird assumptions about that....
> 
> I've personally been in a situation where a language school gave me an IQ test to see "what program I'd qualify for" and then rolled out the metaphorical red carpet because "I'll be able to learn a new language incredibly quickly" haha I have ADHD and they so far have been very wrong about that.
> 
> ...


Okay so like you know how penny from big bang can never understand what her freinds are saying? Its kind of like that.


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## daleks_exterminate (Jul 22, 2013)

MisterDexter said:


> Okay so like you know how penny from big bang can never understand what her freinds are saying? Its kind of like that.


Are you saying that it's like that for you, or implying that it's something in my post made you think it's like that for me?

....actually, if the second, sure, let's go with that 🤣. Totally penny over here, yup....


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## daleks_exterminate (Jul 22, 2013)

ENTJudgement said:


> The U.S military already concluded that if your I.Q is below 80, there are literally no roles you can fill within the army without you being a liability.


Fun fact: there's also an IQ ceiling on being a police officer in the US. If you test too high, you're also deemed as a liability...


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## Pifanjr (Aug 19, 2014)

daleks_exterminate said:


> Totally penny over here, yup....


Don't be ashamed of being a Raj.


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## daleks_exterminate (Jul 22, 2013)

Pifanjr said:


> Don't be ashamed of being a Raj.


Outting me....
So rude 😅.


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## FreeKekistan (Mar 4, 2015)

daleks_exterminate said:


> *The way we measure intelligence doesn't accommodate for the fact that some people cannot stay focused or motivated, or that some struggle with specific areas. Like, some IQ tests measure math comprehension sometimes, so a certifiable genius with dyscalculia would be rated below average.*


Relativism. More to the point, MORAL relativism. IQ is an indicator of many things.

The thing IQ doesn't make is gender or racial differences. It's the difference between gender and races that makes the difference in IQ. You might look at this and feel insulted, but then when you look at the averages of IQ you see clearly the bell curve.










The dumbest and at the same most genius people on average are men, while women are towards the middle.
I won't touch too much on the differences between different races or areas of the world and others. Somewhat that is considered "forbidden". However, I will mention that on average, the world's highest IQ belongs to the Ashkenazi Jews (115).

Anyways, beyond that, saying that IQ is something we should disregard is a COPE. IQ is a predictor of success.






You can squirm all you want. IQ is relevant. I'm not trying to be offensive. A good leader needs to have high IQ. It matters to me. I'm not MENSA material but... Nope, that's a lie. I score 135. Mensa accepts starting with 130. I just choose not to be a dick about it.

The US army does not accept anybody with an IQ lower than 80 because it has no job they can assign to them so that they prove useful.


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## daleks_exterminate (Jul 22, 2013)

FreeKekistan said:


> However, I will mention that on average, the world's highest IQ belongs to the Ashkenazi Jews (115).
> 
> Anyways, beyond that, saying that IQ is something we should disregard is a COPE. IQ is a predictor of success.
> 
> You can squirm all you want. IQ is relevant.


I guess it's just my woman brain not getting this (and as you pointed out on average, we're in the middle) so could you please use your huge 135 IQ to explain to me how I'm squirming and just coping with my opinion, yet am am the world's highest IQ average, and have been tested at a higher IQ than you?

I'm a bit lost on that dichotomy.
Thanks <3


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## Pifanjr (Aug 19, 2014)

FreeKekistan said:


> Relativism. More to the point, MORAL relativism. IQ is an indicator of many things.
> 
> The thing IQ doesn't make is gender or racial differences. It's the difference between gender and races that makes the difference in IQ. You might look at this and feel insulted, but then when you look at the averages of IQ you see clearly the bell curve.
> 
> ...


I fail to see how this is relevant to a thread about smart people sometimes doing dumb stuff. Unless posting this was meant as an example of that, in which case I apologize for not recognizing it as satire, but too many people seem to be serious about this stuff nowadays to assume someone is joking about it.


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## FreeKekistan (Mar 4, 2015)

daleks_exterminate said:


> I guess it's just my woman brain not getting this (and as you pointed out on average, we're in the middle) so could you please use your huge 135 IQ to explain to me how I'm squirming and just coping with my opinion, yet am am the world's highest IQ average, and have been tested at a higher IQ than you?
> 
> I'm a bit lost on that dichotomy.
> Thanks <3


Average. That's the key word. That's why I'm so smart, so I can explain all these things, also nuances.


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## daleks_exterminate (Jul 22, 2013)

FreeKekistan said:


> Average. That's the key word. That's why I'm so smart, so I can explain all these things, also nuances.


Do you mean cope as in having an opinion to make up for something lacking: I.e. only someone with a lower or average IQ wouldn't like IQ scores as a measure of intelligence, though? Or does that word mean something else in this context?

Did you read the examples in the OP? I don't mean having a cut off if viewed too low as a liability, i mean IQ being used for many things it can't predict (such as the example I gave of a school giving me an IQ test and then determining I could easily learn an entire a language in 3 months. I cannot. I do know people with lower IQs than I have who have been able to do similar things to that though, despite that they wouldn't have "tested" as being able to do so.)

Still, my thread was about sharing my experiences with the people around me who are very intelligent and dumb things they sometimes do. I could share my own, but that's not as funny as it would be first hand experience instead of someone witnessing it. What was the point of your post?


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## Mark R (Dec 23, 2015)

I typically score in the upper 150's in standard deviation of 16 IQ tests. I qualify for Mensa and every 1 out of a thousand High IQ society, such the Triple-9 Society, but I've never joined any of these. None of my closest friends that would be considered high-IQ types, but they certainly have cognitive strengths that I lack because they are artisan types.. 

I have met a few really other high-IQ NTPs. Most of them are not too interesting to me because their brains work really similar to mine; they are too predictable. High IQ idealists are the most interesting to me because they think differently than I do. My son is an INTJ. He graduated high school when he was 13 and university at 18 with straight A's. He is very interesting. We have a great connection, and I am very proud of him.

I'd love to find a company that gives IQ tests so I would have some kind of advantage because of it. I have an excellent understanding of my native language and am better at articulating my ideas than most, but I am not very good at learning other languages. Overall, having a brain that knows a lot of facts and is able to solve complicated mathematical and logical problems quickly has never really given me much help in anything. I've heard that having a high-IQ really only helps if you are in a field like theoretical physics.


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## daleks_exterminate (Jul 22, 2013)

Mark R said:


> I typically score in the upper 150's in standard deviation of 16 IQ tests. I qualify for Mensa and every 1 out of a thousand High IQ society, such the Triple-9 Society, but I've never joined any of these. None of my closest friends that would be considered high-IQ types, but they certainly have cognitive strengths that I lack because they are artisan types..
> 
> I have met a few really other high-IQ NTPs. Most of them are not too interesting to me because their brains work really similar to mine; they are too predictable. High IQ idealists are the most interesting to me because they think differently than I do. My son is an INTJ. He graduated high school when he was 13 and university at 18 with straight A's. He is very interesting. We have a great connection, and I am very proud of him.
> 
> I'd love to find a company that gives IQ tests so I would have some kind of advantage because of it. I have an excellent understanding of my native language and am better at articulating my ideas than most, but I am not very good at learning other languages. Overall, having a brain that knows a lot of facts and is able to solve complicated mathematical and logical problems quickly has never really given me much help in anything. I've heard that having a high-IQ really only helps if you are in a field like theoretical physics.


Are you actually in the US or is that a vpn because you sound exactly like my best friend's father 😅 and the life events match..... Should I ask your opinion about star wars, or Scandinavian rat lamps? Would you like to play a board game? 🤣🤦🏻‍♀️

...i will quit the internet if you're Dutch 🤣


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