MRip, unfortunately not everyone has the opportunity to take a standardized, psychologist-administered IQ test like the WAIS. Even if they did, there is no way to corroborate their self-reported results on an internet forum. There are high IQ societies which require score validation before admittance but that is another matter.
With that said, I volunteered my IQ because I derive a sense of camaraderie from connecting with like-minded highly intelligent people. We bear a unique similarity that unfortunately is not easy to come across IRL. Having read the replies made by the other posters, I believe most of them had the same intention that I did.
To be honest, I don't peg you as an high-IQ individual. You sound like either a troll or just an ignorant observer. I value skepticism but I am not tolerant of silly attention-whoring boisterousness, especially when it derails a conversation that was headed in such a fantastic direction. First, you tried to shunt us all into a foolish archetype. We do not all live trapped within our thoughts, and closed off to the rest of society. We are not all "idiot-savants" a la Rain Man or William Sidis and ignorant of societal norms. Many high IQ people do in fact exhibit social awkwardness (to an alarming rate at IQs above 150 if we are to believe Mega Society), probably because they are more interested in other things. But that is not the case with all of us, and is a foolish generalization to make. People like you that foster this stigma of social awkwardness around high IQs probably confound the problem more than anyone else. Generalizations and leaky heuristics are the mark of low intelligence. Secondly, I don't know what bodily orifice you are pulling these statistics out of - as they are wrong - but your reasoning is faulty to begin with. I volunteered my IQ at 150. That is about three standard deviations above the norm, making me about a 1 in 1000 individual.. meaning that I have a .1% probability of occurring. I imagine if I used your reasoning to determine the chances of a large TNS meeting occurring they would be infinitesimally small, and I could use that number as a gimmick to compare it with the chance of me getting hit by lightning 6 times in my life while becoming a part-time NBA player slash part-time rock star.
However, TNS meetings do occur.. and high-IQ people do congregate, because we like to talk to each other and share ideas. Even at TNS meetings though, it is exceedingly rare for me to meet like-minded high IQ people that share the same spiritual beliefs or thoughts on self-development. Before you hijacked this thread, there were some much more interesting posts on utilizing high-IQ powers of meta-cognition as a means for personal, emotional development. We have more acute powers of observation than others.. maybe not much greater, but definitely greater..
I agree with bluedragon about leveraging mental ability for learning how to handle emotions. I personally have a reductionist approach to my self-development. When I notice a style of thinking that does not seem true to my inner self, I seek to eliminate it. This is my personal m.o. for handling emotions, as my thought patterns and belief systems are ultimately the effectors for my emotions. As a result, I've had much more mitigated negative emotions and enjoyed a happier life. I reached the level of self-awareness by observing my mind, but I know other people that achieve it in other ways.
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