How do people with high IQ think?

[Avi]

Originally Posted by openeyes

That paragraph sums up my experience fairly well.

No one in my family has an IQ below 130, and some of us score significantly higher than that, with each of us being fairly eccentric. Particularly, none of the men fit into the mainstream. We have our own ways of doing things which we deem more efficient for our particular uses, and feel little need to bow to the party line.

Being “highly interested in anything related to intelligence”, you might enjoy Project Renaissance with Win Wenger, Ph.D.

I have recently read in my AP Psyk. book that IQ is genetically influenced as they have found that if both parents, per say, have an IQ greater than 130 the child will almost always have a higher IQ or around 130 range even if that child is raised with the "dumbest" parents.

on my act i recently got 24. in my calc or other math classes i understand the concept and can recreate better than anyone and work my butt of for it. still, my mind doesn't click and some of my friends who don't study at all, get better grades than me and i ask them how they do it and they cant explain squat. me, on the other hand take a long time to figure out the problem.

either way, our mind makes up for it in other talents as i can teach better than any of the kids in my school, well at least i have not found a person who can teach better. on the other hand though, i am very perceptive of how people behave and can easily manifest feeling in them, its helps when making friends or pickin up girls and doing business .

"The older I get, the more I value common sense, which certainly does not always correlate to high IQ."

i seen similar things like this throughout the topic and i would like to suggest all of you, if you have time, pick up a psychology text book and read it. especially, since all of you are conscious people i think you may find it quite useful as it sums up a lot philosophy from stevepavlina.com as well as a lot of new age stuff and even religion.

simple things like hindsight bias, if you don't know i highly suggest you look it up, can effect how you thinks and you might even have a little epiphany like i did.

also, if anybody has read a book where it points out core concepts that occur in every day life like when you try to figure a problem you look at it, then determine what it is and what need to be done and what can u do and ect. please tell me. why relearn everything if someone already has it figured out?

thanks

[phoenixrebellion]

I have taken several IQ tests, and i have constantly scored between my lowest at 135 to my highest at 151...

What is my opinion on all this? Your IQ doesn't necessarily make you smarter, however think of your mind as a Computer Processor... Which means only that the higher your IQ is, the faster you will get the answer.

Ok now how do i think... and here is the diference.

I read about this somewhere and after further analysis i have discovered it is true...
People with a lower IQ tend to look at problems as an obstacle, with the "OH NO" attitude, i have to solve this now? Crap.

This is Bad, people with a lower iq perceive the world around them as a hassle and too much work, which is why it takes them longer to get to the answer.

People with a higher IQ, think of problems as challenges... they confront that challenge head on and say to themselves, let's solve this baby... it's not whether or not they can solve it, but How quickly they can solve it... The "NO" or the "I can't" is not in their vocabulary.

Should you need anything else let me know: on msn messenger:

Phoenixrebellion@hotmail.com

[nantucketsunset]

I am glad someone quoted the part of the original post (ending "would you like fries with that") because I had missed that part in the original post. That quote also mentioned the fact that normal people can "make friends wherever they go" -- I find this so, so true.

How do other high IQ people make friends?

I have tried many things but over the years I have fewer and fewer friends. And please don't give me platitudes, because I'm turning 40 in 3 months' time and also a social scientist so it's not as if I don't know the "steps".
;-) I do follow the typical steps, and I am kind, loyal, funny, helpful, etc. but my way of thinking, my approach to life, even when I am completely silent and simply smiling -- my particular thinking "vibe" just puts people off. In the last couple of years I have had people say to me "you are just a little scary" so often, even though in my own mind I'm about as down-home, down-to-earth, humble and loveable a midwestern gal as I can be. Even my ex-boyfriend said to me when we broke up, "You are the best person I know, but no one can see that about you when they first meet you, so they shy away from you, and I don't even know what to tell you so that you could change that."

I've lived in various countries in Europe for 12 years and that hasn't helped - the moving around and the being an American abroad always makes me the "outsider". In the United Kingdom where I live now, it's hard for anyone at all to make adult friends after the age of 25 (it's an incredibly conservative culture in that way) so for me it's been well-nigh impossible.

And I'm an ENTP woman (on the MBTI personality inventory), and ENTP women are only about 2.5% of the female population, so that doesn't help. They are usually the only female out of 30 men in math and engineering classes, and often grow up quite alone and misunderstood. Often they don't meet any other ENTP women until they reach university, and then only meet a handful.

And meeting men who are comfortable having a romantic relationship with an ENTP woman... well, it seems it could be easier for me to become the third American female to be elected a member of the UK Parliament than it would be for me to find a good guy who is compatible with me and not threatened by me. I've got a one-two whammy because as a long-haired, natural blonde who looks 30 instead of 40, the kind of men who approach me are looking for a ditzy girl and then after one date they realize I am not the simpleton they are looking for, and the kind of men I'd actually get on with long-term don't want to have anything to do with me on first glance, because they misperceive what I am like.

But I thank God/fate/life/universe for my way of thinking, my ability to hone in on things, to categorize, to figure out, to intuit, to see the whole system at a glance. During times of loneliness and sorrow, of serious illness and feeling lost in the dark, my ability to think and wonder and marvel and learn and amuse myself has reached through the emotional fog and pulled me through.

Men with high IQs tend to be much more successful in life than women with high IQs (even looking at soft factors such as good marriages, children, reported level of happiness as well as hard factors such as money, success, whatever) and it's kind of cruel of nature to do this to the women on the right tail of the graph, but so be it, I wouldn't want to be any other way.

(Hope these thoughts don't sound too obnoxious; I don't mean to be.)

Are there any other ENTP's out there? I bet there are a BUNCH on this forum! :-) I think that Steve is one, it was mentioned in one of his 2005 posts I think.

[mattsonn]

Originally Posted by zpivat

Are the subjects really that incredibly difficult (since it's a prestigious engineering program), or do you just not have the time to study all the time?

No, it's not that bad. I would say the two biggest problems are lack of time and the professors/graders who grade unfairly. Everyone here has horror stories about unfair grading.

[mattsonn]

Originally Posted by nantucketsunset

Are there any other ENTP's out there? I bet there are a BUNCH on this forum! :-) I think that Steve is one, it was mentioned in one of his 2005 posts I think.

ENFJ !! That can't be too far off from what you are : ) Though don't expect me to be quite as quick witted as you

[Erock]

I'm a smart guy. Just got into Harvey Mudd. But I've always just worked really hard. I'm determined. If I don't understand something, instead of giving up on it, my mind just ponders it and keeps asking questions until I understand it.

I also think reading a lot helps.

It's not pure genetics, although they may help.

[Logicseeker]

My IQ is 98. I have a friend who is a genius though. He is very good at language, fast reasoning etc. He also uses a rational approach in all situations. He almost seems to think feeling instead of feeling them.

[The Protagonist]

My IQ is between 135-140 (based on my SAT score there is a high correlation between the two). I am not good in school, because I have a poor work ethic. I've made it thus far on my logic and reasoning skills. I catch onto things quickly, and can learn things quickly. If anything I'm over analytical, everything to me, must have a logical explanation.

[Kristina]

I've never officially had my IQ tested, but judging from where the rest of my family lies on the scale I'd guess I'm around 130. I was an INTJ, and am now an ENTJ as I slowly move more into the world of relationships. I graduated from Engineering and yes I was one of two girls in a couple of my classes... and almost the only blonde caucasion in the room! I really get this quote from Nantucket! I've just decided I'm trying to meet guys in the wrong places... the bar where all the tradesmen from the oil rigs hang out not a good place. (Although it can be fun to watch them jump when they ask me what I do!) Courses, libraries, networking events, and even sporting events seem to be a better fit for me.

I've got a one-two whammy because as a long-haired, natural blonde who looks 30 instead of 40, the kind of men who approach me are looking for a ditzy girl and then after one date they realize I am not the simpleton they are looking for

as for how I think:
In school I loved to solve problems, it was easy for me to connect the data (from a prof's notes) to the solution method they were looking for. At first I thought it was just a good memory that enabled me to solve problems and write tests so well, but later I realized it was my ability to synthesize solution methods out of all that data I could store in my head. I was much more interested in the method used to solve the problem then in the answer. If I was off by a negative that just meant I had to be careful when I was writing an exam, at least I understood the stuff.

I need variety, I took extra courses in school, played sports and worked. The time crunch pressure kept me motivated to work when I had the time. The variety kept me from getting too zonked out.

Now that I'm no longer in school and I'm not getting the same exposure to puzzles that I was, I've become more interested in analyzing social situations. I obsess over conversations (future and past), and replay them imagining different paths to get to different places. (sound familiar?) I've found that writing these simulated situations down has helped me empty my memory RAM and it allows my to stop dwelling and start focusing on the present momment again. This has been valuable in avoiding social blunders that could result in more obsessing

Unfortunately I just discovered Brainage... so my interest in puzzles has be rekindled!

Kristina

[Conan Stevens]

I have an IQ in the top 2%, I am did my supervised test with Mensa and I passed entry

IQ scores vary from test to test. Some tests range to 140, some range up to 200.

If you are doing a test with the max score at 200 and the average at 100, then it is fairly easy to get 130IQ, yet if you are doing one of the more standard tests where the max score is 140, then getting 130 is quiet an accomplishment.

Something to keep in mind.

[aabukar]

my IQ tests sometimes show that i am above average ... one of the IQ tests i had i was in the "highly gifted" area.

however, i have the worst memory ... i dont remember faces , names , things i am supposed to do ... things i said ... things other people said ... dont pay attention to changes in my environment neither in my friend's looks ... I forgot what i read.

however, on the other hand ... i found out that i can concentrate on what i do very well that i isolate myself from the surrounded env. that i literally can not hear if someone next to me is shouting...

I understand things quickly and i have remarkable performance at work and through my master degree thesis work I started to walk and talk and with 4grown teeth by the age of 9 months ...

i believe that i have potentials but the road is still long and i have many things to work on before i can achieve my goals hopefully one day i will

[Shamou]

William James Sidis, the most intelligent man that ever lived and who reputedly had an IQ of 300... died at age 45... broke and never amounted to anything... see here for full story...

.

[Vincentboucher]

sorry for my poor english skills...

Intelligence is the capacity of making good associations. A computer is not as intelligent as a human because he can't make as much association as a human is able to do. This is not about the speed, actually einstien was slow, it is about making deep associations.

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by Vincentboucher

sorry for my poor english skills...

Intelligence is the capacity of making good associations. A computer is not as intelligent as a human because he can't make as much association as a human is able to do. This is not about the speed, actually einstien was slow, it is about making deep associations.

That's about one percent of the whole picture... now... you have to look up the remaining 99%

.

[Chemgirl]

As far as thinking goes, my friends find it funny that I am always seeing patterns in things, or noticing alphabetical orders etc. When I point out a pattern usually they laugh at how I think because they would never have noticed such a thing and I really believe that my way of thinking is quite different to my friends. I think in the same way my dad does, and his IQ is over 190, but I'm nowhere near that!

[Freelancer]

Originally Posted by september

I've never taken an IQ test, but I'm usually pegged as smart. I scored a 33 on my ACT and I'm running off a merit scholarship at the university I'm attending.

I thought I'd throw in my few cents because I don't know my brain very well, I guess. I honestly have very little idea how it all works up there. I just know that when I'm learning things, I assimilate the information with a good success rate. I take the information I already know and match it up with the new stuff - sometimes I create patterns where they might not exist, if they help me remember things. I have a pretty intense interest in knowledge, as well, and this helps keep my memory in line. I find that I work very well with procrastination, actually. If I'm writing a paper, I'll review the material (very haphazardly - I'm not organized or very disciplined), and then not write the paper until within 24 hours of it being due. It gives my brain time to stew over the material and then clears and focuses it when I need to work. Often, with problems, I'll do the same thing. But if you mean math problems or something, I have a sort of knack for math. It's just all in my head. With understanding and learning things, I just... do. I don't know. Honestly.

I don't know if I think in a visual, auditory, tactile or abstract way. I've often wondered, but it really just seems like I apply whatever works best at the moment to what I'm doing. Perhaps it's more abstract than it is anything else.

I think you'd be best off getting a response from someone with a keen interest in how their brain works who has researched into the issue, taken multiple IQ tests, etc.

Also, I agree with the previous posters who have emphasized that intelligence is only a component of success and happiness. Intelligence is an entirely different (albeit interesting) animal.

I didn't read the rest of the thread yet but you might want to take a look at holistic learning, it will probably give you a better idea of what your doing.

Linkie;
Scott H Young » How to Ace Your Finals Without Studying

[Vincentboucher]

Originally Posted by Shamou

That's about one percent of the whole picture... now... you have to look up the remaining 99%

.

the other 99% is our vast capacity of making associations...very very vast, so fast that we are conscious..

[Jon]

I score between 150-160 (top 1%) on most IQ tests, which basically means I have a solid amount of "raw processing power" for spotting details, patterns, consistencies, inconsistencies, etc.

I'm quick to learn and if given sufficient quality input, I will usually make the right decision. I like to invent my own ways of dealing with problems and prefer learning by doing. I'm happy with all that. No problems here.

It's my emotional intelligence that falls short and I suspect this is why so many highly intelligent people fail to really succeed in life. When my emotional self takes control, I can become irrational, impatient, complacent or overly excited or depressed without apparent reason. In these cases I feel like I'm sitting in a technically superb racing car, only I forgot where, why and how to drive. I'm still working on that.

If anyone knows where to reach a Vulcan, I'd like to know

[Vincentboucher]

Originally Posted by Jon

I score between 150-160 (top 1%) on most IQ tests, which basically means I have a solid amount of "raw processing power" for spotting details, patterns, consistencies, inconsistencies, etc.

I'm quick to learn and if given sufficient quality input, I will usually make the right decision. I like to invent my own ways of dealing with problems and prefer learning by doing. I'm happy with all that. No problems here.

It's my emotional intelligence that falls short and I suspect this is why so many highly intelligent people fail to really succeed in life. When my emotional self takes control, I can become irrational, impatient, complacent or overly excited or depressed without apparent reason. In these cases I feel like I'm sitting in a technically superb racing car, only I forgot where, why and how to drive. I'm still working on that.

If anyone knows where to reach a Vulcan, I'd like to know

and why do you think your EQ is bloking you in your process? do you know why do you act this way?

[Freelancer]

Originally Posted by Vincentboucher

and why do you think your EQ is bloking you in your process? do you know why do you act this way?

Great questions !

I think I can see the direction where you are going but I'll leave it to you.

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by Conan Stevens

I have an IQ in the top 2%, I am did my supervised test with Mensa and I passed entry

IQ scores vary from test to test. Some tests range to 140, some range up to 200.

If you are doing a test with the max score at 200 and the average at 100, then it is fairly easy to get 130IQ, yet if you are doing one of the more standard tests where the max score is 140, then getting 130 is quiet an accomplishment.

Something to keep in mind.

Very impressive Conan... (7ft) remind me to never pee you off...

.

[JohnPlace]

Self-efficacy is a more accurate determinant of success than IQ.

Self-efficacy is defined as confidence in one's ability to achieve a desired outcome. This is different than self-esteem.

Self esteem asks, "How do I feel about myself?"

Self efficacy asks, "Can I do this?"

Of course, people with a high IQ have an advantage when it comes to self-efficacy because they are smart, which makes them intellectually capable. But IQ is far from the lone determinant of self-efficacy. I have met many smart people who struggle because of emotional roadblocks.

A smart person can have low self-efficacy, and vice versa. Much of life boils down to hard work, perseverance, and willingness to overcome.

--John Place

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by JohnPlace

Much of life boils down to hard work, perseverance, and willingness to overcome.
--John Place

"Much of life boils down to hard work, perseverance, and willingness to overcome." truer words were never spoken...

My user name (Shamou) is the name of my favorite Bulldog... not only was he my best friend (if you want a friend get a dog) but he was also one of my main mentor... When Shamou, or any Bulldog has something in mind... nothing will stop him... they are not overly aggressive animals... but very determined... they finish what they start...

IQ is fine and good... determination is better...

I had the pleasure of meeting Anthony Robbins in Ottawa Ont. The guy made over 400 millions in one day (when his company went public) yet, he still puts in 18 hours days... something to think about...

.

[JohnPlace]

Originally Posted by Shamou

"Much of life boils down to hard work, perseverance, and willingness to overcome." truer words were never spoken...

My user name (Shamou) is the name of my favorite Bulldog... not only was he my best friend (if you want a friend get a dog) but he was also one of my main mentor... When Shamou, or any Bulldog has something in mind... nothing will stop him... they are not overly aggressive animals... but very determined... they finish what they start...

IQ is fine and good... determination is better...

I had the pleasure of meeting Anthony Robbins in Ottawa Ont. The guy made over 400 millions in one day (when his company went public) yet, he still puts in 18 hours days... something to think about...

.

Your bulldog sounds like a fine mentor. A dog after my own heart.

[Vincentboucher]

Originally Posted by Freelancer

Great questions !

I think I can see the direction where you are going but I'll leave it to you.

Find it, this is your new priority.

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by JohnPlace

Your bulldog sounds like a fine mentor. A dog after my own heart.

Thank you... here is the "boy"



.

[Freelancer]

Originally Posted by Vincentboucher

Find it, this is your new priority.

Haha nice tossing the ball in my court.
On a side note, its not my new priority but I'll make it my priority inside this thread for now.

Let me first ask your questions again, I need him to answer...

Why do you think your EQ is blocking you in your process? do you know why you act this way?

[JohnPlace]

Originally Posted by Shamou

Thank you... here is the "boy"



.

Awesome dog!

[medaille]

I'm fairly consistently in the 140-150 range on most online IQ tests. I just got my first mechanical engineering job out of college. The thing that differentiated me from most of my peers (who were also high IQs) is that both halves of my brain are strong and work together well. I've always loved being creative and being using my intellect to create things. Alot of my friends are very intelligent liberal arts types who think in a very language based way, and it's obvious when we talk that I don't think like them and that my thinking is much more visual and much less structural.

I find that I spend a lot of time "in my mind" rather than in "reality." One of the results of this has been a degradation of my social skills, as when everyone else is practicing them, I am often in my own world and don't get the practice. I don't always know the answer to a problem, but I'm very very rarely wrong as I almost always know what I know and what I don't know. I never have to use willpower about thinking things. They come very naturally. Usually I just let things stew around until the answers come by themselves. If I'm not getting an answer that I feel I can trust, then I usually try to absorb new information via reading or whatever until my brain incorporates it into my worldview and thus into my answer. I can definitely feel the distinction between my conscious self and my unconscious self. I am very conscious of when my unconscious is doing work and when I am letting it go in the wrong direction.

I feel like life is some sort of virtual reality, where I can use my consciousness whenever I feel like it to make changes, but most of the time my unconscious makes the choices and my conscious thinks about those choices. My periods of growth happen when I use my conscious to reprogram my unconscious, but I also experience slow growth while unconscious as I am good at absorbing information.

I notice that my way of thinking is definitely different than others, because when I talk to average people (for lack of a better term) the way we speak to each other is different and its obvious to both of us. I think in a very 3rd person perspective. I am primarily an observer by nature. I am in a period where I am having to train myself to be an actor rather than merely an observer. Being in school was very good at reinforcing me being in "observer" mode rather than "actor" mode.

I feel like I get the rules of life to a certain extent, but I'm not very "skilled" at taking advantage of them yet (again observer vs actor).

The more I learn, the more I become convinced that everything is truth. I try to find the truth in what people say that I can apply to my own perspective. I often debate with people for the sake of the challenge, even though I see truth in both sides. I'm not always good at verbalizing what I think in terms of what the other person knows and can hear clearly.

I am very conscious during social interactions, but I am trying to put it more on autopilot. People often comment about how observant and analytical I am in real time, but more often people just notice that I am different. I am best when I stop thinking and focus more on what I want and just let it come.

Sometimes I am very natural, and at those times I feel most at peace. I cannot control when I feel natural though, but there is a correlation between how often I'm natural (or in flow) and how much I practice those types of situations.

Another result of being aware of what I know and don't know is that I often declare what's true for me, and say "I think ...such and such" when I speak to others about what's True in the objective sense, because I am aware of when it's less likely to be true for them. Most people don't make the distinction when I talk like that, they just percieve the inherent weakness of using "I think..." rather than realizing that I am talking about my truths and not Truth.

Despite being what I would consider at a less than optimal social ability, I find that like-minded people congregate around me and I very rarely get stuck in communities of people that clash directly with me, so I always have people that get part of me. Very rarely do I find people that actually get me to a large extent.

I find that I am good at listening and can put myself in others shoes well. I think this is a result of being creative.

I make order out of chaos. I find solutions to problems. I don't fit stuff into structures. I don't have a method of solving problems. All limitations are merely constraints in which my creativity can work.

Creativity is my lifeblood and my essence.

[Freelancer]

Medaille

Looks like your on the right path, keep it up !

Perhaps try to see social interactions as a challenge and something to figure out how to take get the best advantage, its possible that your already doing that but I didn't quite pick it up from your post.

Oh and another challenge to you;
Can you give a creative description of your mind and how it functions?

I already liked the 3de person view way of looking, now give me a even better one. I know your capable of it.

notice that my way of thinking is definitely different than others, because when I talk to average people (for lack of a better term) the way we speak to each other is different and its obvious to both of us. I think in a very 3rd person perspective. I am primarily an observer by nature. I am in a period where I am having to train myself to be an actor rather than merely an observer. Being in school was very good at reinforcing me being in "observer" mode rather than "actor" mode.