How do people with high IQ think?

[zpivat]

I'm very interested in anything related to intelligence, and to those of you who know you have a high (i.e: 130 or higher) IQ (or at least have been regularly labelled so by your peers), I wonder how you think? How do you analyze information or situations? Are you almost always able to think quickly, solve problems quickly, understand things quickly? Do you think in a visual or abstract way?
Feel free to share anything you can think of

[Little Deb]

After taking a varety IQ tests, my score is anywhere from 110 to 120. However, my emotional health has held me back from learning to drive a car, and basically getting a job outside the fast food industry. I do think abstractly, which helps me with my photography and teaching myself to play mandolin (a very difficult choice, or so I hear!) When I was a child I was labeled a "slow learner", however in retrospect it was the teaching methods which were to blame. Hitting little girls with yardsticks, humiliating them, sceaming at them, etc. was the normal approach to education in the 1970s. Around puberty, I decided to read all the books that my "genius" older brothers read, then my grades improved. The corporal punishment laws were also changed. I was no longer rapped on the back with a stick for smiling "the wrong way". Anyway, high IQs only teach us one thing: People with the highest scores have amazing skills in knowing the correct answers to IQ tests. Social skills are a completely different animal. With all my neurons in my mighty brain, I still experience turmoil when it comes to making friends, networking, etc. I can't sell my art or even find any other musicians to play with because I have a disinterest/terror in meeting new people. In fact, I can be rather sacastic and hostile around unfamiliar people. I have suffered severe depression as a result of my own personality. And,I don't know how the rest of "you morons" think. You're the ones that work in nice offices and drive fancy cars and make friends where ever you go, no matter how old you are, etc. etc. Do you want fries with that?

[zpivat]

Yes I agree with you Deb. While having a high IQ helps us to process information better, that doesn't mean we'll be successful in life. Another equally important determinant, EQ, plays a larger role, I think......

Anyway, keep your IQ stories coming people!!

[Shaden]

Hard word, determination, self-discipline, confidence, conviction, passion, EQ and organisation are all far more important then IQ. IQ gives you an early start but it's up to you how you choose to apply it. Some people just let that good start slip.

[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.

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by september

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.

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.

One of my prime traits is the ability to see patterns and various interrelationships very easily. When taking algebra in junior high I’d usually come up with my own formulas for doing problems, and was the only student in the class allowed to not write out the problems, as I’d been the only one who could do so and consistently be right. Instead of filling a page with 20-30 lines of work, I’d have a problem line, answer line, and check line.

In foreign languages I take on native accents within a couple weeks of study. It still takes a bit of studying to learn much vocabulary though. As a senior at one of the public Ivy universities, I still haven’t developed much of anything that could be referred to as a study habit. On average my coursework may take up 15-30 minutes per day outside class.

With essays I’ll usually read the assignment and then leave it alone until a day or so before it’s due, even if I’d had weeks to do it. Most 2-3 page papers can be done in 30-120 minutes, and my first 9 page essay was done in a 24 hour period, including a break for 8 hours of sleep. My papers seem to largely write themselves in my sleep, and I try to always at least take a nap before writing.

I tend to be very intuitive. I can go into any class and be one of the main people contributing ideas within minutes of walking in, even if I officially know little to nothing about the subject. With most questions a professor or a test asks, it feels that the question itself has the answer within it. Around age 14 I made particular use of this, and found that even with tests such as the practice MCAT I could get virtually every question right even though I’d never studied the subject. Back then, I did the same with IQ tests and routinely maxed them out.

I tend to be very open to new ideas and have no problem admitting the possibility that my views on something may be inaccurate, as my understanding of the world is continually growing. IQ isn’t everything, but nothing is With everything else being equal, I’d prefer a high IQ over a low one.

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

[ethereal]

I think IQ tests measure cognition very well, but not meta-cognition (which IMO is way more important). This was covered in this thread and the linked article:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/forums/p...=metacognition

Past a certain point, you realize that intuition/meta-cognition completely overpowers logical thinking and reasoning; it takes so much effort to concentrate on making logical steps, and it all falls apart when you make the wrong assumptions. In ideal ivory-tower problems, they give you the correct assumptions, but in the real world, almost 100% of the time your assumptions are off one way or another

I think many of the people with high IQ also realize this meta-cognitive aspect -- they find their own shortcuts to everything, they "get" the essence of what a problem is about without having to "think" about it, etc. So I think instead of approaching intelligence from the point of view of traditional left-brain logic and cognition, it's more helpful to approach it from a holistic, intuitive, meta-cognitive right-brain way.

[Blueskied]

Originally Posted by Little Deb

And,I don't know how the rest of "you morons" think. You're the ones that work in nice offices and drive fancy cars and make friends where ever you go, no matter how old you are, etc. etc. Do you want fries with that?

That was funny.

[yossarian]

Originally Posted by zpivat

I'm very interested in anything related to intelligence, and to those of you who know you have a high (i.e: 130 or higher) IQ (or at least have been regularly labelled so by your peers), I wonder how you think? How do you analyze information or situations? Are you almost always able to think quickly, solve problems quickly, understand things quickly? Do you think in a visual or abstract way?
Feel free to share anything you can think of

the way "smart" people think is as varied as anything

everyone has their one unique styles and strengths

if you want to learn how to think more effectively, quicker, more thoroughly, just do brain teasers and riddles and quizzes of that sort. The key is tenacity. Every time you solve a riddle you get smarter and raise your IQ, but you have to actually solve it yourself. This is what lets you develop the thinking patterns that make someone score high on IQ tests.

it really is that simple

[zpivat]

Originally Posted by openeyes

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

Thanks openeyes! Win Wenger is good! In fact some years ago I bought his "The Einstein Factor".

Originally Posted by yossarian

if you want to learn how to think more effectively, quicker, more thoroughly, just do brain teasers and riddles and quizzes of that sort. The key is tenacity. Every time you solve a riddle you get smarter and raise your IQ, but you have to actually solve it yourself. This is what lets you develop the thinking patterns that make someone score high on IQ tests.
it really is that simple

Wow...it's funny that you said that!! Guess what, these past couple months I've been trying hard to finish Sudoku puzzles as quickly as possible (i.e: constantly trying to beat my latest fastest time) while also trying to maintain accuracy, and I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but since I started doing this, I feel like I can think quicker, and with better clarity......

[yossarian]

Originally Posted by zpivat

Thanks openeyes! Win Wenger is good! In fact some years ago I bought his "The Einstein Factor".




Wow...it's funny that you said that!! Guess what, these past couple months I've been trying hard to finish Sudoku puzzles as quickly as possible (i.e: constantly trying to beat my latest fastest time) while also trying to maintain accuracy, and I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but since I started doing this, I feel like I can think quicker, and with better clarity......

absolutely not a coincidence. the brain is a muscle like any other. use it to make it strong i've definitely noticed the same thing

it's also been shown that elderly people who play games like scrabble, do puzzles, crosswords, that sort of thing have a much lower incidence of Alzheimer's, dementia and those conditions of the brain which come with aging.

Use it or lose it

Chess players over time develop a sort of "chess sight" that lets them very easily visualize a chess board and go through all the potential future moves in their head. It just comes with practice, and this type of visualization skill is exactly what IQ tests measure.

[Akashic_Librarian]

IQ is not a driect correlation of intelligence. Its merely an imperfect way of measuring perfection (go Figure) but on various internet tests I score roughly 120-130.

I don't conisder my self overly intelligent. Thats an excess of pride and irrelevant. I consider my self Philosophical though. I am a very deep thinker. Sometimes to the point where I cannot keep track of my own musings.

But saying that sometimes I am a very shallow, inconsiderate thinker because I don't always stay rooted in reality to the best I can. Which is why recently I have been working on grounding myself more down to earth through exercise, reading and DOING more school work, rather than analyzing things.

I couldn't imagine thinknig any other way really so I can;t really tell you HOW I think. I just DO. I think therefore I am.

[placebo]

i refused to take the IQ test. Reason is that i really don't want to know that information. If it is dissapointing it will lower my confidence and if it is bigger it will do no good except putting more pressure on my shoulders. I just want to try hard in everything i do, do my best and that is enough no matter what happens.

Nikola Tesla, inventor of electricity once said that he doesn't consider himself very inteligent person. He just worked on every single thing that interested him ten times more than anybody else. In his opinion that is the key of his success. And i believe him

[songwriter]

The greater IQ, the most time you spend thinking... and the less you think you know. And the more complex it gets.
But to be "smart" sometimes you've got to stop thinking... somehow you've got to balance thinking and not thinking.

And I think I've thought enough about it.

[Doku]

I think that openeyes pretty much hit the nail on the head. I tend to just know the answer without really thinking about it. The approach that I take to most "real world" problems is this: Look at the problem, and take the first solution that comes to mind, and assume that it is correct. Then run through the solution in my mind and try to prove it wrong. While doing that, think of possible branches as I trace the path to my solution. If I decide that I was wrong, go back and try one of the alternate branches. If I don't have the time to do that (I generally don't spend more than 30 seconds on anything that I deem is unimportant, and usually no more than 5 minutes on something that is important), then I just assume that my first solution is correct, and take the action. In other words, I generally just trust my instincts.

[Josip]

Originally Posted by zpivat

I'm very interested in anything related to intelligence, and to those of you who know you have a high (i.e: 130 or higher) IQ (or at least have been regularly labelled so by your peers), I wonder how you think? How do you analyze information or situations? Are you almost always able to think quickly, solve problems quickly, understand things quickly? Do you think in a visual or abstract way?
Feel free to share anything you can think of

hmm, I have 150 IQ, let say, I am able (better than many people) to visualise the problem and actually "see" the solution. For me, it is the best if I already use some protocol, or algorithm for solving a problem.

Intelligence is just for solving unknown situtation. For every known situation, it is better to have the best protocol (knowledge).

[Alan!]

great question!

there's a great article at the prometheus society's site called _the Outsiders_. Well worth a read: http://www.prometheussociety.org/art...Outsiders.html

[brooksr]

I'd like to suggest that you might find it very interesting to attend a meeting of your local Mensa chapter. You can find it here: American Mensa | Local Groups (assuming you are in the USA). You probably know that you need an IQ in the upper 2% to join. A local member/officer would probably allow you to attend a meeting as a guest. If you enjoyed it, you could take the test to join. Seeing high IQs in action, personally, should give some real insight on your question.

Brooks
(Mensan)

[QUOTE=zpivat;42110]I'm very interested in anything related to intelligence, and to those of you who know you have a high (i.e: 130 or higher) IQ ...QUOTE]

[zpivat]

Originally Posted by Doku

I tend to just know the answer without really thinking about it.

Perhaps you actually do think; it's just that it's done with such a great speed that you hardly feel it?

Originally Posted by Alan!

great question!

there's a great article at the prometheus society's site called _the Outsiders_. Well worth a read: http://www.prometheussociety.org/art...Outsiders.html

Thanks for the article Alan! Here's a cool/smart guy too just like Sidis:
Who is Bobby Fischer?

[MementoMori]

I have taken I.Q. tests/elementary school and on my own. I was surprised to find it much higher than I would have predicted.

135-142 (Not high enough to be freakish, but decent.)

I can't say "how I think". I always feel I'm a bit scattered, though not enough to be considered ADD. Often, I suspect the tests were wrong and I'm functioning around educably MR.

I'm now middle-aged (early 40's) and I don't put much stock in these numbers. I think social intelligence, ability to overcome fear/obstacles, and simple "drive" would have been greater gifts. It's not that I'm without any amount of these, but....

I know a man without much education at all. He didn't finish high school. He had a TERRIBLE family (beating, all manner of abuse, neglect) and he's a self-made millionaire. I happen to know his I.Q. has been measured at 115. That's one standard deviation above the norm? High normal.

He began his own business after working as a truck driver. He worked like a dog and acted like he wasn't afraid of anything. He never invested in stock, but rather, bought land all over the place.

So. Hmmm.

[qiflow]

I think in a very visual, almost structural manner I would say. Very relational. Hope that helps.

[homeboy]

I don't think IQ has anything to do with the way you think. It all has to do with your particular interests. An engineer will definitely approach any problem differently than an artist or an author. So it really has to do with your training in any particular area. As you can see an engineer will have problems expressing himself but its much easier for an artist or author. It's just which side of the brain you're used to using regularly.

[bellbird]

My IQ was tested 128-132. I think my youngest brother is the whizzz but he's got an average of 133 to 135. I reckon he's far more clever then I am. Brilliant in IT etc. My eldest brother is an intensive care specialist. Good on them but so what? I'm very visual as I'm an artist and interior stylist (no academic stuff for me, just a bachelor in fine arts). But heck who cares? Do what you like to do best if you can. It's more important how you treat others I reckon. Brain or not much brain. I think my grey matter gets slower if I stop learning as in studying. I've picked it up again recently and it seems less foggy up there I don't consider myself to be an intellectual as I still surprise myself with blond questions on occasion . We're all humans and I have found people who you would think not to be very bright at all majorly insightful. So there you go. A biography on Einstein's life will tell you more I'm sure if you want to know about really clever insights.

[mattsonn]

Originally Posted by zpivat

I'm very interested in anything related to intelligence, and to those of you who know you have a high (i.e: 130 or higher) IQ (or at least have been regularly labelled so by your peers), I wonder how you think? How do you analyze information or situations? Are you almost always able to think quickly, solve problems quickly, understand things quickly? Do you think in a visual or abstract way?
Feel free to share anything you can think of

I got accepted into Mensa, which wouldn't give a score. From internet tests, I might have an IQ of 140, though I really don't know how reliable they are.

I did learn to read and write at four, and I was always enthusiastic about learning as a kid, but since then have shown nothing special academically. I'm in a very prestigous engineering program right now, but am having a hard time just passing my classes.

I think in a scattered manner most of the time. Usually, I'm just daydreaming. Not a good thing for engineering.

As for talents, I have an internal BS detector that can sense flaws in a person's argument pretty easily. Usually, I find that people are partially right in their opinions but make key mistakes in their assumptions. I wouldn't even consider this a talent, except that so few people seem to have this. Just look at politics to see what I mean.

Also, any time I do something, my brain will replay it over and over again. Especially if my unconscious senses that I did something incorrectly. If I did do something wrong, it'll eventually come to me. Or, if I'm anticipating something in the future, my brain will automatically play out every possible scenario that it can think of.

And finally, if I'm faced with a problem that I care about, I'll just obsess over it until ideas come to me.

Do the rest of you have these traits?

And something that disturbs me is that I really have no concrete idea as to what intelligence is and what IQ tests mean.

[mattsonn]

Originally Posted by songwriter

The greater IQ, the most time you spend thinking... and the less you think you know. And the more complex it gets.
But to be "smart" sometimes you've got to stop thinking... somehow you've got to balance thinking and not thinking.

And I think I've thought enough about it.

Interesting post. I'll have to think about it for awhile

[zpivat]

Originally Posted by mattsonn

I'm in a very prestigous engineering program right now, but am having a hard time just passing my classes.

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?

Originally Posted by mattsonn

Also, any time I do something, my brain will replay it over and over again. Especially if my unconscious senses that I did something incorrectly. If I did do something wrong, it'll eventually come to me. Or, if I'm anticipating something in the future, my brain will automatically play out every possible scenario that it can think of.

And finally, if I'm faced with a problem that I care about, I'll just obsess over it until ideas come to me.

Do the rest of you have these traits?

Hmm good question!! Yes, I have the exact same traits, I think. Sometimes I would obsess over something it gets totally ridiculous. I'll give you some really embarrassing examples:
- I'm in general a very safe driver and never drive more than 5 km/h above the posted speed limit. Freeway scares me, as do bad drivers. So whenever I drive and do mistakes, or have some people do mistakes to me, I'd play the scene over and over and over in my head, to make sure next time it won't happen again, to make sure I can handle things better, etc. Sometimes it gets really annoying, because then I'd play these scenes just before sleep, at the bed. And these scenes could be something that happened like, weeks ago..... *sigh*

- I hate yellow lights, because whenever I see them, it always makes me nervous because it can mean "stop" or it can mean "go", and sometimes there's a fine line between the two. The thing is, I know that I must avoid getting rear ended, must avoid colliding with the driver from the opposite side who is about to turn left, who may mistakenly think that I'd stop just because it's yellow, must make sure that I don't screech, especially during winters (in fact, I very often hear screeches done by other drivers, so I guess other people have the same issue as me), etc. I'm sure you drivers know about it.
So what did I do? I coincidentally live on a high condominium, and I could see traffic lights from my livingroom very easily. I took a binocular, and took the average number of seconds of the yellow light duration, and came up with 4 seconds. Then I did all kinds of physical and mathematical calculations, to figure out the save stopping distance, to figure out how much distance (I think I came up with 50 m) that can be covered in 4 seconds (no, actually I reduced it to 3 to accommodate for a safety cushion) by the speed that I usually go at (60 km/h). I then opened Google Earth and measured how much 50 m really is from the stop line (well I am kind of bad at judging distance, and it's really hard to judge how 50 m looks like from the stopping distance, seen from a 20th floor building), etc.............

Or......may be I'm just plain stupid afterall

[John Wesley]

I'm not sure if I go in for all this high IQ stuff. It just seems like a way for academic types to feel good about themselves. There are all different types of intelligence and different ways to measure it.

Even trying to measure something we understand so poorly feels a bit pretentious. I think you should read Asimov, "What is Intelligence?". It will definitely change the way you think about intelligence.

[letsdance]

My IQ has been measured at 160. I think that I'm good at taking tests... :-)

I joined MENSA out of curiosity, and observed that the members appeared to be no more uniform in their thought patterns or methods than any other group of people I'd known. A common trait in the group was the love of puns, but I don't make any conclusions from this. Many members in the group were engineers and "computer types," which is what one might expect in the SF Bay Area (Silicon Valley being a part of that area).

My daughter's IQ is probably higher than my own. Although we are remarkably similar in many ways, I must say that she amazes me every time I talk to her.

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

[zpivat]

Originally Posted by letsdance

My IQ has been measured at 160. I think that I'm good at taking tests... :-)

My daughter's IQ is probably higher than my own.

Your own IQ is 160 (which is very high already), and your daughter's is even higher??!!! Wow........some smarties we got here....

[Alvin]

Robert Dilts, one of the foremost developers of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), has done some interesting research into genius and created mental models of genius that anyone can learn to apply. If you can find them, his Strategies of Genius Volume 1 (Aristole, Sherlock Holmes, Walt Disney, Mozart), Volume 2 (Albert Einstein) and Volume 3 (Nikola Tesla, Leonardo DaVinci, Sigmund Freud) are insightful reads.

Also check out his interview on Genius and the Generative Self.