Originally posted by GalaxyShieldI actually met a bunch of students on the way home from Hong Kong, who had travelled to China as part of a "brainy club" outing. I was sat next to one of them, and found him to be an extremely pleasent chap, but lacking in some of the finer points of common sense.
How do you know? Do you know someone who's 'on the big league'?
*braces for imidiate retort about my own stupidity and how ironic it is that I would make such a joke because I'm dumb.*
😵 😛
He started our conversation by asking "What do you do?".
Originally posted by huckleberryhoundThe closest they'd probably gotten to normal human contact was talking to the person they buy their mechanical pencils from (this 'thought' applies to all uber-smart people).
I actually met a bunch of students on the way home from Hong Kong, who had travelled to China as part of a "brainy club" outing. I was sat next to one of them, and found him to be an extremely pleasent chap, but lacking in some of the finer points of common sense.
He started our conversation by asking "What do you do?".
How did you answer? String theorist? Micro-Robotics engineer? Cold Fusion expert?
Originally posted by GalaxyShield"I sit on planes and talk to people".
The closest they'd probably gotten to normal human contact was talking to the person they buy their mechanical pencils from (this 'thought' applies to all uber-smart people).
How did you answer? String theorist? Micro-Robotics engineer? Cold Fusion expert?
He didn't get the joke 😕
Originally posted by arrakisI read somewhere that the standard deviation for IQ tests is 15.
Nah, you need to score 140+ to be on the big league. 😏
This means that approx 16% of the population score >115 and 16% score below 85.
Approx 2.5% score above 130 and about 0.15% score above 145.
This all assumes you believe that IQ tests are worth anything at all.
I reckon they show how good you are ... at doing IQ tests.
Originally posted by GalaxyShieldTo generalise far more than is healthy, you can imagine that 130 is around the level of professions such as Doctors, Lawyers, etc... 140 is around the level of university professors. It's certainly not a "genius" level - you have to get upwards of 150 to start being particularly interesting in terms of IQ scores.
Apparently you're a genius. The official level for genius is 115.
100 is, of course, the stone cold average, because that is the score around which the other scores are based.
And that's if you consider IQ scores to be the measure of genius. I believe Einstein's IQ was about 125.
Of course, the score from one test isn't much to go on - you will find that your score can vary quite a bit from test to test - my own IQ score has been known to be as low as 175 on some tests 😛
EDIT: I've just searched the web regarding Einstein's IQ and it seems that as far as anyone knows he never actually took a test 🙂
IQ tests online are mostly bunk. Some of them give you "genius" results to make you feel good, others give you "moron" results to make you buy some sort of learning tool. Mensa is probably your best bet for a proper IQ test, but as you say, they want to post it out so you don't get your instant gratification.
Also, IQ and the ability to function in the real world seem to have some sort of semi inverse relationship (at higher IQ levels,) so as long as I can buy a train ticket, walk down the road stepping on lines without hating myself and/or flipping my lid, ordering food at a restaurant, and not washing my hands 43 times before washing my hands again, I reckon I'm doing ok.
'A Beautiful Mind' (film) is a good illustration of what I mean, the guy was a genius, but completely potty at the same time. I envied his mathematical ability, but not his delusions.
'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' (book) is another one. I can totally relate to the kid in a lot of ways, but envy his mathematical mind. His paranoia and inability to function in social or group settings is worse than mine by a bit which I don't envy (I'm bad enough as it is.)
Originally posted by st00p1dfac3We've kinda lost touch with the meaning of the word "genius" lately. It seems that all it takes is for you to do two things to be called a genius
IQ tests online are mostly bunk. Some of them give you "genius" results to make you feel good, others give you "moron" results to make you buy some sort of learning tool. Mensa is probably your best bet for a proper IQ test, but as you say, they want to post it out so you don't get your instant gratification.
Also, IQ and the ability to function i p settings is worse than mine by a bit which I don't envy (I'm bad enough as it is.)
1) Be famous, well-liked, and pretty good at your job
2) Die
My own idea of genius is anyone whose brain works differently to the rest of us - whether it be a creative or purely intellectual difference.
I wonder what a chessboard looks like to Bobby Fischer - I bet his mind sees a different object to the rest of us. I bet he sees a series of patterns, colours, special effects, animations, sounds, smells, lines, curves, who knows what - but I guarantee his brain doesn't work like a regular person's when he's studying a position. 😕