Anyone else substantially smarter than everyone else in their family?

My two brothers are smarter than me.

They had higher SAT scores and are generally more well read and more inquisitive and more intuitive.

But they didn't finish college. I did.

That me make me look smarter but I am not.

I am more ambitious, though and I make more money.

not in my family, but among my cousins on my mothers side they are pretty much below-average intelligence, below-average income people. but my uncle seemed to rise above them, work his way into Yale on a full ride, and now makes 500k a year

How do you find the right obsession?

The rest of my family believes in god, so yeah.

alien rubicon wrote:

Definitely legitimate, but score in the 97th and above percentiles on a dozen standardized tests throughout your life and you get a bit of an idea in where you stand relative to the general population.

MonkeyMan wrote:

That's true, if you think standarized tests are really an accurate measure of intelligence.

I'm really good at taking standarized tests and always do well, but I'm dumb as hell. Standardized tests are only good at measuring how good you are taking standardized tests.

But, whatever helps you sleep at night.

Standardized tests aren't a perfect measure of intelligence, but there is a strong correlation between high standardized test scores and above average intelligence. Also, learn how to spell "standardized".

Randy Oldman wrote:

I think the negative effects of high-intelligence can outweigh the advantages. Depression, anxiety, social ineptitude, insomnia, under-performance, obsessive behavior, addiction.

I'm pretty glad I'm not in the 97th percentile. Oh sh*t, I am and I suffer from all the above.

People with high IQs need to find the right obsession in order to make an impact on the world. Look at Einstein as the classic example.

I don't agree with you here. People of any intelligence can go through these sorts of problems. If anything, having higher intelligence can help a person identify the actions and patterns that led them to these conditions, and figure out ways to get beyond these problems. In the long run, an intelligent person can develop the self-awareness and emotional intelligence to prevent many of these maladies.

One thing you do see common in people of higher academic intelligence is social ineptitude, which can results in depression, anxiety, and a lack of self-confidence. It's quite obvious why this occurs, because they have trouble connecting with peers that may not be as enthralled with learning or solving problems or discussing topics in detail.

I am smarter than everyone in my family and not only that, I am smarter than everyone in your family as well.

I've loved the subject of Intelligentsia since very young (like 6), loved IQ tests and the sort.

Funny thing about Intelligence (maybe of any Truths), it seems the closer you look at a subject the more you find only more questions to explore. Afterall, how would one measure intelligence?

-IQ tests you say give a good reference of higher Intel, but what about test taking classes & their strategies? Is that false inflation of IQ?

-Why does our society seem to place too much value in people who achieve great financial success? I think we've all met highly successful people who were wrong about the home market bubble bursting?

-Also, example of less educated people who achieve great things like "Ross Perot". He was a multi-millionaire in 90's who ran for president but did not finish grade-school (I read a story about it somewhere_s).

-Again, if our culture puts such great emphasis on money making prowess then the double-PhD guy who works as a fry cook at McD's (who can't hold down a 'real job') is the classic urban legend example of a loser.

I grew up in East Los Angeles, very rough neighborhood who's culture of children placed little value of my use of 'lawyer words' all of the time. My neighbors and some family used drugs constantly. Needless to say it taught me 'street smarts'. Unfortunately I see many more-educated people lacking this. They have less perception of when someone is trying to take advantage of a situation.

Read the homepage of Mensa, a group who's only requirement for joining is taking a standardized test and placing in the top 2 percentile (globally). I have been invited to take the Mensa- proctored test, but too nervous.

Anyway, I love the subject. I hope to hear more experiences.

BTW:

-I was Identified as gifted in 2nd grade so my education was likely better than usual in East Los Angeles.

-Yes I am definately the smartest in my familia (sorry to say).

-It is a social conundrum through childhood in the slums. Dumbing-down your behaviors to get along the group of neighborhood friends.

(a quick request to spelling & message board grammer checkers, try not to 'lose the message for the trees'- mates). Take in one runners past experience on the issue, even if he didn't make time to spell check.

If someone is comparing himself with his peers, he will

most of the time claim he is better than average (better teacher than average). Same goes with IQ. But everyone

cannot be above average. The best you can do is that

everyone is average if the distribution is flat.

Typically it is not.

Comparing you with your siblings or parents, you probably

overestimate yourself. In particular, it is common to add

10-20 points to your score on an IQ test.

Finally, the IQ tests are sqewed towards language.

They put way too little emphasis on what really distinguishes

smart and average people, namely the ability to abstract

thinking.

I am probably the smartest person on LetsRun. When I wanted to go to MIT...my mom told me "Bobby your too smart for MIT." She said "Bobby your a genius and you don't need to go there." I took her advice and went to another school. My mom always told me I was smartest one in the family. she is very very proud of me.

Yeah, my brother is.

I am average but my wife's family is a bunch of mental morons. I can't even talk when I'm around them they're all so freaking stupid.

Even my two kids say so. They tell their friends that their mother's family is a bunch of loser weirdos.

Oh God, political discussions are insane and just life in general- they are so uninformed and stupid and oh good lord...

What a way to start the day.

I have the opposite situation. My family (mom, dad, and two older sisters) are all much smarter than me. Mom is a theoretical physicist, dad works as an engineer for NASA, my oldest sister is a brain surgeon, and my middle sister is a professor at a top law school.

I'm pretty bright (1540 on the old SAT), but I'm dumb compared to my family. They say they love me, but they don't act that way. I just feel like a total outsider. I've heard them talk behind my back about how disappointed they are in me. My dad was even a pretty good runner and has been known to troll internet running-related message boards talking about how smart he is.

I love them so much it just breaks my heart. I wish they would just leave their intellects at the door and treat me as a member of the family, as their daughter and little sister respectively. Sigh.

My problem is that I'm NOT an intellect and I'm NOT a snob. They are stupid white trash. Seriously, pedophiles, drug addicts, welfare, people who've had kids taken from them by social services.

My son didn't want to invite his friends to his graduation party because some of them were going to come. He did, most of them didn't and the ones who did we kept sheltered.

mch smartr den famble i no tip golith stll smash nuts dem dum

I truly "smart" person doesn't need validation from a bunch of strangers on a running message board.

Koneko wrote:

I truly "smart" person doesn't need validation from a bunch of strangers on a running message board.

smart =/= secure

Two things here: 1) education; 2) smartness

1) I am tied for least educated in my family, including the spouses of my brother and sister. My father and my brother have Ph.Ds; my brother also has a law degree. My brother's wife and my sister and her husband and I have Master's degrees. My wife has two Master's degrees. My mother has a Master's degree.

2) All of them are generally smarter than me. My wife and my sister were both National Merit Scholarship winners, and all of them have higher standardized test scores than I do and had higher GPAs in high school and undergraduate college (I don't count graduate school in that).

Fortunately in the academic talent area, my kids took ofter their mother.

No, not the smartest in my family, but perhaps had the most common sense.

This was the world according to mom:

Dad Ivy grad with PhD, won dissertation of the year in science, but other than math and science mom was more talented-creative.

Mom, iconoclast but actually a genius-clairvoyant a generation or two ahead of her time.

Sib A - bonafide genius, purportedly tested at 9th grade level as a 3rd grader. Reality, graduated last in the class, drank heavily, never enrolled in college as FT student, became a cable guy.

Sib B - also good at math and science, could have followed in dad's footsteps but had some social-emotional issues. Reality, never finished college, worked as office assistant for years, took early disability out.

Sib C - most easy going, but no doubt a reincarnated Nazi (along with Sib A), smarter than average but no genius. Reality, graduated from a tier 1 college, two advanced degrees including doctorate, but took up running and ended up looking as if "newly liberated from Dachau!"