high IQ waste of life?

6 pages and no mention of EQ.

High IQ without the EQ (at the right age), won't get you as far as your potential dictates. ADHD can just be low EQ, not always but often.

Another factor is logical thinking, being able to troubleshoot. You can have one or more without the other.

Now if you tick all the right boxes, you can basically go as far as you want to study, but you still may not be the most proficient at what you do. You can be the smartest lawyer, but without gift of the gab you will be out -debated. You can be the smartest surgeon, but without being able to work under pressure, think logically, troubleshoot, you wont be the most successful.

I had high ambitions when young - and brother going straight to med school at 17 and graduating at 23 didn't help---especially if the consensus in family was that I was 'smarter' because of the way I breezed through school with studying.

Problem is that he had the EQ at 17 that I didn't have until 23, he had the ability to concentrate and study, be diligent at it, be organised, cut everything else in life out. I didn't

I bluffed my way through uni (did Maths/Chem majors because my parents still thought I could switch to med), long story short, I did an MBA (cumlaude) because I thought it can get me to the top, then realised I hated the type of people management was, and didn't want to be like that.

Many years on, have been gainfully employed in technical capacity, now an Engineer, pretty much enjoying what I do in late career (because no one really tells me what to do and I enjoy solving complex issues even if out of my field of training) and I also have a side business where I have to think on my feet (in a live on the spot capacity), in the running event environment, get to figure out my own coding to customise software, build and update my own website etc

I still do tasks only at the last minute though, only when the pressure dictates I 'have to' do it.

Could I have made much more money in life. Yes, but then I would have had to have the other factors that bring diligence even if the job is not your passion.

For people (high or low IQ, but higher helps), you can only do your best at jobs you are passionate about, or you will additionally need all the other factors to make you 'do well' at a job, irrespective of what it is.

cheers

I was tested by psychologists and scored 147 on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. I didn't work very hard in high school but I didn't completely slack off either and I ended up with mostly A's in AP classes, a 35 on the ACT on the first try, and a National Merit Scholarship. I was accepted to Caltech off the waitlist and was a below-average student there, and after I graduated I became a software engineer at {Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft} where I remain to this day. I would say most people would consider my career pretty unremarkable.

From what I've seen, if your goal is to become very successful, having a high IQ can help but is neither necessary nor sufficient. Luck, EQ, and the willingness to grind are also extremely important qualities. Some of my high-school classmates weren't the sharpest tools in the shed but they worked their butts off, earned MD's and MBA's from decent schools, and will likely live in comfort for the rest of their lives. Likewise, most of my college classmates are doing quite well in STEM and finance, but a number of them took on low-stress, low-effort jobs and they're not making very much as a result.

IQ is a measure of talent and talent multiplies with work, just as it does in running. So if you have a high IQ but aren't willing to exert yourself, you'll probably have a hard time progressing after a certain point. That said, my personal philosophy is people should do what makes them happy. Just make sure your earnings can support your desired lifestyle!

the golden retriever of letsrun wrote:

does anyone else have a high IQ as tested by MENSA or school and feel they have wasted it?

"High IQ" is meaningless on it's own. If only i had a dime for everytime i saw some smuck make a thread online about how they have a massive IQ but just don't use it.

Here's a tip: you can have a high IQ and still be a ****ing moron. Intelligence is not just the power of your brain, it's also the quality of the choices that you make and your ability to apply your mind. If you're wasting your life, you're a stupid person. Nothing more to it.

Eee Que wrote:

Another factor is logical thinking

I'm really glad you mentioned this. Logic is a learned skills, and it is shocking how many very smart people are still bad at it.

One of the greatest things I have ever read on the internet is devoted to this very topic, and it's called "The Problem with Non-Philosophers." I honestly think anyone who posts online should read it (don't get turned off by the title).

^^^

To add on to this, I often think about how I was just as intelligent (in terms of IQ) when I was 24 and hadn't read any philosophy as I am now. The difference in my reasoning ability between those two ages is massive, though. If modern me met 24 year-old me, I would be tempted to dismiss him as intellectually inferior and just not cut out for quality reasoning. But that wouldn't be true. I just hadn't learned those skills.

Too many smart people think their intelligence implies an ability to reason well. While you might have a natural advantage over a person with an IQ of 110, if you haven't developed those skills, you very well could be terrible at logic. And that 110 person can easily be better than you if they have the right education and have actually tried to improve their logic ability.

killermike wrote:

^^^

To add on to this, I often think about how I was just as intelligent (in terms of IQ) when I was 24 and hadn't read any philosophy as I am now. The difference in my reasoning ability between those two ages is massive, though. If modern me met 24 year-old me, I would be tempted to dismiss him as intellectually inferior and just not cut out for quality reasoning. But that wouldn't be true. I just hadn't learned those skills.

Youth is wasted on the young :-)

Relax - you're average wrote:

the golden retriever of letsrun wrote:

does anyone else have a high IQ as tested by MENSA or school and feel they have wasted it?

I doubt you have a high IQ.

Just like grade inflation, there's definitely been IQ inflation over the past 10-20 years. You can't find a person with an IQ lower that 120 these days. Everyone is 'smart'.

So ease up and relax, your IQ is probably average - you have been taught to think you are special, when in fact you are nothing more than an average joe.

That's incorrect. I got the best exam results in my year at school, which were also the highest grades that had ever been achieved in that school (which was a selective school also), some of them were top 10 in the country (not USA) and struggled with many things. Mensa assessed me in person when I was 16, and said it was 165 - by two written exams and in person, can't fully remember. Now, I don't personally believe it's 165, it's lower, but I went on to do the same at a postgraduate level with the grades on the statistics element of my masters degree (the best that had ever been achieved at the university) - so I doubt it's 100 like you're saying. It has left me struggling and down to a point I don't want to get into here.

No one has said I'm special - on the contrary.

I find it odd that you'd come on to state you doubt someone has a high IQ when you know nothing about them. It's disputing the whole premise of the thread - just like if I said I'm gay, help me and you come on and say oh no, you're not gay. Just seems a bit weird. Unless you simply like trying to put people down. I posted because I find things hard. Note the 'waste of life' in the title? I see it as a hindrance, not a help. It does not feel like a gift.

I'd agree if I'd gotten my score via online testing but it was tested by Mensa with written exams in person which is different.

The delusion in this thread explains a lot about LetsRun. There are a lot of blowhards in here.

And to the idiots saying logic is largely learned... Just... Wow. Go back to posting about cheater shoes and your favorite political subject.

You've been duped by a money grubbing corporation willing to tell almost anybody desperate enough for affirmation of their intelligence that they are a genius... for a price.

Grenio wrote:

SomeoneWhoKnows wrote:

There are things that should always be around:

MENSA

Vaping

Corvettes

Why? So we can easily identify the douchebags in our society.

I had to read through 4 damn pages just to get to this gem.

You are a recognizer of comedy gold.

legit confused wrote:

Grenio wrote:

I had to read through 4 damn pages just to get to this gem.

Don't get it. Why is Vaping or Corvettes (owning I presume) synonymous with being a douchebag?

If you don't know, then you are a douchebag. Douchebags aren't typically very smart.

So, do you guys "like working with people" ?

old math professor wrote:

Truth b told wrote:

What makes you think I'm male.

Just yanking your chain, again.

But i will say, I have had a lot, and I mean a lot, of scary smart people who checked out of engineering science, and STEM in general, very quickly. General interest, and the ability to think about things, and work on things for an extended period of time (days, weeks, and possibly years) is worth way more than a performance on a one hour exam.

Ink me up wrote:

I scored 147. I’m thinking of getting it tattooed on my body somewhere, but can’t decide where

If you really scored 147 you would be smart enough to know that the best place to tattoo it is your forehead.

As long as we're whipping them out:

Have been tested (by psychologists, Mensa, etc.) multiple times, and the most frequent score is a nice round 150. There was a lot of recognition in my youth: HS val, U.S. Presidential Scholar, accepted to Stanford and Caltech (and turned both down), yada. I never got a lot of pressure from anyone but I suppose people expected me at least to make a good living.

But when I permanently injured myself and couldn't run anymore, I went into coaching. Not much income to be had there: I've never hit six figures in a calendar year. And I certainly haven't set the coaching world afire: no national championships, and only middling success in conference champs.

But I did manage to start the women's t&f/xc programs at three major universities; pass on my genes; and have some fun. I don't feel my life has been a waste at all, even though it hasn't been spectacular. On balance (at least so far), the world is probably marginally better for my having been on it. I'll take that.

Well below 120 here and fully aware of the associated limitations bestowed upon me. That's the hard part; knowing there is something better, but being inherently out of reach. I wanted to do something in medicine; I failed biology. I love science, but failed physics and calculus. Coding sounded interesting; I failed basic C++. No sympathy here for those who waste the gift.