IQ is, for the most part, a stupid measure. Or at least, it measures one specific thing, which is basically how quickly you can learn. That is to say, in theory, if you put someone with a 120 IQ and someone with an 80 IQ into a class, the first one should theoretically outperform the second if they put equal effort in.
I will say this frankly: I have a very high IQ - I was tested first when I was 6 and have been tested a couple of times since. I do have a learning disability - ADHD - and mine is severe, at that. So while I do generally pick up on things faster than some others on average, I certainly don’t pick up on everything quickly. There are subjects I absolutely do not get. And furthermore, thanks to circumstances and the stupid ADHD, here I am at 50, neve having had steady jobs (I did work 5 years one place), in shitty health (six heart attacks, below-knee amputation, congestive heart failure, on dialysis because my kidneys failed), with my wife and I surviving because while we both had ADHD and struggled, she’s been more consistent about keeping work, and definitely contributes more to the household budget.
So a high IQ basically means extremely little. You don’t have to have IQ to find success in life, or even to be highly degreed and an intellectual. It just means that you probably have to work a bit more at it. That one specific aspect of life. And there are many many aspects of life.
Not even that! IQ measures how well one performs in a barrage of simple abstract tasks. That alone can never be the stuff of intelligence, let alone learning speed. It doesn’t hold a candle past grade four and outside of diagnosing certain cognitive issues.
I generally agree with your sentiments, I have met people whose IQs I don’t know but would be considered conventionally highly intelligent just from the level of knowledge they broadcast and their quick wit. Many of them self-ascribed “failures”. Suffice it to say, it’s been a mission of mine to deconstruct what intelligence is. Collective smarts seem to matter much more than those of any individual.
Besides all the health issues you’re me. High IQ but the ADHD fucks it all up. I too kept one job 6 years. But that was mostly because it was easy and long as I got my work done my boss let sit and read books. If it hadn’t been for my relaxed boss I would have not stay so long. Hell probably still be there if it hadn’t gone out of business.
But goddamn I can pick up and learn quickly, but not able to stick to anything and can’t focus to accomplish the things I know I could or want to do.
Executive function is the bane of my existence. I’m doing the worst possible work right now - contract work that exists at any time I want to work on it. There’s no deadline, I just pick up a piece of the work and do it. Should take 30-60 minutes per piece. And the pay is decent.
But getting myself to log in and sit down and work on that is absolute torture.
But with my health and circumstances, it’s not a bad opportunity. heh.
IQ is, for the most part, a stupid measure. Or at least, it measures one specific thing, which is basically how quickly you can learn. That is to say, in theory, if you put someone with a 120 IQ and someone with an 80 IQ into a class, the first one should theoretically outperform the second if they put equal effort in.
I will say this frankly: I have a very high IQ - I was tested first when I was 6 and have been tested a couple of times since. I do have a learning disability - ADHD - and mine is severe, at that. So while I do generally pick up on things faster than some others on average, I certainly don’t pick up on everything quickly. There are subjects I absolutely do not get. And furthermore, thanks to circumstances and the stupid ADHD, here I am at 50, neve having had steady jobs (I did work 5 years one place), in shitty health (six heart attacks, below-knee amputation, congestive heart failure, on dialysis because my kidneys failed), with my wife and I surviving because while we both had ADHD and struggled, she’s been more consistent about keeping work, and definitely contributes more to the household budget.
So a high IQ basically means extremely little. You don’t have to have IQ to find success in life, or even to be highly degreed and an intellectual. It just means that you probably have to work a bit more at it. That one specific aspect of life. And there are many many aspects of life.
High IQ scores mean you’re good at IQ tests, and that’s it.
Eons ago, when I joined the army as a conscript, the officer said I scored higher than 90% of anyone taking the test.
The test results implied that I’m smart. My life experiences prove otherwise.
I always liked putting it in D&D terms: I’m not sure if I have high INT and low WIS, or if it’s the other way around.
Not even that! IQ measures how well one performs in a barrage of simple abstract tasks. That alone can never be the stuff of intelligence, let alone learning speed. It doesn’t hold a candle past grade four and outside of diagnosing certain cognitive issues.
I generally agree with your sentiments, I have met people whose IQs I don’t know but would be considered conventionally highly intelligent just from the level of knowledge they broadcast and their quick wit. Many of them self-ascribed “failures”. Suffice it to say, it’s been a mission of mine to deconstruct what intelligence is. Collective smarts seem to matter much more than those of any individual.
Besides all the health issues you’re me. High IQ but the ADHD fucks it all up. I too kept one job 6 years. But that was mostly because it was easy and long as I got my work done my boss let sit and read books. If it hadn’t been for my relaxed boss I would have not stay so long. Hell probably still be there if it hadn’t gone out of business.
But goddamn I can pick up and learn quickly, but not able to stick to anything and can’t focus to accomplish the things I know I could or want to do.
Executive function is the bane of my existence. I’m doing the worst possible work right now - contract work that exists at any time I want to work on it. There’s no deadline, I just pick up a piece of the work and do it. Should take 30-60 minutes per piece. And the pay is decent.
But getting myself to log in and sit down and work on that is absolute torture.
But with my health and circumstances, it’s not a bad opportunity. heh.
I feel ya completely.
Yeah IQ is bullshit, and the people who use it either as an insult, or a way to boast about their own intelligence, are idiots
By defintion they are NOT idiots!
;-)
(sorry, couldn’t resist)
(also, not sorry) :)
That is the medical definition, the word has existed long before.
As long as you do realize you’re replying to a silly joke…
I know that