I'm highly intelligent

[commonfactors]

OK, clickbait title.

How much do you think about how intelligent you are (or aren't)? What's the view like from where you are? Would you choose to be different?

I've never tested but guess I'm about 125-130. It's a weird level: like being the best sports person in high school. Enough to make it an important part of one's identity growing up (well, mine. Not cool, but we're all anonymous here), but not rare enough to be genuinely noteworthy or impressive to anyone else. I think I'd choose to be much smarter if I could, out of curiosity or vanity, but I also think it might be quite a lonely life up there.

I’m very clever and I object to the use of the word “smart” to mean “clever”. You must all bow down to my wishes as I am your brainy overlord

Give me an instruction booklet or ask me to fill a vaguely complicated form in and my brain dribbles out my ears 😂I even struggle to follow people on here when they try to describe a road layout or a junction. Everyone else seems to be able to understand what they mean but no matter how many times I read it, I can’t get it to make sense.

But I’m also a crossword and sudoku wizard!

I’m dyslexic, at school I was called lazy or stupid. Had an IQ test scored 168. I’m amazingly good at the 1% club, can solve puzzles but poor at retaining information.

My IQ is 131 and I am not greatly intelligent. I get by but I am usually the least smart in the room. I dont think IQ is representative of much really

Genuinely interested how you would even guess as to your IQ?

are you basing it on the fact that top 1% have IQ of 135+ and you were in top 1% at school/college/uni or that you have aptitude for certain activities?

I don't think I'm very intelligent. I did well in school (apart from maths), but due to bereavement and homelessness I did very badly in my gcses. As an adult I redid my gcses, went to college, completed a degree (2.1) and I'm just about to finish a master's (merit & distinction grades). That all points to someone of average intelligence. I would like to feel that level of intelligence you all describe. I know that I'm good at reading & research but that's about it.

Normal deviation of IQ is 70 to 130. Around 96% of people are in this range. 2% is over 132, 2% under 70.

Stanford-Binet - Cattel scores differently with over 148 being the top 2%. Mensa as source.

ETA 100 is average IQ

I don't know my IQ. I tended to be top of the class at school and was very good at exams. I'm now a lecturer at at top university. In that capacity, I usually feel like I'm at the low end of intelligence when I'm with colleagues. In my previous job (primary teacher) I think I was at the higher end of intelligence in staff rooms.
So I might be the same as you OP.
Tell you what, I'm terrible at puzzles though, I just really can't be arsed to do them and will just sit and chat through an escape room while the people who enjoy them solve it.

Tested 2x officially 165

My son had excellent exam passes 7As in Highers and 2As in Advanced Highers but has no common sense.

I admire people who are good at practical things that I'm useless at.

That's well above average. You're just lacking in confidence.

I’m laughing at some of these comments. It would be amazing if society thought more like this. Idk what my IQ is. My mother is a member of MENSA and I’m relatively academic, perhaps not MENSA level. I have nonetheless never tried charging a tube of toothpaste - go me! 😅

Dd (17) doing A levels and a lovely lad of 18, who struggled academically at GCSE, have just started seeing each other again. They’ve been on / off because of her anxiety, not him, and he has the most amazing emotional intelligence.

My mother made me think academics were the only benchmark of value. As I didn’t perform, massively underachieving, albeit I have a degree, I felt written off. I now realise I likely have ADHD and struggled to access education, which is why I failed the 12+ and went to a dire school. I’ve since learned just how much society overvalues the importance of academic intelligence.

My nephew is a few years younger and very similar. He’s an also lovely lad and it looks as though he’s going to have the same emotional intelligence, which would make imo him clever in ways, that many adults are not. I can safely say they both outstrip the me I was at their age. Emotional intelligence didn’t come as naturally to me, and it took me many years of adulthood and learning to achieve a decent level.

I am amazed by some of the high scores being quoted and wonder where these people sat their tests!

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/jan/22/devon-schoolboy-joins-mensa-with-higher-iq-score-than-einstein

I’ve never done an IQ test. I went to a grammar school. I was top of the class in most subjects (bottom in Eng Lit and History due to autism). I was the homework advice central - everyone used to phone me to ask me how to do the homework, especially maths.

i did 2 degrees simultaneously.!

People often remark on how logical I am and I how I can see the main argument and express it very succinctly.

I have very little understanding of body language and facial expressions and cannot read between the lines. People find it easy to bully me. My psychiatrist describes me as “quite obviously extremely intelligent”. As PP said, being able to work things out makes life easier.

I definitely assumed everyone’s brains worked the same when I was younger and have learned over time how wrong that is. Working with someone who has low academic intelligence definitely needs different management styles to get the best out of them (really satisfying when you get it right).

I’ve not done a test so no clue what my score is but I’d suggest a distinction at masters level supports intelligence levels are above average. I think it does mean your thought processes are different.

I achieved As in all my GCSEs and A levels. I have a degree in Public Health and a post grad in teaching and learning. I think I’m of average intelligence but I have a very good memory and I’m highly motivated.

I remember I was tested when I was in Y9 at school and had an IQ of 121 but didn’t really apply myself. I love learning new things but have had to work very hard to get things to stick (shit at exams) but now have a doctorate.

Similar score to me then. You're right about IQ meaning diddly squat. I've always been rubbish at word games. DH's extended family contains a multitude of teachers, and they are all obsessed with anagrams, wordle, cryptic crosswords and scrabble. They all think I'm slightly dim.

I’m always amazed at how many people don’t understand how local and national government works ie hat the difference between out town council, the county council and Westminster is. And the number of people who never vote because they “can’t see the point” but then do nothing but complain about the “ fat cats” in the town council (they don’t get paid!).

Me too! It's done me absolutely no good in life, apart from passing the time on long train journeys and being able to help the woman who posts her really hard Christmas quiz here every year.

I doubt it is ever wise to go on about being intelligent. My Mensa score when I was a post grad student was 152 in a supervised test (and 159 at home). I think that is reasonable consistent with best A levels in the school, scholarship (after 3 x 3 hours of exams, top of my year in law, university prizes, worked at perhaps the top London law firm, written a lot of fairly academic law books. In other words other stuff probably bears out the high score.

For me it is more about being very interested in a lot of different topics. As far as I can see its biggest use has been in doing work I love and earning a fair bit of money (because of the career choice and the combination with hard work and the fairly good exam grades) ; but I don't think I walk on walker on some kind of higher plane.

There's more than one sort of IQ test with different parameters so maybe you weren't comparing like with like. Some go up to a maximum of 160 I think.

Came to say similar. I tested at 138. Intuitively great at a few things but still cannot figure out loads of basic stuff that everyone seems to know like how to plait my child’s hair.

It’s all relative-I’m fairly bright but I work with some super clever people. But I love being around them and privileged to be in that environment.

I used to be clever and the trauma and stress has literally killed it. 😅
Now I’m very fuzzy brained and slow, but read widely about the world so people still assume I am smart. I’ve got some specific areas I’m good at.

I’d love to be able to do maths in my head. That sort of clever.