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 have no idea. Growing up I labelled as clever. People who know me would say I'm very quick at some things and they and I know that I'm dumb as post at others. As are we all. There are many types of intelligence.

I just did the Mensa “online workout” because I remembered my grandma was a member and I got 15/18 which doesn’t seem too bad but some of the questions are very easy so I think they just want people to part with their money!

I think I’m probably on the reasonably high end of average intelligence but given the choice I’d rather be better with people than clever or academic.

I joined Mensa when I was 12 pointless really, got some magazine every month and that was it. I’m not some huge success story, just an average woman living an average life in a normal house with 3 lovely kids and a husband.
Sucess is a combination of many factors - yes IQ may help, but EQ, social skills, effort and a bit of luck are important too.

I’m reasonably clever - never had my IQ tested, but got a first class degree 30 years ago and a Masters from Oxbridge. I identified with Stephen Fry (famously the stupid person’s clever person) when he said he had a ‘sticky’ memory (I can remember all sorts of facts and dates, am great on pub quizzes), and also in his autobiography he said he basically knew one essay that he adapted to every exam/essay that he needed to write, which is totally what I did - I can write you a great essay. But I can’t do a cryptic crossword to save my life, can’t tell my left and right, and cannot read people. Im autistic and have also been depressed for most of my adult life. I’d trade any kind of performative intelligence to be happier. And I think IQ is bullshit pseudoscience.

Mine was assessed as 174 in my teens, which is freakishly high (Mensa supervised exam, got a membership card and a crap magazine 😂) Tbh I don’t think it’s really made much difference to my life- you only know your own perspective, don’t you. I have a vague sense of underachievement a lot of the time.

Now I’m in menopause it feels like it’s fast plummeting to 74 though!

I also identified with this and I am also great a quizzes and Connections. I also tell people I have a sticky brain for interesting things.

My IQ is in the high 130s so I guess I wouldn’t qualify for Mensa but I wouldn’t mind being the dumbest person in Mensa! I’ve always thought my ability to be comfortable with being around people smarter or more experienced than me has allowed me to level up fast because I learn by listening and asking a lot of questions.

I wouldn’t have thrived in academia, I’m not self-motivated enough (probably lazy due to school coming easily to me) and I need the pressure of a corporate environment to push me to be my best.

Benefits: I earn a comfortable living and can survive well as a single mum. I’m highly organised and automatically think in systems, which makes my life easy; I can stay on top of a lot. I’m a killer at following instructions well and remembering what I’ve learned, so again life is better when you don’t struggle to put together a piece of flat-pack, and I can pick up new skills fast.

Downsides: I find it hard to manage my impatience with others when working together or relying on them; my mum says I “don’t suffer fools gladly” but sadly it’s not just fools, it’s most people (including ex husband).

I would say I’m of above average intelligence but not exceptional. I was a straight A student in school and have done well in further and postgraduate education but have never done anything especially outstanding.
I seldom ever think about how intelligent I am, which suggests to me that my level of intelligence is just right. It’s not meaningfully a part of my identity, just a tool.
I’m intelligent enough that I’ve been able to successfully pursue the education and subsequent career that I desired. I’ve never been unable to do anything that I wanted to do in life due to not being clever enough. But I’m not so intelligent that I have become victim to the mental health issues that seem to plague people with exceptionally high IQs, and I’ve never felt isolated by not having peers of similar intellect to relate to.

I think I got lucky to fall where I do.

This is interesting for me. I’m 60 now but had an IQ of 148 at age 15 and thought about Mensa for half a minute didn’t think much about it but I have a couple of primary degrees and several post grads and I work in academia. My eldest also has several degrees, post grads and masters to her name. Now she is a mum and her eldest is very very clever and also on a spectrum. There has been talk of testing his IQ and while we were chatting about it I realised I never considered testing his mum’s IQ, and rather guiltily thought I should have. My DH is also an academic with a PhD so my children kind of grew up thinking it was normal to excel, be placed on Dean’s lists and win academic awards. Now we have a DGs we just take every day as it comes and don’t make a fuss but he exceeds the lot of us!

My work colleagues would (and have) described me as the clever one.

Not sure how true that is but I have excellent problem solving skills, IT skills beyond the required level for my job and 25+ years experience. My experience is sometimes mistaken as intelligence as I 'just know stuff' whereas colleagues have to head off and research historic legislation etc.

I don't think I'm particularly clever!

I’m intelligent and I married an intelligent man. Our DC are very intelligent and I love that, because I feel life is easier for them and they’ll succeed. My sibling married a less intelligent partner and their children less intelligent. Won’t go into details as it feels a bit crass. Anyway they’ve all done ok in life and are happy, so perhaps it doesn’t matter. I do worry though that a big wealth gap will open up and I hope everyone ends up with enough to be comfortable not struggling.

My IQ came out at 141 when tested. My bloke’s a Mensa member and his is 160, he really has got a brain the size of a planet - but only a modicum of common sense.

We get to be Socrates (was that enough of a pretentious reference to admit me into the strugglingly clever gang? 🤣). We know that we do not know. That makes us doubt ourselves, and allows us to avoid the pitfall of the Dunning-Kruger effect, where people know a little and so over-estimate their overall knowledge. Those below and above our remedial cleverness can fall prey to this!

174 when I tested as a teenager.

I seem to be getting thicker with every passing year, unfortunately.

Define intelligence though? Even back in psychology undergrad years ago we had an entire module on intelligence and how it was far more than IQ tests. Mensa testing is predominantly about numerical / pattern / word logic and doesn’t particularly translate into numerous other forms of intelligence. Lots written on how biased they are gender wise and culturally too.

Fwiw I’ve got a first class honours degree, distinction at MSc, PhD, top of class, top 5 universities in UK for my different degrees, 30 years in academia, leading a science field globally … wouldn’t consider myself intelligent by Mensa definitions though.

For me intelligence is about discoveries, breaking boundaries and achieving great things across fields. A ballerina could show great creative intelligence. Or a graffiti artist. Nothing to do with which square shape fits this pattern.

I haven’t looked at the literature in years but I’d be intrigued to see the correlation between great achievements and IQ.

Ha - are we long lost twins?! Same IQ over here, but AuDHD and have dyspraxia. I can solve the entire GCHQ puzzle book, but can't walk anywhere without bumping into something or tripping over my own feet. Zero aptitude for ball sports!

In my experience high IQ type intelligence doesn't always correlate with financial success. The wealthiest folk around where we stay who don't come from money are plumbers and builders. Always have more work than they can handle. I can't say they're unintelligent, I couldn't do what they do, it's just a different kind of intelligence. I earn well enough and can't complain about my lot, I like what I do, but I'm not talking six figures and four luxury cruises a year!

Most IQ tests involve those tasks of "find the next diagram in the series" and I am useless at those. They just prove that you are good at doing those tests.

I do have a 1st clas degree, masters with distinction and a PhD and worked as an academic so I imagine I am fairly intelligent.

You aren’t highly intelligent.

I got the same score when I tested at 19. IQ test doesn’t mean anything. You would know this if you were intelligent.

There are strict parameters for testing - particularly age.

If you took this test recently and are in your 30’s or 40’s then you can’t rely on the score.

I know a man who is illiterate (he used to be a client of a business where I worked at).

He worked really hard to support his family and ended up buying a business. He now puts his grandchildren through private school.

His wife wasn’t intelligent. She couldn’t speak properly even though English was her first (and only) language.

Financial success does not care about your IQ. If it did then astrophysicists would be rich.

I would guess mine to be around 90, so the lower end of average. I have the processing speed of a Windows ‘95. Yes. I wish I was a bit smarter.

I had a proper IQ test done as a teen for legal reasons. It said I was clever but would struggle with Maths. It might have been true, but now I think I struggle with everything.

I grew up in Cambridge and I just thanked God I wasn't a genius.

I tested at 138 in school and a friend tested at 160, which was the test’s cap.

I found school work easy generally, but a math degree kicked my arse! I couldn’t get my head around some of the concepts in the way I always could in other subjects.

The friend who tested at 160 is fiendishly clever. It’s a bit like watching Sherlock in real life (without the crazy plot). She always knows what’s going on.

The OP didn’t ask whether intelligence equals financial success. She asked about intelligence only.

Yet several posters are commenting on the financial success aspect.

Surely it’s common knowledge that being highly intelligent doesn’t mean you will end up rich.