Are you intelligent? How do you gauge intelligence?

[Terrifiedofwastingmylife]

Sure, there are different kinds of intelligence so there will be many answers to this question. But I am interested in how people define intelligence? Are you comfortable in your intelligence?

I do not feel intelligent, according to any definition of it. My brain seems to have really slowed over the last decade, I find it very difficult to learn new systems (I get almost mentally paralysed from fear and stress) and struggle to retain information. I sometimes worry if I'm in the early stages of vascular dementia, which would obviously be different from not having any raw intelligence to begin with. But perhaps I've always been like this, I've just not realised before, and it's nothing to do with dementia.

Anyway, whatever the cause I mostly feel the opposite of intelligent - I can't even work out in my fuzzy brain what it even means anymore.

It's not very intelligent of you to suggest that 50% of the population would be more interested in 'makeup and clothes' over anything else. Surely someone who's good at maths would realise that'd be a wildly unlikely statistic...

So autistic people are unintelligent to you because they may struggle with emotional intelligence?

How bizarre that you wouldn't see the irony in that. Or are you saying your clear lack of empathy means that you too are unintelligent as you lack that aspect of emotional intelligence?

In contrast many autistic people have very high levels of empathy - they may not of course display it in NT ways though.

Personally I find people who are ableist unintelligent, so between us I guess we've got you pegged.

@Terrifiedofwastingmylife Sounds like you don’t get enough sleep.

Yes I am but I have MUCH more intelligent siblings, parents and children. (Top percentiles).

I'm intelligent naturally - i.e. making connections, recognising patterns, being able to conceptualise things comes easily to me. I'm knowledgeable, because I read a lot and widely and so I've got a good understanding of a lot of things. And I'm pretty socially/emotionally intelligent - good at reading people and circumstances.

But I've got zero common sense and really poor ability to focus and apply myself. So being intelligent hasn't necessarily been that useful to me. It's not the be all and end all: I'd give my right arm to be focused and able to apply myself to things and be able to work in an organised, linear way.

How old are you OP (ISH). Because I would have answered yes until the onset of the perimenopause turned my brain the mush.,

I'm 38, so doubt I'm menopausal. My mum and gran went through menopause after 50.

I'm working on a spreadsheet at the moment, for example. I don't trust my brain at all. So I have to check the information I'm putting in, cell by cell, double checking and triple checking and once more for good measure, because if I get somebody's name misaligned with their organisation I will absolutely melt down on the phone if I ask for the wrong person...

That is not a task which requires mental agility. It is a task which requires patience and painstaking accuracy, which are totally different traits.

I am not intelligent in the sense that I know things but I am emotionally aware of other people's feelings. I have an affinity with animals and children like me.
I can start a conversation with anyone and make them feel welcome but I can't do returns of items bought online to save my life. I don't have banking apps on my 'phone and am starting to become less confident on the roads due to all the changes with traffic enforcement cameras.
It's not so much about being intelligent as being smart and I fail on this

Oh I don't think intelligence necessarily helps you to cope with life

How can it not, though?

I'm working on a spreadsheet at the moment, for example. I don't trust my brain at all. So I have to check the information I'm putting in, cell by cell, double checking and triple checking and once more for good measure, because if I get somebody's name misaligned with their organisation I will absolutely melt down on the phone if I ask for the wrong person...

That’s not your intelligence, or lack of, talking. That’s your anxiety, and self-doubt!

Lots of not-so-intelligent people wouldn’t be even slightly bothered by that.

I passed to Grammar, do well on Mensa type tests, have a PhD and a professional qualification in a different subject so I guess that makes me intelligent in most people's eyes. I am autistic so do struggle in other areas but can still hold a decent conversation with anyone about pretty much anything. I am however better one-to-one rather than in a group situation.

I enjoy doing cryptic crosswords and other puzzles in the newspaper so try to keep my mind active but I have always struggled with memory. I think it is getting progressively worse as I get older. I definitely can't retain any complex information so have to write things down.

Yes, that post certainly back-fired, didn’t it?!

The lack of emotional intelligence displayed was quite something.

Hm.

not sure if I’m clever or not. Sounds like that spreadsheet task is very dull though. Surely for most people it would be a slog!

maybe you’re just in the wrong sort of job OP? Are you able to do something which suits your strengths more?

is there a way you could automate the spreadsheet task? (Work smart not hard)

I don't think I am, I struggle with a lot of things I've had an iq test done before and they said they basically couldn't put a figure on it as it was too spikey a profile 🤷‍♀️
I've done a couple of the great British intelligent tests and follow ups over the years, I tend to score in bottom 50% for most of the tests apart from the cognitive flexibility one and the spatial intelligence which I score in the top 5% of but seem a fairly useless skill to have!

Academics I am average. I did a Mensa test in my twenties and I think I was the top 20 odd percent in the country. Which sounded acceptable.

Im pretty employable. I’m reliable, conscientious, friendly, happy, no one requires me to be very clever. So I’m clever enough.

Oh God IF ONLY there was a way to automate my spreadsheet!

Really, I know very little about spreadsheets in general so this isn't helping. Not much experience with them. I'm so, so, so slow though. And can't remember any details so have to keep checking.

It frightens me how I can't remember these kinds of data points. Gp totally unbothered when I brought it up.

I have no idea, honestly. It seems I'm considered smart by those around me, but I feel like my brain is scrambled half the time. I have ADHD and I feel like I'm not fully present when I'm not on medication. If something challenges me mentally I'm likely to get flustered and just avoid it these days. I am well read and seem to have endless knowledge of random trivia, and am fab at pub quizzes, but that doesn't really count for much in the real world! I have a Master's degree and I wonder how I managed to get it!

This job means an awful lot to me because of the overall mission (it's a charity) and I just think, with every job there are going to be bits I find very tough, so I don't think it's the job. I'd be the same anywhere. The problem is me in general.

I have a theory that people who say they're intelligent, generally are not. (This follows with people who say they're kind... )

There almost certainly is.

It's called VBA, and is what separates mere users from the power users ...

If you can learn it, you can do stuff that the vast majority of spreadsheet peasantry think is magic :)

I am intelligent and to be honest it’s a fact to me, like my height and of no great consequence.
I have one of the best academic records ever in my home country and a PhD in my previous subject area.
I won at least ten academic awards for “best in” etc and was a Chevening scholar.
Ive worked in law.
I’ve always been good at common sense and practical knowledge but not actually doing things as I’m clumsy AF.
I can’t cook well.
I very very easily develop substance abuse issues and have to battle that (because of an assault I can’t quite get over).
Im now a stay at home mum to care for my severely disabled DD who can’t remember the difference between a shed and a garage or what the actual thingy is )drives my DH insane). I’m now 47 almost 48 and it’s happened since I had DD.
Brain mush is awful. It makes me not want to talk to people unless it’s mindless banter

I consider intelligence to be an ability to:

• think critically around a subject
• understand nuance
• accept that others have opinions that differ from your own and that there is no singular 'correct' way to think (which builds on the critical thinking point above)

I don't think this is about 'intelligence'. It's about how you are functioning at the moment.

I have a good memory. I'm organised and pragmatic. On IQ tests I score over 150. I also have many limitations: I am not good at physics, there are very many subjects I know nothing about and have no interest in, there are many things I can 't do. I am not one of those people who can look something up on YouTube and then be able to wire their own house. IQ tests are incredibly culturally biased and limited in their scope too.

I'd say I'm a range of above average in some things, average in others, complete dunce in yet others.

Yes, I am. At 8 I was offered a place at a special "gifted" school based on my IQ. Luckily my parents turned it down. I've done well academically and "get" things pretty easily.

I think there are loads of different types of intelligence. Very rarely does someone have it all. It's also not a recipe for success in life as so many other things factor in.

I've reached an age quite a few people don't reach, I have a partner and children that love me and cats that just about tolerate me. I have a well-respected (most of the time 😀) job which means I can keep a roof over our heads and food on the table (not enough according to the cats). I think that makes me intelligent enough.

I left school with almost nothing and when I realised that I actually wasn't as thick as school taught me to believe I was, I studied for and got a BSc through the OU. That taught me I was cleverer than I thought.

I still try to keep learning and I am learning mandarin (on and off) and the violin (the cats are the only ones that appreciate that as I sound like them with it). I am still learning for work, but it does feel like it takes longer and is harder. I don't know if that's the case, but I think it's tied to all the other crap that is going on in my life these days. I try and cut as much "noise" out of my life as I can and I meditate which helps me focus.

There are people still getting degrees in their 90's, so it's possible to keep learning, I think we get out of the habit and we get tired.