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.

This was from my original post. A recent example I can think of is when I was on a training day through work. Even before the trainer had half finished I'd already drawn the correct conclusions, realised the most effective way to apply the training at work and sketched out a comprehensive flow chart detailing my thoughts. I'd also correctly identified ways to improve the new processes. To my mind it was all rather simple in concept and obvious, but others in the group clearly struggled to grasp what the trainer had covered. He had to go back and back over several points, really simplifying a lot of stuff, and still people didn't get it.

I ended up very bored and we still had the afternoon to get through.

I think this is different and isn’t due to intelligence but personality.

I get bored so easily and don’t care about the detail but I would say I’m reasonably intelligent, masters in a STEM field. I hate triple
checking data and being more creative is more my style.

I do understand that, I find this in all walks of life, from soft skills training to books, films, tv programmes etc, it’s because it’s all formulaic so you pick up key indicators and patterns of the formula being used and match it to the outcome of similar scenarios. It happens a lot with conversations too. Most of life is extremely predictable, most scenarios have limited likely outcomes which you can usually narrow down by other indicators of the story teller. I understand that this is a more prevalent blessing/cursed skill amongst people with ADHD. It enables you to move on well before the play has concluded. Of course in the real world you have to mask it so you can operate socially,

I'm academically intelligent but emotionally stunted. ASD.

I think this is most certainly true. However, just like its really important to up the weight training during menopause it’s important to up the mind training too.

Also, as a teacher, I see both fast and slow processing, very noticeably, all the time in my students. Teaching grammar really shows up the relative mental agility and acuity of my students!

So in the education system then, is slow processing a polite word for well, being a bit lacking in intelligence?

Years ago I was assessed as dyspraxic at uni, slow processing being one thing mentioned. Diagnosed with adhd later on but feel this is not accurate for me, it just all feels like an excuse for being hopeless (in relation to me having it).

But if slow processing is just sugar coating a lack of intelligence, maybe that's what my uni assessment person was trying to tell me, but softening the blow with dyspraxia.

I'm shit at spatial awareness, sports etc so just really have nothing going for me!

The world is so competitive, just to be average you have to be so competent in at least several areas.

My job requires me to work quickly and creatively, grasp ideas and develop them.
I work to my strengths tho, and so I feel 'intelligent' most days as I'm on my comfort zone.
However, put me in a room with engineers, or mathematicians and I'd be totally out of my depth.
I'm really good at Only Connect but rubbish at University Challenge 😁.

Nah they aren't. Former CB lecturer speaking. The Oxbridge admissions system puts in a floor; you don't get the dimmest students. You maybe get 20 per cent really smart ones rather than 5 per cent at other unis, but the bulk are what I'd call good average, and often get in b/o expensive education.

I became more aware than ever in CB that 'intelligence' is a composite and that certain elements of it are given way too much weight: what I think of as conversational intelligence (what B Johnson has) and intellectual confidence.

Meanwhile attention to consequences, circumspection, which is a very valuable aspect of smarts, is barely noticed - if it were, the Borises of this world wouldn't be allowed to run wild.

Note that this is partly a cultural thing (I'm not British) - elsewhere, there are different imbalances.

I'm the opposite. I can make quite difficult connections with complex issues at times. However I can fail to understand the most basic set of instructions, like travel directions, for instance, or flat pack instructions.

I make mistakes on things like spreadsheets, but can also find creative solutions to challenging problems.

Surely we all have strengths and weaknesses OP. It sounds like you'll be increasingly more valuable the higher up you get in your organisation. I would have thought creativity is a rarer quality than accuracy in basic tasks and therefore valuable.

It also sounds like you're incredibly hard on yourself and maybe you've been criticised for making mistakes in the past, hence the paralysis when you're being observed.

Would you benefit from some executive coaching to learn how to harness your strengths and mitigate your weaknesses?

That’s interesting especially about Boris. Food for thought thank you.

You write well OP and come across as intelligent in your posts

@Terrifiedofwastingmylife

i know this isn’t the point of your thread, but there is a way to automate or semi-automate almost every spreadsheet task and most of them don’t require resorting to Visual Basic. you would be amazed at the functions that people don’t know about. I have seen really smart phds wasting hours and hours doing things manually that I come though and show them how to automate in seconds. It’s just a matter of experience. I even have had people show me new tricks that I don’t know about which is hard because I’m 30 years in at this point.

if you want to share what you are trying to do, we may be able to help.

I've googled that Visual Basic suggestion, and proving my point I can't understand it...is it a programming/ coding thing?

Sadly, it's not that the spreadsheet task I'm doing is complicated, it's not. I haven't even got to a point where using formulae would be a useful thing to help with what I'm doing... I'm just compiling a list of particular medical specialists and key data points relating to them. I

t's a very simple task, I'm just painfully slow and in high anxiety I'll put the wrong academic bio beside the wrong person, and be muddled when I ring them and they will be furious and I'll fuck things up.

So in the education system then, is slow processing a polite word for well, being a bit lacking in intelligence?

Not always. There are students who take longer but gain a good, deep understanding with time. Or students who benefit from different ways of learning. However, as a general rule I'd say fast processing is indicative of higher intelligence. I think a lot of what constitutes what we generally recognise as high intelligence is a combination of fast processing, good memory, plus being very articulate (though the latter not always true, especially of people in non-wordy spheres).

Like I say, grammar is the real litmus test in my subject. Even in the grammar school where I teach, there are students who really, really struggle with it even after years of studying the language. Others just instantly get it. They are all bright, but the ones who just get the grammar tend to be the brightest.

I do pretty good on iq tests I dont think it proves anything other than being good at iq tests though

I guess intelligence is using all parts of your brain effectively

Educational psychologist assessed twice as a kid/teen. IQ measured at 148, so yes on paper and in discussions I’m intelligent. Dropped out of uni, the course wasn’t teaching me what I wanted (should have done business studies) but pretty successful now. Rubbish at making friends though.

I don’t know if I am and I wouldn’t want to guess.

To me intelligence is objectivity. The stupidest people I know are the most confident, it never occurs to them they’re wrong about anything, meaning their thinking skills are massively impaired.

The most intelligent ones know what they don’t know, can remove their emotions/wants from a situation and are good at seeing things from various points of view. They don’t use meaningless circular phrases or try to make out most things are black and white.

Was thinking the same thing, when I read the post…

Gah, that was meant to be in response to a previous poster’s reference to the perimenopause.

Yes - academically something I've always been told and known due to ridiculous levels of testing in my life

However , emotional intelligence something I think I've only really been able to fine tune at the age I am now, sadly I had to undergo much pain to get to that

Intelligence is a spectrum without one singular definition.

My manager is incredibly articulate, knowledgeable and critical thinker. He can't even do the most basic DIY painting a room.

We're gifted in different ways.

Haven’t read the whole thread OP but my brain sounds like yours - would have said I was above average intelligence at school but not since, I have an under-active thyroid though which could be partly to blame.

Intelligence is abundant - the intelligence used in some manual work is quite astounding; the use of brain, hands and natural knowledge far surpasses most conventional assessments of intelligence.

That's why people with degrees in polenta and quinoa living in Islington pay good money to learn things like hedgelaying and making pots and call it an holiday.

I guess this is an example of where it is good not to judge.

Oh going back re the slow processing, I’ve definitely got that too, once I grasp something I understand it completely but it takes me a while to get there, I’m always amazed when people speed read things and understand them and I’m still on page 1. I think I’m neurodivergent also.