Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I don't think a persons IQ can be changed very much; I think it is more a matter of what we were born with and maybe a little bit to do with the environment we were brought up in (protective nurturing environment vs. chaotic and neglected). But I do think a person's knowledge can be increased with a lot of reading and life experiences.
The best thing for people to do is to find things they are interested in and learn as much as they can. Even people that we consider to be geniuses were often not very smart outside their limited area of expertise. Puzzles and mental exercises should be a last resort. God made us to experience the fullness of life, not to whack our brains into submission.
The tests for "a High IQ" test your ability to think logically and reason. Practically speaking, you can raise your IQ if you can train yourself to think logically. Some people are born with it, but yet you can learn it to a certain degree. Those who can't or won't because it is too hard, takes too much effort and time, or it bothers them to 'eliminate' emotionalism from their daily thoughts because they fear it will make them hard and cold and unemotional, won't do it.
Yeah, I blew through the test and got invited to join MENSA. Big deal. Most of the ones I met there were sooo impressed with themselves and the fact that they tested into the 90th percentile. They used their scores to impress each other "Well of course he doesn't grasp it, he only has a 130!"
I never told them that I tested into the 99th percentile. Why bother? I was happy where I was and with what I was doing, and they were very boring, with their self-impressed and snobbish attitudes towards each other.
Being logical and reasonable in thought and action doesn't mean you can't have emotions, fall in love, or have to be a nerd. It just eliminates from your dating pool all of those manipulative, emotional, reactionary people that live to abuse each other and themselves mentally, physically, and emotionally; i.e., drama queens and social deviants; and points you towards relationships based on interactive thought and reason. Relationships based on intelligent, cognitive, shared thought, mutual understanding, and respect last a lot longer and have a lot more shared experiences -and even humor! - than those based on wealth or looks. Once you try reason, you'll never go back!
Seriously, it's an arbitrary meaurement of ability, not set in stone, not a guarantee of success (more likely failure, once your parents find out and start bugging you to "DO something with your life!"). Plus putting it on a resume is likely to NOT get you the job, as no boss wants to hire you if you are smarter than he. Seen any of those old B/W movies about scientists wanting to take over the world? Yeah, that's how most people see geniuses. They resent them, fear their own inadequacies next to them, and in discussions grow quickly to hate them, because they won't revert to the sandbox-style of fighting, and always seem to be chuckling even in the most heated arguments. Thanks, but no thanks. I'd prefer NOT to be the only pink monkey in the cage, NOT to be the saviour of mankind. We all know what they did to the LAST one.
By how much ?- significantly to actually make you be able to understand things you struggled with, or go from a D student to A student.
Absolutely. I struggled with math throughout high school. I didn't understand it and hated it. I didn't practice it and I did just enough to get by. I took all regular math courses and barely made Cs. I scored below the 50th percentile on the math portion of the SAT.
I decided to start fresh with college algebra even though I had taken courses through pre-calculus in high school. The professor started the course off by teaching the actual logic and mechanics behind algebra, which none of my teachers in high school had ever bothered to do. He applied what we did to real world examples. It started to make a little sense, so I practiced it more on my own and it made even more sense.
I ended up completing math courses through differential equations and I took enough advanced physics courses to receive a minor in it. I didn't make As in every single course I took, but I didn't struggle with them like I struggled with simple algebra and arithemetic throughout high school.
All it took for me to greatly increase my proficiency was to learn the logic, practice it, and apply it. I don't see myself as above average so I believe anybody without any significant learning disabilities could do the same.
If a person isnt going to EFFECTIVELY APPLY that attained increased in IQ knowledge , then it is nothing but an ego-trip ; theres plenty of smart people who arent applying themselves in Society . A few months ago there was a Man on TV who has a very high IQ ... and he was a Bouncer at a Bar , but ohhh could he talk about Quantum Mechanics and Nano-biology .
There is no reason to have to apply yourself to society. If a person is happy with his life and feels things are getting better in some way for him, he is probably on the right course. Just because a person is not applying their intelligence to a job does not mean he is not using it.
Perhaps your impulse in life is to better society. Perhaps his is bettering himself. Nuttin' wrong with that, in my book.
Once I am putting bread on the table and paying rent regularly, I feel I can apply my brain to anything I choose to and not jump to another's tune.
Yes emotional Intelligence, social Intelligence - motivation, knowing yourself, understanding others etc.... But these are soft skills..good to have for being a manager or a corporate office job.
Surely most of the inventions, discoveries, new technologies - the real productive things that actually move our society forward - that have radically improved our standard of living in the last 100 years have required people who are a little brighter than average to drive things forward.
I have valued learing all of my life. I try to learn about a lot of things. I have acquired some knowledge in my years.
As far as increasing my IQ............I don't really care............my IQ is probably in the high 70's to mid 80's.
Look at how smart many of the GREAT inventors were..........many of them STILL had to toil away day after day............year after year............to come up with great inventions.
Ya know???? I never did well in math until I got out of the military, went to the university and got placed in Calculus. From there on, math made sense to me, Mathematics as a language, the advantage of having good professors. Calculus, probability and sadistics (not a typo) I loved them!!
I have valued learing all of my life. I try to learn about a lot of things. I have acquired some knowledge in my years.
As far as increasing my IQ............I don't really care............my IQ is probably in the high 70's to mid 80's.
Look at how smart many of the GREAT inventors were..........many of them STILL had to toil away day after day............year after year............to come up with great inventions.
There is a geometrical progression on the numbers which rate IQ. That is, there is less of a difference between 70 and 75 than there is between 130 and 135.
I am far from an expert, but your post does not seem like 70's and 80's. Is not 'normal' somewhere in the 90's or 100's? Below that you have a below functional person. Maybe there are several IQ tests and we are talking apples and oranges here.
IQ does appear to grow over time. I suppose, as people age, their survival skills adapt better and they develop better innate abilities.
There is a geometrical progression on the numbers which rate IQ. That is, there is less of a difference between 70 and 75 than there is between 130 and 135.
I am far from an expert, but your post does not seem like 70's and 80's. Is not 'normal' somewhere in the 90's or 100's? Below that you have a below functional person. Maybe there are several IQ tests and we are talking apples and oranges here.
IQ does appear to grow over time. I suppose, as people age, their survival skills adapt better and they develop better innate abilities.
No, I am sure that I am partially retarded, probably genetic. I look at code and understand the structure, commands, syntax, modifiers, loops and subroutines.............but...............when it comes time to write programs I cannot pull it all together. Kinda like a musician who is technically ok at playing.................but trying to create is a no-go.
Keep trying though, I will until I die. Read technical electronics books and understand more and more each time I read them.
Ya know???? I never did well in math until I got out of the military, went to the university and got placed in Calculus. From there on, math made sense to me, Mathematics as a language, the advantage of having good professors. Calculus, probability and sadistics (not a typo) I loved them!!
True enough. In HS I failed Algebra with a 46. It just didn't make any sense to me. ("Really, 'x' can be ANY number? ANY?")
Yet as a firefighter, when I had to figure pressure loss by feet and diameter of hose - in other words, when it mattered - it came quite easily. When I was involved in community development, figuring how many taxpayers = how many police officers, fully benefitted and equipped, was a simple science to me (that a lot of community developers STILL don't understand, and its how they get ripped off by high-dollar developers who DO understand it). Once I could see how it applied, that it was relative and always true, I became enamored of algebra! After that, geometry, physics, and calculus were a cake walk!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
After that, geometry, physics, and calculus were a cake walk!
