How intelligent do you think you are?

[Mole]

Half of us are exactly above average, above 100, and the other half are exactly below average, below 100.

But most of us have the delusion we are above average IQ of 100.

 

[Cellmold]

Without a doubt: average.

But I'm attempting to make the best of it, in whatever ways develop.

 

[Yuurei]

Far more than people give me credit for.

 

[Forever]

Even dumb people think they’re above average intelligence

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

Without a doubt: average.

But I'm attempting to make the best of it, in whatever ways develop.

Maybe, but you’re very wise and insightful as well.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

I guess my IQ is probably somewhere around 105. 125 TOPS.

Shave a few points off from the effects of overdoing the drugs when I was younger.

 

[Cellmold]

Even dumb people think they’re above average intelligence

There's an obvious observation that a lot of this is to do with protection of one's own well-being because the truth might be too painful to bear, alongside just general human tendencies.

But I think there are conditions in modern living that exaggerate it and maybe even make it a necessary component of survival. After all, you do need a degree of assertiveness (we cannot all be calm, soft spoken intellectual, scientific, technical and just generally skilled geniuses) that might occasionally border on the level of arrogance in order to get a slice of the pie for yourself.

For the vast majority of us the world comes across as a loud & fast paced mess of people scrabbling to get near an imaginary top of the heap. And since most of us are average then the best option for that material wealth we're told we want and to which we also need (to a degree) lies in managerial positions in administration. That's partly why bureaucracy is such a powerful influence in the world, I think, and we do require a great degree of organisation; it's true. But after a while there appears to develop this kind of... 'excess' in piling up repetition on top of repetition.

In Terry Gilliam's film, Brazil that's actually one of main themes in my opinion (and great thanks to [MENTION=9273]Vasilisa[/MENTION] for introducing me to it). Terry is fairly well known for not liking bureaucratic meddling, particularly in creative people's projects (as happened with Handmade studios but that's a long story) and there is a particular scene in Brazil where we are introduced to the protagonist's place of work and it is simply people taking joy in being repetitively productive for the sake of it.

And that lack of needing complicated or adaptive thinking means it's a useful avenue for giving those of us that are the average majority a chance to make at least a decent living. And thinking of yourself as above average could play a part in getting a person up that ladder.

Although it also causes great harm too, particularly with dangerously productive idiots.

 

[Forever]

There's an obvious observation that a lot of this is to do with protection of one's own well-being because the truth might be too painful to bear, alongside just general human tendencies.

But I think there are conditions in modern living that exaggerate it and maybe even make it a necessary component of survival. After all, you do need a degree of assertiveness (we cannot all be calm, soft spoken intellectual, scientific, technical and just generally skilled geniuses) that might occasionally border on the level of arrogance in order to get a slice of the pie for yourself.

For the vast majority of us the world comes across as a loud & fast paced mess of people scrabbling to get near an imaginary top of the heap. And since most of us are average then the best option for that material wealth we're told we want and to which we also need (to a degree) lies in managerial positions in administration. That's partly why bureaucracy is such a powerful influence in the world, I think, and we do require a great degree of organisation; it's true. But after a while there appears to develop this kind of... 'excess' in piling up repetition on top of repetition.

In Terry Gilliam's film, Brazil that's actually one of main themes in my opinion (and great thanks to [MENTION=9273]Vasilisa[/MENTION] for introducing me to it). Terry is fairly well known for not liking bureaucratic meddling, particularly in creative people's projects (as happened with Handmade studios but that's a long story) and there is a particular scene in Brazil where we are introduced to the protagonist's place of work and it is simply people taking joy in being repetitively productive for the sake of it.

And that lack of needing complicated or adaptive thinking means it's a useful avenue for giving those of us that are the average majority a chance to make at least a decent living. And thinking of yourself as above average could play a part in getting a person up that ladder.

Although it also causes great harm too, particularly with dangerously productive idiots.

Don't we all make a story to provide ourselves a purpose or meaning in this life? the 7 billion of us?

 

[Yuurei]

Even dumb people think they’re above average intelligence

Mostly dumb people think they are above average intelligence. I think that a big part of intelligence is understanding that no matter how much knowledge one has it will never be complete. Like any good mystery story one cannot possibly know the truth with only one PoV.

 

[Forever]

Mostly dumb people think they are above average intelligence. I think that a big part of intelligence is understanding that no matter how much knowledge one has it will never be complete. Like any good mystery story one cannot possibly know the truth with only one PoV.

Well really, I'd also like to add that intelligence should probably be viewed as a tool at most. That intelligence shouldn't define us as who we are.

 

[Stigmata]

I would feel comfortable considering gauging myself as average intelligence. I've taken a few IQ tests and scored consistently between 115-122.

 

[Cellmold]

Don't we all make a story to provide ourselves a purpose or meaning in this life? the 7 billion of us?

True, though some seem to run deeper than others and repeat themselves more often.

 

[Forever]

True, though some seem to run deeper than others and repeat themselves more often.

Haha true. You know, I like to think about what the stories of other people may have it.

Ranging from happy-go-lucky to ultimate doom.

As you may of heard, that we conceive how our life is going to be by our own minds.

It’s both terrible and quite a curiosity that one makes their life unfortunate by victim mentality.

 

[Cellmold]

Haha true. You know, I like to think about what the stories of other people may have it.

Ranging from happy-go-lucky to ultimate doom.

As you may of heard, that we conceive how our life is going to be by our own minds.

It’s both terrible and quite a curiosity that one makes their life unfortunate by victim mentality.

It's one of the great fears of mine that, as I age, I will remember my long term memories more readily as my short term becomes less efficient. I can only hope that I more regularly remember the better parts over the worse ones.

Which is really odd, because it's not as if I had a particularly bad childhood from a material perspective, but then again it remains true that this isn't everything. There was a weird emptiness and lack of...I guess intimacy in it & I'm not even sure I can really blame others to any real extent for it. It's partly why I became interested in personality systems growing up. Because if I knew that there was something a bit more 'settled' and inherent in my nature, then I could learn to overcome or change that element (at least as far as could be allowed by the circumstances).

Always reminds me of the chorus to Lambchop's song - The Old Gold Shoe:

"For all our massive brains
To call on choked remains
It's painful
It's certain
That something's bound to break
(Inside)"

 

[Excitant]

Oh man! It's been years since I've been tested but I remember that I was certainly above average, but not by much Maybe mid 120's could have been 121... That number seems to be familiar for some reason.

Funny because although I am intelligent, I do not possess much of a formal education. Proves that school isn't everything. It just makes obtaining some careers more accessible.

 

[Norexan]

I never thought about myself as intelligent person. Others extreme intelligent people told me that.

 

[Population: 1]

Very. As long as you put me next to really stupid people.

So average.

 

[Galena]

Average, and I’m not going by just IQ. Special focus on that rather than the whole, by anyone including myself, has never done me good.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

I'm smart enough.

 

[Luigi]

So only two other SJs are inclined to believe they're above average intelligence?