Appearing Intelligent?

[Thursday]

This may be personal, but I tend to be impressed with silent types that listen and think and actually don't say too much...

ditto
i want to tap into their hidden world
bring them out, if you will

 

[Blackmail!]

But still, in this friendly environment, I still felt a bit different, so a lecturer suggested I have my IQ independently measured.

So I had it measured twice by two, professional, independent psychometricians.

And it turned out to be 160. And this level is called highly gifted.

And it is important to say that IQ is not a measure of quantity of intelligence. All it tells is how common you are in the population. For instance most are round about 100 but those with 40 or 160 are so rare, you could go through life without meeting one.

And it is also important to say that the highly gifted are not only different intellectually but they are different emotionally. They are described as Over-Excitabe (OE).

So for the highly gifted it is important to learn not only to accept your intellect but to also to accept your high emotional excitability or lability.

Well, despite the fact we both identify with the stereotypical caricature presented by GZA, I think there is a HUGE gap between people like you and me, yes a really huge one.

Because in my case, my taste or behaviour are rather a consequence of my social milieu, my social background (intellectual french bourgeoisie). While in your case, you pretend it was because you were inherently superior or different than the "average man".

Let's say I would never DARE to judge people like the way you did. Yes, I like baroque music, so what? Is it because I have a 160+ IQ? Nonsense! Ridiculous!
It's simply because I have been trained somehow to enjoy it, from very early age.
It has much more to do with sociology, social classes than with real intelligence (whatever intelligence means). It's cultural and symbolic capital.

Let me recommend you to read a very interesting book written by Pierre Bourdieu: "Distinction: a Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste", translated by Richard Nice, Harvard University Press (1984)

And there is a link that might interest you: Cultural capital - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
And another: Taste & - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[white]

If you listen more than you speak, it'd give more weight to your words.

So when you speak, it would give the appearance of intelligence, as far as considered thought goes.

Also when you let little things slide, as if they do not concern you, or place pointed barbs in response, which are also funny but sharp, it gives the appearance you are not easily fooled.

You do not need to prove anything to anyone, if you're truly intelligent. It is that measure of self-containment that marks confidence and intelligence, and wins the respect of peers.

 

[CzeCze]

I've skimmed the thread and I concur with Blackmail that a lot of what goes for 'intelligent' is actually western intellectualism wrapped in class connotations or vice versa. Basically what he said -- classical, going to the opera, reading the Wall Street Journal, talking about philosophy (particularly if you can quote and properly spell obscure or just hard to spell ones like Foucault, Kierkergaard, Nietzsche...my misspells are on purpose by the way...), speaking/reading a little German/Latin/Greek, dressing preppy, speaking English with a standard American accent or even better British or French, being knowledgeable about 'fine dining' and wines, using SAT vocab (hahaha), knowing about opera and ballet, etc.

Also, certain thinking and communicating styles definitely do get read as intelligent (at least in the states) as Aelan says -- being calm and thoughtful. However being calm and thoughtful can also give the opposite impression (of not being so intelligent, of being 'slow') I'd go into the particulars of why one impression and not the other but I'm keeping my promise to myself and going to bed before my battery dies out. (The laptop battery, that is)

 

[Nadir]

Eh, my opinion is that nothing really appears as anything... so I do not think the main issue outlined in the OP is the "notion" of appearing intelligent itself, but that such a notion, to an extent, works. At least around GZA's environment.

So I do not think such a list is really warranted, satirical or not. Instead, it should be asked; why associate at all? Blackmail!'s posts are well put -- because all those aspects listed in the OP pretty much hint at a higher social class and some other form of perceived superiority... which probably is the main gripe to be had, and after all, comparison is a fond tool to utilize...

I guess the "reality" forming the basis of that satire, is really removed from whatever "intelligence" might be -- and is closer to criticizing another socio-economic concept, IQ.

 

[mippus]

Well, despite the fact we both identify with the stereotypical caricature presented by GZA, I think there is a HUGE gap between people like you and me, yes a really huge one.

Because in my case, my taste or behaviour are rather a consequence of my social milieu, my social background (intellectual french bourgeoisie). While in your case, you pretend it was because you were inherently superior or different than the "average man".

Let's say I would never DARE to judge people like the way you did. Yes, I like baroque music, so what? Is it because I have a 160+ IQ? Nonsense! Ridiculous!
It's simply because I have been trained somehow to enjoy it, from very early age.
It has much more to do with sociology, social classes than with real intelligence (whatever intelligence means). It's cultural and symbolic capital.

Let me recommend you to read a very interesting book written by Pierre Bourdieu: "Distinction: a Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste", translated by Richard Nice, Harvard University Press (1984)

And there is a link that might interest you: Cultural capital - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
And another: Taste & - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Excellent point when it comes to the question whether taste and intelligence go hand in hand. The topic is what makes you seem intelligent. And then indeed: in an intellectual environment, all this does not make a difference, but it would impress people that do not belong to this sociological group. Funnily enough, the opposite does not really work: endless talk about foutball, soap operahs and dr. Phill will not make you seem bright in intellectual surroundings.

 

[Mole]

Who is Bogus?

Well, despite the fact we both identify with the stereotypical caricature presented by GZA, I think there is a HUGE gap between people like you and me, yes a really huge one.

Because in my case, my taste or behaviour are rather a consequence of my social milieu, my social background (intellectual french bourgeoisie). While in your case, you pretend it was because you were inherently superior or different than the "average man".

Let's say I would never DARE to judge people like the way you did. Yes, I like baroque music, so what? Is it because I have a 160+ IQ? Nonsense! Ridiculous!
It's simply because I have been trained somehow to enjoy it, from very early age.
It has much more to do with sociology, social classes than with real intelligence (whatever intelligence means). It's cultural and symbolic capital.

Let me recommend you to read a very interesting book written by Pierre Bourdieu: "Distinction: a Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste", translated by Richard Nice, Harvard University Press (1984)

And there is a link that might interest you: Cultural capital - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
And another: Taste & - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thank you for your interesting post.

However, I would like to make a personal explaination.

I am not pretending. And I have not relied on my own judgement. I have had my giftedness measured not once but twice to be sure by two independent, professional psychometricans.

I would emphasise that this is a meaurement independent of my personal opinion.

I am aware that sharing this with you presents some difficulties, particularly of a personal nature.

However I have chosen to share it with you because it give you the opportunity to make up your own mind about me.

Of course I like to belong and be liked, but I can live with it if you don't. But most of all, I like to be known. And that is why I give my real name and address here, I don't hide behind a pseudonym. And indeed there is not much point, as I now have video conversations in public on the internet and everyone can see who I am.

And I am more than familiar with Marxist Class Analysis but since 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall, Marxism has been revealed for what it is, particulary in the book, "The Black Book of Communism", written by French, left-wing intellectuals.

And of course I judge people just as you judge me. And I am delighted you do exercise your judgement.

By and large I do like people, even French, bourgeois intellectuals. And I find most people like me.

However I prefer to be liked or disliked for who I am.

But the joker in the pack is Mrs Briggs and her daughter who are bogus psychometricians. And who gave us the bogus Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

Victor.

 

[JustDave]

This may be personal, but I tend to be impressed with silent types that listen and think and actually don't say too much...

I'm impressed with those headphones. What brand and model are they?

I am the same way. Regardless of the actual levels of intelligence, the very talkative always appear to be less intelligent than the quite people.

 

[mippus]

I'm impressed with those headphones. What brand and model are they?

I am the same way. Regardless of the actual levels of intelligence, the very talkative always appear to be less intelligent than the quite people.

The headphones are impressive, yes, but I don't know anything about it, except that they look fascinating, so they became a new episode in my headphone-avatar-story...
Could the judgement of intelligent impressions be based on our own I/E'ness? Do Intoverts see these silent thinkers as more intelligent, and are extraverts impressed by the witty, sharp and talkative?

 

[JustDave]

The headphones are impressive, yes, but I don't know anything about it, except that they look fascinating, so they became a new episode in my headphone-avatar-story...
Could the judgement of intelligent impressions be based on our own I/E'ness? Do Intoverts see these silent thinkers as more intelligent, and are extraverts impressed by the witty, sharp and talkative?

Possibly. My hunch is most people consider themselves intelligent and thus anyone similar to them in personality and/or character must also be intelligent.

 

[Blackmail!]

And I am more than familiar with Marxist Class Analysis but since 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall, Marxism has been revealed for what it is, particulary in the book, "The Black Book of Communism", written by French, left-wing intellectuals.

You never read Bourdieu, tell me? Or classic sociology?
Tell me, for you, is Max Weber a marxist? Or Habermas? or Durkheim?

Because if you confuse marxism and their works, well, there's nothing I can do for you, really. I'm not marxist. Bourdieu never was, and in fact, a lot of his theories are in direct contradiction with classic Marxist dogmas, including the "cultural capital".

In french, we would say you tried a lame attempt to "botter en touche" (to "kick it aside", or to evade the issue).

But the joker in the pack is Mrs Briggs and her daughter who are bogus psychometricians. And who gave us the bogus Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

Victor.

Don't take everything Richard Noll said for granted. What is your purpose here? Frankly?

 

[Mole]

The Mathematics of Interaction

What is your purpose here? Frankly?

What a good question. And how could I resist being frank with you.

The reason I am here is two fold. Geoff, who has read me on another site for the gifted, invited me here.

And the reason I have stayed is the size of the group.

And there is a relationship between the size of the group and the opportunities - the larger the group, the more opportunities - in fact the opportunities for interaction rises exponentially with the size of the group - it's simple mathematics.

I have come from a small, gifted group where the opportunities were limited. While here the opportunities are multifold.

Also I have stayed because this group is well run. In particular, it is tolerant.

So I learn more about myself and others, even a Frenchman living in Belgium with a bourgeois background; or pehaps you are from Belgium living in Paris. Either way you live on the other side of the world with a different point of view.

I value your opinion.

Victor.

 

[Blackmail!]

So I learn more about myself and others, even a Frenchman living in Belgium with a bourgeois background; or pehaps you are from Belgium living in Paris. Either way you live on the other side of the world with a different point of view.

Huh?

 

[Mole]

Huh?

Perhaps I haven't got you quite right.

 

[Nadir]

I believe it's mippus who's from Belgium, Victor.
Stealthy editing.

 

[mippus]

I believe it's mippus who's from Belgium, Victor.
Stealthy editing.

I sure am. Living in Paris sounds like an interesting option, though...

... but seriously: what is the above discussion really about?

 

[Blackmail!]

I sure am. Living in Paris sounds like an interesting option, though...

... but seriously: what is the above discussion really about?

I fear Victor is consistently trying to derail it.

 

[Mole]

I believe it's mippus who's from Belgium, Victor.
Stealthy editing.

Let's see if I've got this right. You are living in Turkey. Blackmail is in Paris and Mippus is in Belgium and I am in Australia - no wonder I am confused.

 

[mippus]

Let's see if I've got this right. You are living in Turkey. Blackmail is in Paris and Mippus is in Belgium and I am in Australia - no wonder I am confused.

Welcome to the global village

 

[Mole]

I fear Victor is consistently trying to derail it.

I wouldn't have thought so. After all I am talking about IQ, the measure of intelligence.

I am also talking about psychometrics which measures not only intelligence but personality.

But I do understand that what I am saying and the way I say it may be making you uncomfortable.

I guess questioning the raison d'etre of this site would make you feel uncomfortable.

But maybe I'm wrong - so I rely upon you to tell me what you think.

Victor.