Many people of high IQ sail through life without serious psychological issues, while many others fall prey to psychological disorders and burnout. Yesterday (April 28) we celebrated the birthday of the brilliant Austrian logician, Kurt Gödel, whose incompleteness theorems challenged the foundations of mathematics. He later suffered from a paranoia that eventually led to his …
This post is a response to Meanie, a visitor to our Quora site at Intelligence and IQ, who asked whether it was alright to have an IQ of 73. Meanie, in my opinion, it’s not only alright but it’s also a necessity that our world contain people spanning a wide range of IQ’s. This enables …
Each of us is born with an intellectual potential. This comes from our DNA. Yet, whether we reach this potential depends on a variety of factors such as our family environment, our schooling and our tribal connections. If we are lucky enough to be born into environment in which education is highly respected, we have …
In his comments about the physical laws underpinning the universe, Einstein often used the term “God.” In one of his most famous quotes, challenging Neils Bohr’s interpretation of quantum physics, Einstein asserted, “God does not play dice with the universe.” On another occasion, he expressed his conception of religion, stating: All religions, arts and sciences …
As seen in the biographies of people like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Steve Jobs and others, children who are highly intelligent or gifted have different interests from most others and therefore cannot self-reference to understand how others feel. In their early relationships with others, they begin to realize that they don’t “fit in.” Their difference …
What are some flaws that make Smart people less superhuman? Read More »
For some people, being surrounded by those who seem to learn more quickly and understand concepts more readily is mentally draining, while for others it’s energizing. Why the difference? For those of us who see themselves as lacking in intelligence, watching others succeed where we struggle erodes our self-concept and creates a negative, self-defeating state …
Are you energized or drained when surrounded by people you regard as more intelligent? Read More »
Participating in a debate can be a wonderful learning experience, but it comes with some important caveats. First and foremost, both you and your opponent must be willing to accept that your point of view might be biased, incorrect, or in need of modification. When two debaters have a strong emotional investment in their points …
What are the benefits of debate beyond winning and losing arguments? Read More »
What Traits do High IQ people Share? Most people would agree that Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr. and Benjamin Franklin were highly intelligent people. All had a high degree of self-efficacy, believing in their vision even when it ran contrary to consensus. Albert Einstein’s assertions that time is not absolute …
Visitors to Quora often ask which of two brilliant people is the more intelligent? The simple answer is that we have no means of measuring brilliance at the highest levels. IQ is a measure that is useful for comparing the intelligence of people in the range of 70 to about 130. Beyond this realm, IQs …
Can IQ be used to compare the intelligence of Geniuses? Read More »
This is a question that has haunted mathematicians and physicists as well those in other high IQ professions. In 1927, physicist Paul Dirac, who won a Nobel Prize at age 31 for his work in quantum physics, wrote the following quatrain: Age is, of course, a fever chillThat every physicist must fear.He’s better dead than …
Can IQ be increased by Training the Brain, or does it only Decrease with Age? Read More »
