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How to Know if You Are Stupid

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Mike-O
Posts: 14593 - Karma: 1,089

A few years back I went to a Mensa test in Sweden, just for fun, but still nervous. Why? Because I had done many IQ tests on the Internet previously, put up by Finnish Mensa or other Scientific magazines and journals, always coming up quite short in the tests, averaging at around 110 - something I felt that I was "not as dumb as that number"!

But what is a number? When I took the test for real in Sweden in 2010, in my mind still for fun with a slight feel for excitement and no real needs for results, I thought it went okay. I was awarded with the results of 132 on the Stanford-Binet scale, barring me entry to the Swedish Mensa - the limit was 133, so I still felt like I was close. In Finland, with that score on the same scale I would have gotten in, and not felt dumb as people on this site kept calling me. But what did that accomplish?

Am I now smarter than many other people? In Finland, the lmit is 131 - I could be a member of Mensa if results transfered over, but the test is not the same. What if I failed horribly? Got the goosebumps, the sweats, was unable to complete the questionnaire again in the allotted time?

I could be deemed as an idiot, a fool, no matter my past performance in schools, academia, foreign universities, the language of arts - I could be deemed as a normal person of intelligence, or even lower than that.

I have not yet taken the test in Finland - it's a one-off-deal. You make it or you don't, and I'm feeling too self-conscious at the moment to actually go through with it with no remorse. Some might say it's just a test, but when you take it, you adhere yourself to a set of standards, standards of thought and logic. I don't really think of myself as a very logical man when it comes to "certainties", or skills in universal math, and the test I completed in Sweden in 2010 was a very illogical one, mostly about images (forms) which fit together in a line (what comes next)?

I know that I'm not stupid, or dumb, at least in many ways that modern society tries to quantify intelligence with. I'm just not sure if I should take the test again or not.

Apr 19 2012 6:04PM
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Aidan-G
Posts: 9415 - Karma: 10,861
Is 36 some upper echelon type score?
Apr 19 2012 6:08PM
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snowfinder
Posts: 2873 - Karma: 34,181
way to be a claimer.
Apr 19 2012 6:08PM
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.AR6rider.
Posts: 15976 - Karma: 8,799
No. You're most likely going to get into your desired school with a 34 on the ACT as long as you don't have complete shit for grades and you have a few extracurriculars.
Apr 19 2012 6:09PM
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edai
Posts: 4988 - Karma: 4,658
As much as I believe you can never actually quantify your intellect, I think it'd be interesting for us to take an online test, then post our score here.

Mikko are you familiar with any that might be good? Something detailed, but not to complex?
Apr 19 2012 6:19PM
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Mike-O
Posts: 14593 - Karma: 1,089
How is it a claim to say that you MAY have gotten into Mensa in another country if you tried, but you haven't, and the test gives you time and choices to choose wrongly in other places?

Like I said in the OP, I know that I'm not dumb - it's just how quantifiable one's wisdom is. Women are known to be more intelligible in the Mensa test with geographical questions, as women tend to have a better mental and physical capacity for understanding spatial phenomenona, so smarter women understand geo-puzzles more quickly than most men.

When it comes to the real deal, and I say this without any misogyny, the divided spatials, where it's all about deduction and logic, women start to fail.

It's both the women and the men who crown these supposed IQ feats that are crowned intellectuals, thinkers, even psychopaths on occasion as they cannot explain to others what their brain experiences - geniuses in their rarest form.

I am definitely not a genius, but I am not dumb either. I'm somewhere in between, as the Swedish test put me - I just don't know if the intelligence I want to describe myself with - lingual and relatable - can be really quantified by a test mostly based on mathematical logic and guesswork.

Something I don't know I could "ace" again.

Apr 19 2012 6:21PM
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Abc567def
Posts: 8756 - Karma: 801
I have never taken an IQ test, however I feel that there are vastly many more unintelligent people surrounding me than people I would deem more intelligent.

I feel that some people struggle to breath and talk at the same time...
Apr 19 2012 6:27PM
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Mike-O
Posts: 14593 - Karma: 1,089
Well, I don't really know any other English ones than this, just by a second of Googling, the US Mensa home test:

https://www.us.mensa.org/join/mht/

Check it out, at least, but even if the score doesn't fly with you (lower/higher) go and take the test when relaxed or drunk, like I did, haha. Might change the results...
Apr 19 2012 6:29PM
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CassiusClay
Posts: 1757 - Karma: 2
Tests do not define intelligence.
Apr 19 2012 6:30PM
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Mike-O
Posts: 14593 - Karma: 1,089
Well same to you and the person above, I also do not believe that simple test can quantify intelligence as a whole, but we can't test certain kinds of abilities, senses and smartness through defined material.

That's the thing that I'm going for with my question: as a Finn, I have been granted a very good education up until HS graduation. Did I take all what I got for granted? Yes, I did, and did noot utilize what I learned as well as I could in the following years.

The point is that Mensa quantifies as a certain kind of smart, intelligence and logic that in my mind belong to others smarter than me - engineer, mathematicians etc.

When I almost got a pass in the Swedish Mensa, I was mystified - how, why? Like I said, I'm not stupid, but to be so close made me feel smarter, but back in Finland I have not yet taken the "plunge" again, be it this or that type of intelligence - it's one way to study the human brain and its capabilities - I just don't know if I can bring myself to do it again due to the possibility of failing hard.
Apr 19 2012 6:38PM
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JamesR
Posts: 3396 - Karma: -12
I look at IQ and intelligence like this: IQ indicates intellectual ability.Some people have higher IQs and have greater potential in some areas. However, IQ does not indicate the quality of work that is produced. Someone can have a high IQ and never make it out of their parent's basement. On the other hand, someone with an average IQ can work hard and become an astrophysicist. It may be easier for someone with a high IQ to reach greater intellectual achievements and harder for the person with the lower IQ, but it's not a direct indication of what I would call applied intelligence.
Apr 19 2012 6:38PM
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JamesR
Posts: 3396 - Karma: -12
oh and mensa is for the people who never made it out of their parent's basement, in reality or psychologically
Apr 19 2012 6:40PM
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.AR6rider.
Posts: 15976 - Karma: 8,799
They may not define intelligence, but they sure are a damn good way to quantify it. Someone with an incredibly low IQ WILL be retarded, just as someone with an extremely high IQ will without a doubt be more intelligent than the retard. Sure, they don't take into account "street smarts," but that really just boils down to experience, knowledge, and common sense, not intelligence.
Apr 19 2012 6:41PM
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Applejack
Posts: 205 - Karma: 9
Of course IQ tests don't define intelligence, they define intelligence QUOTIENT. Wisdom != intelligence != knowledge != intelligence quotient. Stop mixing them up.
Apr 19 2012 6:44PM
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stupendous-man
Posts: 8637 - Karma: 13,293
I got a 139 when i took an IQ test in the seventh grade /claim. It was a legit one too not some shit test the school administrates (i know measuring IQ is dumb but its still fun to take it and see)
Apr 19 2012 6:49PM
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Mike-O
Posts: 14593 - Karma: 1,089
So in many Mensa scales, you are around Genius level. Have you used this intelligence in any parts of your life?
Apr 19 2012 6:51PM
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JamesR
Posts: 3396 - Karma: -12
IQ tests taken as a child become invalid pretty quickly. Here's hoping he kept it up.
Apr 19 2012 6:54PM
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stupendous-man
Posts: 8637 - Karma: 13,293
Actually Im currently attending the Stanford university online high school (#1 un the US nbd), so yes.
Apr 19 2012 7:03PM
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tubesteak
Posts: 45 - Karma: 31
Click for larger image
Apr 19 2012 7:09PM
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grown-ninja
Posts: 3031 - Karma: 175
bs schools lool to fill schools with a certain demographic even if you have 1500 and 100+ average and your not what they are looking for, you wont get in
Apr 19 2012 7:15PM
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Mike-O
Posts: 14593 - Karma: 1,089
I don't think it's dumb at all, Mensa tests just tend to weed out people who don't think mathemaically or logically, not making them stupid, but different.

I for one until I took the test knew/thought I was smart at least, not supid, but the score gave me a weird boost - me, that smart, whaaat? You know...

I think that I am lingually smart - quick to adapt new languages and such, artfully inept in certain circles etc. But I was sick most of the way through "junior high" and really missed out on chemitry and physics. I passed all the classed with OK grades, but I was not with it so to speak.

Even when I was 16-18, my thoughts were brewing, and I took no information as absolute truth, barring lingual teaching (who was I to say that 'lingual' sounded worse than 'langual'?)

Point being, I'm no dumb, should I take the very known test again, I'm afraid to come NOT on top...
Apr 19 2012 7:19PM
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Caspaaa
Posts: 4830 - Karma: 1,466
They're good exhibitions of our test-taking abilities and overall of our smarts, but tests don't really mean much. Some people are just horrible at taking tests. I know kids who sail through AP classes as freshmen but struggle with SAT's and ACT's because they are horrible under pressure like that.
Apr 19 2012 7:29PM
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hey-dude-its-me
Posts: 4238 - Karma: 412
does anyone know out a free version of luminosity.com? was gonna make a thread asking but never did
Apr 19 2012 7:46PM
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Mike-O
Posts: 14593 - Karma: 1,089
It's very true, even though I suck at math it's all very quantifiable and learnable.

It's hpw you see thing that really matter in the sxćale of things - you might be the smartest kid in school, at your job, and still suffer from depression, feel inadequate and think that your life is unfulfilling.

Not "smart" enough, no matter what the tests say.
Apr 19 2012 8:34PM
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Dr.Gonzo
Posts: 2552 - Karma: 87
what did i just read OP, i think your more than smart enough.
Apr 19 2012 8:49PM
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PopsicleStand
Posts: 6890 - Karma: 147
Agreed, and me getting what I want out of life by earning it is much more satisfying than any test.
Apr 19 2012 9:34PM
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Backyard.Skier
Posts: 5397 - Karma: 1,497
lost hard. hahah
Apr 19 2012 9:37PM
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ski93
Posts: 1280 - Karma: 84
I agree. One of my friends is a full out genius, he can get 90s in all his grade 12 classes by just attending and not studying, plus he says he's scored high on iq tests (he won't tell me). The only problem is he doesn't really apply himself to anything. He loves video games and has a few other hobbies like snowboarding but doesn't have any big plans for the future. Don't get me wrong, he's really down to earth and an awesome friend, but he lacks the ambition to do anything "genius worthy".
Apr 19 2012 11:00PM
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Mike-O
Posts: 14593 - Karma: 1,089
Sounds very true, but why "apply" yourself in life? What if your friend is each and every day pondering about the possibilities and limits of human existence, a thought that will one day clarify inside his head and get us all going "Ooooohhh... so that's why we are here!" or something similar.

Let's throw a hypothetical that his brain is amazingly intuitive and receiving, able to compute and process millennia-old thoughts with absolute clarity and bring something new to the table. Now what if that brain was now put to "use" by applying it in some scientific rat race, career-type deal? Could it weaken the discovering and analytical side of his brain?
Apr 20 2012 4:40AM
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lineskier10
Posts: 11339 - Karma: 796
yet another thread in which mike-o not so subtly points out how smart he thinks he is. hey mike-o if your so smart you must've already figured out a way to shove your head up your own ass by now, please share?
Apr 20 2012 9:31AM
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Mike-O
Posts: 14593 - Karma: 1,089
What don't you understand about not trusting validness of IQ tests when it comes to certain fields of knowledge, not actually getting into Mensa, saying how I've scored much lower than that in previous, similar tests and thinking that it might've just been a fluke - and how I feel about taking the test again and getting something worse as a result?

And yeah, if I ever discover the correct technique, you'll be the first to know.
Apr 20 2012 9:43AM
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Lansfield
Posts: 2708 - Karma: 321
These potato things aren't funny
Apr 20 2012 9:53AM
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Mr_Bump
Posts: 689 - Karma: 427
Do you think the people you deem to be less intelligent than yourself comprehend your self-proclaimed position of intellectual superiority?  Or are they blissfully unaware and just think you're an arrogant twat?
Apr 20 2012 9:59AM
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lineskier10
Posts: 11339 - Karma: 796
i dunno if you can use double negatives in finland but we dont do that here in murica
Apr 20 2012 10:19AM
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crab_pretzel
Posts: 3919 - Karma: 622
wow prob the biggest fucking claim ive ever seen on this site. how was that relavent? and no haha i wouldnt if you think thats representative of your ability. nice job tho, thats pretty fucking high. i got a 32 /claim and im happy with that
Apr 20 2012 10:21AM
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Capernicus
Posts: 382 - Karma: 218
The irony...it buuuurrrrrnnnnnnnsssssssssss!!!!!
Apr 20 2012 10:59AM
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Janky
Posts: 1323 - Karma: -100
Started reading then realized the text kept on going so I stopped
Apr 20 2012 12:51PM
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.AR6rider.
Posts: 15976 - Karma: 8,799
How does it feel to be so fucking stupid that you can't manage to read 6 tiny paragraphs of text?
Apr 20 2012 12:56PM
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FerrisBueller
Posts: 8280 - Karma: 5,173
yeah mike-o youre the man
Apr 20 2012 1:12PM
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plaplapla
Posts: 435 - Karma: 70
.
Apr 20 2012 1:21PM
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Crossfade
Posts: 743 - Karma: 24
This is my kind of thread,  I feel like in my circle of friends I sometimes have to "dumb it down" in order to have a good time but hey, what can you do?
Apr 20 2012 1:32PM
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PopsicleStand
Posts: 6890 - Karma: 147
Just to bring all the "smart kids" back into reality.

-You're not as smart as you think. Humans are an arrogant species.
-There will always be someone smarter than you.
-Happiness and intelligence, while not mutually exclusive, are not dependent on each other.
Apr 20 2012 1:39PM
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.AR6rider.
Posts: 15976 - Karma: 8,799
Nuh uh! I'm the smartest skier on the mountain!
Apr 20 2012 1:42PM
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PopsicleStand
Posts: 6890 - Karma: 147
haha
Apr 20 2012 1:44PM
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paige.
Posts: 1932 - Karma: 924
Not quite. Women do better with certain types of spatial phenomena, mostly those relating to finding their way in complex environments. Men generally test better in geospatial tests relating to 3D rotation, although they now think this is the result of guys playing more games requiring hand-eye coordination as kids.

If you really care about this stuff you should go in for proper testing where they can break down the results into your different types of intelligence. The number you get at the end of an IQ test is pretty meaningless because it factors in so many different parts. Not to mention any shorter tests you take will come back with varied results. I've tested between seriously learning disabled (my principal wouldn't give me the actual number) and 150. Turns out in some types of intelligence I'm below average, most I'm slightly above average and in one or two I'm awesome.
Apr 20 2012 1:53PM
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blackmamba.
Posts: 969 - Karma: 56
Knowledge isn't power - applied knowledge is.

Remember that.
Apr 20 2012 6:23PM
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