Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with intelligence

Non-Verbal Intelligence

jasondigitized — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:38:03 -0800

What characteristics outside of a well rounded vocabulary clue you into the fact that someone has intelligence/wisdom? This question is about being a keen interviewer/recruiter. I was watching an interview with Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google with two chaps from Gartner. At one point in the interview, Schmidt says 'We dont ever actually do that calculation'......'Why would we know something 3 years from now?'. In that instant, my jedi radar went off and went into code red when he said this this. What was in there that made me believe him intelligent? I suppose his inclination to observe unmeaningful measures/absurdity was what did that. Which got me thinking.....what other rhetorical, non-verbal, emotional, etc. devices do mental ninjas employ? No need to point to the differences in emotional, musical, spatial, and recollective ( is that a word? ) intelligence. Assume what you think is smart is what I think is smart. This question ultimately has to do with interviewing and interacting ( at dinners/events ) with potential applicants and giving interviewers a little bit of clairvoyance. Help all aspiring interviewers, interregators, and inamoratos.

He's a special snowflake and I'm gray sludge

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:23:53 -0800

My partner is way, way smarter than me and basically never had to put in any effort to learn difficult material. I admire him for this, but I'm also incredibly jealous. I want to be a genius too. How do I deal? I took a course through a community college (anatomy and physiology) this semester that I had to work so hard to ace. I went to a good university, earned my BA, and am enrolling in a postbac premed program next fall. It's going to be tough and I'm going to have to work super hard. The anatomy course I'm taking is just to get myself back in study mode for the postbac program and I'm putting a ton of time and effort into it.

When my partner saw my final exam (which I studied a TON for and aced only because I studied for four days straight) he was able to pick out the right answers from the short answer without having to use more than his general knowledge and vague recollections from the high school courses he took more than 15 years ago.

I know that I studied and put in a lot of effort because I was nervous not to know the material thoroughly, and I know I'm not as intelligent as he is (he aced the GREs by studying a sum total of 20 minutes while most people I know put in at least four weeks of intensive work). I'm also prone to worrying that I'm stupid and incapable. I'm very used to modeling myself after my older sister, who worked really hard (studying non-stop) to do well on the MCATs and in school, and I'm with someone who puts in minimal effort to do things the rest of us have to put intensive effort into.

I never compared myself to him before and I'm ashamed I'm starting now, when there really is no comparison at all. I'm afraid it's going to ruin my motivation. How do I accept that he's just extremely intelligent and I'm just average and have to work very hard, and be okay with it?

Get smarter response and link?

RandlePatrickMcMurphy — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:41:56 -0800

That answer that included a link to a website where you did some stuff that made you smarter... I forgot where I saw it. Sometime in the last month or so, there was a response to a question that mentioned and linked to a site where you were asked to do a series of tasks that were supposed to make you smarter. It had something to do with doing somewhat contradictory things at the same time. Like (but maybe not exactly) being able to tell that the letters in the word "red" were in a blue font. It was linked to some apparently respectable research on intelligence. You started with two of these contradictory things, then three, then four, etc.

Obviously I need it, because I can't remember where I saw it and my searching on terms like "intelligence" "smarter" "tests" isn't turning up anything familiar. Or did I make this up?

Are mouth-breathers really dumb?

nyc_consultant — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 07:51:56 -0800

Is there scientific evidence that "mouth-breathers" have lower intelligence, and/or are really perceived as being less intelligent? Being a "mouth-breather" is a derogatory term on the web, but I can't find any actual evidence that people really link mouth-breathing with perceived (or actual) lower intelligence.

Alternate blogging set ups?

Alexandra Kitty — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 08:53:54 -0800

Are all blogs linear scrolls or is there someone out there who presents entries differently (allow for shuffling of posts or presents it like iTunes presents your selection)? I am trying to find some other way to present my web site -- I knew of someone who was trying to use artificial intelligence with the blog model and got in touch with them, but that fizzled out. I had my fill of that set up -- it's extremely limiting, especially if what you write isn't dated...

Can a head injury make you smarter?

Askiba — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:29:38 -0800

Can a head injury possibly make you more intelligent? When I was younger (around the age of 7 and 8), I suffered a nasty spill while jumping on the bed. I hit my head pretty hard against a wooden post on the way down and had to get huge stitches; the scare largely faded away only recently, 8 years or so later. I ended up in the hospital because of that spill for a short period of time.

At that time I was currently enrolled in a public elementary school. I was a very mediocre student. I had trouble reading and was enrolled in a special program. I was destined to be a Bs and Cs student, most likely.

After that point I seemed to rapidly improve. I'm now upwards near the top 1% of the readers in my grade, with a relatively high Lexile (I forgot what it was exactly, however). I'm a Straight A student, but with the rare "high B" once in awhile. I'm a sophomore in high school at the moment. I'm not saying this is some miracle that turned me into a genius, that's ridiculous; just that my overall learning skill and intelligence seems to have improved more rapidly then anyone expected.

Could the two events I've described just be a happy coincidence? Or could the head injury have been involved? Maybe the reading program just really turned me around? All answers appreciated in helping me explore this, and I'm more then willing to provide extra info.

Please help me make school more bearable

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 05:47:46 -0800

How do I learn intimidating material without making myself miserable? I am in a mathematical/logical course this summer. Perfecting the material requires extended practice more than anything else - knowing how to solve a problem correctly is more of a "skill knowledge" thing than a "fact knowledge" thing. Because it is 13 weeks of material (in the regular year) being squeezed into 6 (half a summer credit), the course moves veeeery quickly, so there isn't really very much time for all that practice you need. When I study for this course, the following sequence occurs, pretty much always:

1) Do some problems.
2) Inevitably, make some mistakes (because otherwise you wouldn't need to learn, right?)
3a) Become despondent and insecure, cry: I'm stupid, I'll never pass the course, etc.
And/or:
3b) Become frustrated and angry, scribble out the whole page, crumple up my paper, hit the table, etc.

I am acutely aware that this behavior is self-defeating and ridiculous. Studying becomes so emotionally intense that it makes me strongly disinclined to study, and less effective when I do manage to make myself study. (Nonetheless, I work on this class for 4-8 hours every day.) And I do not know how to turn it off: By the time I've made my second or third mistake, the tears are welling up, by my third or fourth, I'm crying. On bad days, it takes less than that.

It's worth noting that I've always harbored extreme intellectual insecurities (I can remember feeling this way as far back as kindergarten), and I've always resorted to coasting/not trying when they threatened me: If you don't try, you can't really fail. The alternative is to face your own limitations, which is scary. Because I've been able to successfully progress through my entire education up until now, in my last year of undergrad, while coasting, I haven't had a very strong incentive to work on this problem. This is the first time I've ever really tackled it, which itself constitutes progress. But it's really, really hard. It's horrible and draining. I hate it. And I've been at it for a while, and it's not getting any better.

I think I've always held a strong but implicit belief that smart people do not have to try - they understand things immediately, and they don't make mistakes. I've seen the literature (e.g. Carol Dweck's work) that makes clear what a destructive attitude this is toward learning.

I'm asking for two kinds of coping strategies here:

1) Short-term ones that will allow me to get through the last week or so of the course while enduring a minimum of misery. (Do such things exist? Is there any way I can reduce the intensity of this problem in the short term by even, say, 10%?)
2) Long-term ones that will allow me to tackle this problem the next time I encounter it (and, given what an enduring issue this is for me, and that I want to continue in academia, I will encounter it again.)

More specifically, I'm looking for concrete practices I can implement when my emotions begin to overwhelm me, ways I can intervene in this emotional progression that feels very much outside the control of my conscious, rational mind (which knows I'm being ridiculous.) Just telling myself (or hearing other people tell me) that I'm being absurd is not enough.

Before anyone brings it up: I'm in CBT. I have long-standing and documented, diagnosed issues with depression and anxiety. Picking up meditation is on my "to-do" list, but it's not something I have time for right now, in the midst of this crazy, fast-paced course.

Help me understand the condition of being unable to thrive unless one is given very intellectually challenging work.

wireless — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:43:29 -0800

Help me understand the condition of being unable to thrive unless one is given very intellectually challenging work. Everybody hates doing boring work, but in some people this trait appears to be more pronounced. For example, many of my most brilliant mathematician friends did poorly in high school because they found the work intolerably dull and unchallenging, and as a result were unable to bring themselves to work/study. (OTOH, I also know many smart people who did great in high school.) Once these people found work that was intellectually stimulating, though, they were able to hyper-focus and thrive. Is there a term used in psychology to describe this trait? It seems to be associated with ADD and introversion, but I can't find much beyond that.

Truth Behind Kyle XY? Gestation time vs Intelligence?

GregX3 — Tue, 12 May 2009 15:34:26 -0800

Is there any truth behind the premise of the TV show Kyle XY? That prolonged gestation leads to higher intelligence? Are there any studies comparing IQ to gestation length? Are there even myths, or superstitions behind this idea, or did the shows creators completely make it up?

JobStress-Filter

bad grammar — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 09:09:32 -0800

Is my job destroying my mind? A year and a half ago, I took a librarian job in a special education school for kids with LDs, conduct disorders, and drug problems.
I am constantly on edge that one of the students will do something violent. This spring I have been bullied by two notorious bullies (girls) in the student body. One of them physically threatened me. Very few student read non-class books. Nobody returns their books. I can't say anything more specific about the school, for fear of penalties, but I desperately need advice.

I do not belong in this place, yet I have the guilt feeling that I could somehow transform myself into Jaime Escalante if I really tried. I am not teaching classes and am thus a superfluous person and expect to be thrown overboard any day, even though no administrator has said anything of this sort to me. My contract at the school is coming up for renewal, and maybe it would be a mercy if they don't renew it just because of the budget.

I started library school last semester, taking three courses, and got fine grades. Now I am taking only two courses, but I am getting hammered in one of them. It is a highly conceptual and analytical cataloging course, and there is often only one right way to do things: it is library science with the emphasis on "Science."

I feel stupid, a feeling that I have been unaccustomed to since eighth grade math, a philosophy course or a chemistry course (distribution requirement in college). I am a humanities person. In fact, I have a Ph.D. in history. I want to work in an academic library, but I'm afraid that if I don't get an "A" in cataloging, I won't be able to do this. I am getting B's on assignments and these are the worst grades I have got in a long time (high school, college, graduate school). I'm afraid that the 700-level courses I start on next year will be too hard.

(Another reason that I feel stupid is that last year I published an academic book -- the remnant of my History degree work -- that has sunk like a stone. I feel that I've wasted five years' work.)

I am having trouble noticing and recalling the significant details in the detail-heavy cataloging course. I have all the symptoms of ADHD and it is because my day job is a war zone. My guilt and anxiety are also contributing. I am no longer interested in ideas and unable to focus on them. I feel that the job is literally destroying my brain.

Should I quit my job? I have living arrangements and a year's savings to finish my education with. However, I am not sure of finding another job at the present time. I would be lucky to find a much lower paying job or unpaid internship in an academic library. I don't want to have to explain to future employers that I quit my job just because of "stress."

Should I keep the job but see a therapist? I already am on an antidepressant and I don't want more meds. I realize that I am in need of positive self-talk (since I have unrealistically high expectations of myself).

Tips for people with large heads?

zaebiz — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:53:29 -0800

I have always had a large head. The rest of my body is normal-sized but I always takes the largest size hats. I guess I am looking for some perspective now that I am a bit older on how unusual it is, what are the causes, who else has a large head and how they deal with it. It's ok - I don't have any sort of hangup about it - my life is very normal and happy and it was never much of a hindrance (any more than other aspects of my personality were!) but I do wonder how other people view it. I have read for example that there is some demonstrated correlation between autism and head size. I am far from autistic but I guess I exhibit some signs - perhaps difficulty shutting out external input in social situations for example. I have also heard anecdotally from several sources that there is some correlation between intelligence and head size. Any other known medical knowledge? Anyone famous with an over-sized head? Anyone else have such a head? Any fashion tips?

I want to be smart so I can write clever Askme Headlines

Bageena — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:45:34 -0800

What are some easy, relatively quick ways to learn to write better, think clearer, and express myself better? There are a thousand reasons that I'd like to learn more about everything, not that anyone should need a reason to want that. Basically, when I'm writing on Mefi or on my blog, I keep finding myself grasping for words to express myself and coming up short. I know my grammer stinks as well. I want books, movies, and other means and mediums by which I can raise my intelligence quota a little. I'm interested in not just learning to write better, but learning to think clearer, argue my beliefs and values better, and feel more enlightened all-around. Extra points for pointing the way to free and/or 'fun' (ie: Nintendo DS games) paths to enlightenment.

In the kingdom of idiots, the halfwit is king

Shepherd — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:16:23 -0800

Is there a name for the literary device where you make your protagonist stand out by surrounding him/her with dunderheads? I've recently been reading (and enjoying) Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels. After the first few, though, I put my finger on what it is about the books that bothers me a bit: while Reacher is portrayed as a brilliant investigator/problem-solver, it soon becomes obvious that Reacher actually lives in a parallel dimension where everyone other than Reacher is dumb as a stump.

Is this an oft-used literary device, and if so is there a name for it? And are there other examples of authors making their protagonists better than average by setting the bar of humanity especially low?

CIA: A Short History of Nearly Everything?

lukemeister — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:18:06 -0800

How can I learn about the history of the CIA? After hearing Bob Baer on Fresh Air, I've been reading Baer's books and became interested in the backstory. I started reading Legacy of Ashes, but even to me, a garden-variety lefty, it seems biased against the CIA. Any suggestions for a more 'fair and balanced' account?

Are smarter people more likely to kill themselves?

scottreynen — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:44:51 -0800

It seems like most suicides I hear about are very intelligent people, but is there actually any established correlation between intelligence and suicide? Or has this been conclusively rejected as a risk factor? I haven't been able to find any mention of intelligence in various discussions of suicide risk factors.

Where do intelligent people go?

ChabonJabon — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:47:25 -0800

I have finally decided that though I'm smart, I'm mostly average. The only way for me to be able to make decisions that will lead to becoming really successful is if I have people around me who are smarter than me, and who can teach me stuff. I need a mentor, how do I find this mentor? I'm a bit above average, and for a long time, I always assumed I was very smart. But with time and after examining my actions through the perpective of others, I realise that actually, I do make a lot of mistakes. I'm not that good, I just thought I was.

So I want to somehow bring myself into a position where I can build on the smarts of others.

My friends are lazy people who like to party, womanize and talk about shit, but never actually do shit. Looking at my friends should have been my hint as to how I really am, but I somehow continued to assume I was better, even though I never had anything to show for it.

I'm tired of this life, and I need to move up. But I keep making bad decisions, not completing stuff, and so on. Just discovering the right thing to do takes a lot of failed attempts.

But when I work together with people who are very smart, I don't make these mistakes because they sort of neutralise the wild side of my mind. I need this in my life to fulfill my potential.

Right now I'm still at the university, shortly about to finish. Most of the people in my class at the university do not qualify as smart, they mostly just seem to be idling along. Some of my professors however, have that thing. But I'm their student, they will not be direct friends with me.

So, how do I meet people who are smart? I do NOT want to meet them to debate on topics or to somehow challenge their intellect, I want to learn from them, listen to their reasoning, and learn how they progressed and became successful in their lives, and so avoid repeating their mistakes.

Where do these people 'hang out'?

How can I sharpen my mind?

decoherence — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:24:36 -0800

I've been feeling slow lately. How can I sharpen my mental powers? I've been feeling mentally sluggish over the past month or so. I'm having a bit more trouble locating the right words when I speak, and I'm getting tongue-tied more than usual. My general problem solving abilities also seem to have taken a hit. Nothing too serious though -- just the consequence of staying in an understimulating job a bit too long, I suspect. (I'm in my mid-20's, I'm healthy, and I'm not taking anything.)

Does anyone have any suggestions for proven ways to "sharpen up" one's intellectual faculties? Not looking for anything gimmicky or quick fix-ish. Some sort of project or daily activity I can do for the next couple weeks would be great. And please, no suggestions to change my circumstances -- I'm already doing that in the very near future. Thanks.

Undeniable Examples of Women Geniuses?

DetonatedManiac — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:36:50 -0800

GeniusFilter: Help me win an argument and prove that there ARE undeniable examples of women geniuses throughout history or even today. My Aunt argues that there are no women geniuses and that only men can be geniuses. I know she is wrong and that the lack of notable women geniuses in history has been due to masculine hegemony, historical social norms, etc. However, she is not swayed by such arguments and I need some good counter examples to prove her wrong. I've looked in Google and no convincing examples immediately present themselves.

Please provide examples of women geniuses (in Arts, Sciences, Math, Philosophy, or any field).

In the unlikely event that she is correct, please provide scientific reasoning as to why this is?

That smarts

Christ, what an asshole — Tue, 27 May 2008 12:14:07 -0800

What are some good parameters to use when judging someone's intelligence on the fly? I tend to go by someone's mastery of context, like how quickly they pick up on jokes, extended use of metaphors, the phrasing of questions they ask, their ability to reframe something new they just picked up on, etc.

What are some other things to look for?

Help for parents of gifted kid

rikschell — Fri, 09 May 2008 11:08:50 -0800

What are some good resources for raising a gifted child? Google will pull up all kinds of things, but I'd love a recommendation for stuff more weighted toward parents who want their kids to be able to enjoy childhood and away from the more competitive stuff. I don't want to judge anyone else's parenting choices, but we want to feed our son's interests without trying to turn him into the next Einstein. We just got through some assessments, and are trying to figure out what to do next. I'm sure I'll have more specific questions later, but any online communities or background reading you can point me to would be awesome!

Here's why I think cats could never drive cars

Turtles all the way down — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:13:22 -0800

How do I meet smart, sparkling people? I live in the West End of Vancouver, where I used to frequent a couple of notorious bars. At these places, I was, on any given night, likely to come across smart, interesting people. For various reasons (the bars aren't there anymore being one, but not the only) I no longer do this, and I miss the opportunity to explore ideas with strangers. I really do miss it, and wonder how I can regain this opportunity in a nonalcoholic setting.

Distill my bleeding parts

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:52:14 -0800

I've been putting off this post for fear of not getting everything across, I almost completely lack confidence and a sense of identity. Over the last four years or so I've found myself becoming more and more painfully aware of shortcomings in my personality. I will begin with a summary of various feelings that plague my everyday life:

-To begin, I feel like I've lost some intelligence and cannot connect things like I used to.
-In correlation, I feel like my sense of humor has become very poor.
-This makes it difficult for me in one-on-one interactions, and I panic to say something in silences.
-When I cannot think of anything (maybe I'm thinking too hard), I begin to feel really boring- worried that I will be deemed so.
-That makes things awkward for me, and I find myself letting my self worth ride on other people or things outside of my control.
-I don't feel respected, and sometimes not even worthy of respect.

I have been to several therapists, but they've always disappointed me in diagnosing these problems. I would say I'm depressed, but not in the clinical sense- I still have fun around people, I just feel like I'm always on trial. That coupled with my already low self-esteem makes things very difficult for me socially. Being so focused on this, I think I tend to fuck up more- like I'm over-thinking it. You can see how this would lead into a self-perpetuating downward spiral.

I've tried developing mantras and reading about self esteem improvement, however as I said I feel my intelligence has slipped and with it has gone my retention. I feel like I'm always forgetting what I've learned, and when situations arise from which I should be learning, I try to remember them as best I can. Usually they are forgotten.

So it's kind of a giant fog of miserableness. But I feel like I could actually do something about all of this- I'm going to go back to school in the fall to start exercising my mind again. I want to study philosophy and psychology for very obvious reasons.

The reason I'm posting this to AskMe is to reach out and see if anyone has ever dealt or is dealing with similar reasoning behind what could be called social anxiety or depression.

throw-away email: sociallydefunct@gmail.com

Thank you.

How to deal with an intelligent conspiracy theorist friend?

vizsla — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 21:19:29 -0800

A friend of mine, who is highly educated (married with two kids, accomplished medical researcher), is absolutely convinced that September 11 was a huge conspiracy initiated by members of the US government. She has a detailed complex explanation for everything. She takes it deeply personally when I scoff at her, telling me I should read the evidence before forming an opinion. I see her as gullible and she sees me as ignorant. Is there an analysis available comprehensively somewhere addressing the conspiracy theorists to the satisfaction of the leading academics in the relevant areas (material engineering, aerodynamics, media relations, architecture etc)? How do you deal with people like this? For example, she says that there is no rational explanation for the WTC7 failure and shows me extensively documented websites showing 300 architects who concur giving their explanations. She believes the Pentagon was never hit by a plane and again cites detailed analysis "proving" it could not have been so. Furthermore she believes (more tentatively in this case) that the media was complicit in the conspiracy and faked the images of the planes flying into the WTC buildings using CGI. Apparently the motive was to induce war for various revenue purposes. It's driving me nuts. It strongly offends my own sense of reality. She has an "explanation" for everything and has spent many hundreds of hours researching this. After discussing it with her, she ends up resenting me deeply and I end up feeling sorry for her which makes her resent me even more.

What's the standard for g. i.e. general intelligence?

anotherpanacea — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 17:34:38 -0800

Do intelligence tests measure g (i.e. general intelligence)? How do we know? With most testing standards, there's an arbitrary physical constant in the world for us to measure and quantify: the meter is defined in terms of a wavelength of light in a vacuum, for instance. However, intelligence tests seem more like the kilogram's platinum-iridium cylinder, which is a sort of moving target. What's the standard for g? It seems like "psychometrics" always assume that analytical abilities as measured in math, reading comprehension, and various logic 'games' are highly correlated with g, but I'd like to know what sort of evidence there is for this claim. The field has a vast internal body of research on this to determine whether a particularly testing question tracks with the overall testing apparatus (they call it g-loading.) But where do they get their initial g assessments from?

I'm just trying to get my head around why this isn't a vicious circle.

How smart are cows and sheep?

yankeefog — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 07:32:18 -0800

Just how smart are cows and sheep anyway? I know that it's hard enough to define and measure intelligence within our own species, so I'm not expecting a definitive and objective answer here, or even a vaguely scientific one. But if you've had any first-hand experience with cows and/or sheep, I'd love any anecdotal info you'd care to provide about how smart they seemed to you.

Feel free to use any definition of "intelligence" that makes sense to you. If it helps, my own definition of intelligence encompasses all the following areas:

* Analytic intelligence (problem solving, learning from past experience, etc.)
* Emotional intelligence (recognizing when somebody is angry, happy, etc)
* Social intelligence (having different kinds of relationships with different individuals,etc)

Again, I'm not looking for a definitive answer; I recognize that, unless you speak fluent Moo or Baa, you can't test these qualities in any objective way. I'm happy with anecdotal evidence that seems relevant to you.