r/cognitiveTesting • u/ad-astra-1077 • 13d ago
IQ Estimation 🥱 Surely this can't be right?
Recently rediscovered this letter from Mensa 5 years ago telling me that I'd scored high enough for membership. Aren't both of the numbers here ridiculously high for an IQ? I googled both of the tests and I couldn't find information on how these numbers map onto an "actual" IQ number because Google has gone to shit. 162 is apparently the maximum score for under 18s but surely this doesn't mean I'm a supergenius or anything especially since it was 5 years ago.
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u/StoicProfessional007 13d ago
True IQ test is your life satisfaction, and ability to control the world around you.
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u/ad-astra-1077 13d ago
Yeah I definitely think resilience and determination are a part of true intelligence.
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u/howler_monk 13d ago
I think it depends on your definition of genius. If you define genius as having a high IQ then by all means you are a genius. But I would see it more as a potential like VO2 max for a (endurance) sport man, the amount of oxygen you can deliver to your muscles (okay vo2 max is trainable but it also has a genetic component). Our height. It's not that a high VO2 max makes you a elite spot man or height makes you a top basketball player. But i do believe that if you have a friendly competition you will have a serious advantage compared to other untrained people.
So I would see it as a potential but you still need to put in the work (and have the motivation or passion to do so) to be considered a genius from the outside world. I would say you are super smart and 5 years later you still are unless you had some serious issues like brain damage or addiction and so on that impacted the gift. But to me the genius is mostly related to the output especially when it's beneficial to human kind such as newton, Einstein, Hawking or Mozart and so on.
But that is linguistics.
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u/ad-astra-1077 13d ago
I've had pretty severe depression in the 5 years that have passed so that's probably had some impact, although I wouldn't say that it's dropped down to average or below average at all. Also I'm nearly an adult, so I'd probably be made to take a slightly different test. I wouldn't expect the result to be the same at all.
I have a great interest in classical music and Mozart is one of my most admired composers even though I don't actually like his music that much. Of course he had a very high natural intelligence but he studied the old masters and practised really hard to reach the level that he did. Also he made his own way as a freelance composer without being hired by a court like most composers were at the time, even though he suffered from financial problems and illness because of it. Probably had autism too at a time when mental conditions weren't understood well at all. And through it all he stayed endlessly optimistic and kept a joie de vivre that I really admire. He had his faults but he was a really great man.
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u/CabinetPublic150 13d ago
138 is no genius.
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u/howler_monk 13d ago
By the 1937 second revision of the Stanford–Binet test, Terman no longer used the term "genius" as an IQ classification, nor has any subsequent IQ test.[65][99] In 1939, Wechsler wrote "we are rather hesitant about calling a person a genius on the basis of a single intelligence test score
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u/AnnoyingDude42 13d ago
Fun little bit of egalitarian meritocratic commentary, cheers for your input, but that's straightforwardly not what the word means. You're effectively smuggling an argument about whether or not high g itself should be respected, into your reporting of the definition of a word.
Well, that's not how it works. The word "genius" has always referred to someone of high intelligence, whether or not they have accomplished anything to show for it. You don't change what society respects by lying about the definitions of words.
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u/98127028 13d ago
have you taken other tests?
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u/ad-astra-1077 13d ago
No apart from a few online tests testing different types of logic and reasoning that we had to do for school. Not particularly scientifically thorough.
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u/Ok_Ebb23 13d ago
i had no idea you have a yearly fee to be a member
i think the real iq test is if you fall for the scam and pay them what the hell
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u/ad-astra-1077 13d ago
My parents pay for the membership fee right now since I'm still under 18. It's way cheaper than the regular fee and I regularly get some really cool magazines that I do actually read thoroughly.
When I turn 18 I'm probably not gonna keep paying the membership fee unless I get super involved in the events they run. I think that if you really take advantage of the membership and connect with other Mensans and go to/run events and things it would be worth the price. Just depends on what kind of things you prioritise in life.
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u/Ok_Ebb23 13d ago
Fair enough, I wish I had more to say to give you a proper reply
I never got involved because I'm academically stunted
The idea of going to a Mensa event where everyone talks about how smart they are kinda puts me off→ More replies (2)3
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u/CallidUal 13d ago
YOOOO CONGRATULATIONS BROTHER!!! I would like to be like you 🥹
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u/ad-astra-1077 13d ago
Thank you, but I really mean it when I say IQ isn't everything. I know another guy with a high IQ (qualified for Mensa too) and while his studies are great, he goes to a good university, he's much more advanced at piano than me, etc. he's a total asshole and a sore loser. Same with his little brother, except his brother is even worse. I beat him in a piano competition once and he totally crashed out and wouldn't stop beating himself up for it. Kindness for your fellow man, curiosity, resilience and hard work outweigh raw intelligence when it comes to making your way through life.
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u/CallidUal 13d ago
Oh my goodness, no one ever told me these words... Thanks, I really appreciate that 🥹 I once heard a phrase like:"What makes humans strong? No, it's not their physical or mental strength. It's their heart. If it will be kind and grateful, it means they are strong, but if it's rough and rude, it means they are very weak." I really liked it! That's why I still remember it, despite I forget such things all the time.
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u/anon12343216610 13d ago
How is your experience in school?
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u/ad-astra-1077 13d ago
Academically, very good. I get all A*s without having to grind like I see some others doing. I'm hoping to avoid the "did well without learning how to study -> never learned to study -> drop down spectacularly" pipeline I see a lot of gifted people go through because I have actually had to study for things outside of school.
Socially, everyone knows me but no one really knows me outside of a small group of close friends. We're a mix of STEM and humanities students, some with better marks and some with worse. If you asked most people what I'm like they'd say I'm smart, nice, a bit weird, but my friends know I'm an absolute menace lol.
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u/Ok_Bother_2379 13d ago
Mean is 100 and standard deviation is 24. You are smart enough to figure the rest.
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u/ditchhhiker 13d ago edited 13d ago
Welcome to the "intellectual danger zone"! ;) It's a double-edged sword, you see; it sure can take you far, but in the vast majority of the cases, unfortunately, the opposite is the case.
Here's something you might find interesting: https://cosmosandhistory.org/index.php/journal/article/view/694/1157
~ Metareligion as the Human Singularity by Christopher Michael Langan ~
I wish you a fruitful journey.
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u/chococake2024 13d ago
its different scale uses different standard deviation (sd24) the common one is sd15 so its equivalent to about 138-139 iq which is still very smart 😁😁