http://neatorama.cachefly.net/images/2007-08/iq-range-occupations.jpg I guess the results are not surprising. But here is the question, do you think high IQ is the result of training or is it something you are born with? I guess what I am saying is do you think higher education results in higher IQ? Or is higher IQ making people to pursue higher education?
But the range only goes to 135? In my opinion, IQ is innate, but can be accentuated or retarded by environment. A child being raised in a home where education or achievement is not a priority will almost never reach their full potential. On the other hand a person of average intelligence can be raised in a home where expectations for high achievement mean they "overachieve".
IQ in relation to money earned, occupation, happiness, etc etc, all those things you can test based on IQ, is a bunch of crap IMO. Sure there are some generalizations, but for a lot of people its crap. Point in case, I scored a 134 on a professional test, and I'm out looking for a job. Ying-Yang I guess.
I think you're born with a certain level of IQ, and i recon in school you can learn more, as long as you're interested in it. When a person isnt interested in something it normally goes in > out...like when you're listening to your wife for instance. My twin brothers, who are a little over 3, are very different from each other. One(Staaye) is most definately brighter than the other, he picks up a lot of more difficult stuff far easily than the other, for example, he can count to 10 in 3 languages already, when you ask him to do something difficult for someone that age, like 'can you open the front door and grab the smaller broom and bring it to daddy in his office' he'll understand and does it. The other one(Storm) is more relaxed, and is much, much calmer when something doesnt work, he'll just try and figure out how to fix it, while staaye instantly throws a hissy fit and starts crying. This is normal with twins apperently, with one appearing brighter than the other. Just shows that you're not born completely stupid and the longer you stay in college/university the smarter you get.
"sons" - hijos, no hermanos. Zahiba - whoa that wasn't happiness or money, just occupation preference. Not whether they have a job, have trouble finding jobs, etc. Some of the "highest IQ" people I know are pretty unhappy, and some struggle to find where they fit into the world. Some excel at very niche things but have weaknesses in other areas - socializing, organization, task follow-through, temper etc. In fact, I would wager that often high IQ scorers feel less happy, because they either want to achieve more, feel they deserve more, or otherwise have a sense of lacking in accomplishment/prestige/power/money. Some are painfully cogniscent if this. Don't confuse IQ/cognitive abilities with personality preferences, either. I knew a guy I worked with in a print & design shop who was one of the printers - he had a very high IQ level and a biochem degree, but he was working in the print shop basically because he liked the socializing and mechanical problem solving/maintenance (and, he had issues with science academia and focusing on long-term projects that turned him off of further study).
I guess one of the biggest problems with the IQ is its name. There's no such thing as **THE** intelligence of someone, even less can it be measured in one single number. The IQ does a very good job at quantifying certain aspects, but it is not, and is not intended to be, a final judgement on "the intelligence" of someone. (that being said, my profession has the third-highest rank )
Take a real IQ test and your IQ will be much lower than an internet test. 20 points or better. Mensa has a threshold...I have forgotten what it is, but something like 125 IQ or something. It's the low IQ society. There's a reason why really high IQ societies rarely ever meet.
I will have to try the online versions, although I wonder how they limit the time to take the test sections. I know juvenile tests use the person's age as part of the equation, I wonder how adults are scored? When I was in school I took a test three times IIRC. About third grade, seventh grade and as a junior. They all had pretty good agreement, only varying a point or two. Kind of meaningless in the big picture today though.
IQ of 130+ is more than 2 standard deviations from the mean, which means statistically less than 2% of the population is over that level. So no real point in counting over 130 (or under 70)
One of my friends has an IQ higher than most people I know and he bounces from one bartending/waiting tables job to the next and always has. I don't think having a high IQ necessarily equates to career and education.
Two of the highest IQ people I personally know (one close to 140, one close to 150): 1) Lazy. Does not have or care for higher education. Very street smart. Loves challenges and think throughly when making conclusions. 2) Looks and acts like any cool guy out there, but is taking higher education in mechanical engineering. I'm stupid (120 IQ) but I love educating myself. I don't believe you can get higher IQ, but if you put in effort you can accomplish a lot of things. PS: I chose my profession because it's fun, not because it's well paid or very challenging.
perhaps because 95% of the worlds population fits under that group/curve? : - ) MENSA wants the top 2%, or greater than 2 SD's around 135.
http://www.mensafoundation.org/Content/AML/NavigationMenu/Join/SubmitTestScores/QualifyingTestScores/QualifyingScores.htm
I remember Stephen Jay Gould's quote very well. He said: "Describing soil with a single number is daft. Some soil is good for grapes, some good for tropical rain forests, some only for desert plants. Now imagine how much more complex the human mind is than soil. And you want to qualify it with a single number? That makes no sense". I did the test when I was 16 or so and scored relatively high (142). But even then I recognised that some of the questions were geared for me since I was in school. I would definitely score lower now, even though I know a lot more and I think I use my brain better. But I use it in different ways. It has been suggested that there are many 'kinds' of intelligence, social being one of them. Quite often, people who score highly on the IQ test, lack other forms of intelligence, such as social or physical (being good at sports). Personally, I have learnt a lot on the social front and that has served me very well. I think the most succesful people are talented on many fronts. They're IQ might not be off the charts, but they use other forms of intelligence to their benefit. The really smart ones don't pay attention to IQ tests, and just try and learn, learn, learn, from whatever life will offer them. Onno
One observation for the original post is that not suprisingly it takes a certain level of intelligence to perform certain jobs. If you pay attention to the percentile markings (the little white lines in each occupation's range) you will see that some of them are tightly grouped and some are much more spread out. With physicians it should come as no surprise that nearly all (>90%) have an above-average IQ of 100. More than 3/4 have an IQ over 110. For truck drivers, on the other hand, 3/4 have an IQ below 100. It is rare (<10%) for them to have an IQ over 110.
IQ's nowadays are just jokes. A few years ago if you had an IQ of 85 you were mentally handicapped. Now your saying that just above that is the normal range for truck drivers and "some" doctors have an IQ over 110? If my IQ was barely over 110 I would hope my family and friends would put me out of my misery.
I'd do the same for them if they asked, holidays bring out my caring spirit. lol My point was IQ tests range so much in their nature and the results vary too much to take them seriously. Once you get the patterens down for the tests you can score very high,much higher than someone who never took an IQ test before.
The one certain thing of a human mind is there is nothing certain. And just rememember as a smart man known as Mark Twain once said, don't let your schooling get in the way of your education.
There's always exceptions, but in general it would be interesting to see the median IQ at various occupations.
It's also accentuated by not knowing that your child has superior intelligence. My uncle is a prime example. He was always causing problems, getting in trouble, arrested, etc. It was until he took an IQ test when he joined the military that it was found he was a 'genius'. If I remember correctly his IQ was somewhere around 150. I've talked to my dad and it made sense to him as he always knew something wasn't right. What wasn't right is he was so intelligent he wasn't challenged enough.
