A little quiz for those in the gifted/genius IQ range

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financeguy said:
(1) Do you view yourself as having poor EQ (emotional intelligence)?
(2) If yes to (1), have you/are you taking steps to rectify this?
(3) Do you perceive your giftedness as having made you happier than those less gifted, or is the obverse true?
(4) Do you struggle with addictive behaviour patterns?
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1. No. Having high IQ doesn't necessarily mean having a low EQ, like most people think.
2. No
3. Not necessarily. I know certain people who are actually loners by choice!
For me, I'm a very social, outgoing person with a large group of friends. The danger is, when you have a large group of friends, some will only expect you to go out, drink and party. But I know only a handfull can be called good friends, of whom I know will be there for me during hard times!
4. Yes, I smoke, I bite my nails and I listen to U2:wink:.
 
1. I feel like it'd be better if I didn't know I had a high IQ. I don't see much point in them and, in a way, it's just another way to put pressure on you. I think the way I'm handling this question speaks for itself.
2. Oh sure.
3. Life's a bitch and then you die
4. that's why we get high
 
I don't feel pressure about my IQ because I don't tell people my IQ. People don't have expectations of me because of it because they don't know what it is.
 
Another thing I wanted to ask is whether other people that are gifted have this tendency - when I've done something, especially at work, it doesn't interest me in the slightest doing it again, I am either on or off, not much inbetween, does anyone know what I'm talking about?
 
There's a lyric in a U2 song, "I knew much more then than I do now", and I kind of think I know what he means. When I was 16 or so, in the run up to exams I studied probably 12 hours a day and reaped the rewards in terms of not only getting by far the best results in my school but also getting first place in the entire country in one subject (would have to credit the teacher for that in part.) If you're the best, on one day, of all those thousands of people, then everything you do afterwards will seem mediocre, so, hey, no point in trying too hard - or so it seemed to me, but maybe it's time to let go off that thinking pattern.

Here is an odd thing. The guy who was second best academically at my school is, or at least was a dipso also (much worse than me. He had already started drinking at school and by university his dipsomania was becoming unmanageable. I know he was an dipso because he told so himself. I kind of suspected it because he would go missing for months on end and not turn up to lectures. I think eventually he graduated with a degree well below his capability) Is it just in Ireland that gifted people get lost in themselves, or does this happen everywhere? I sometimes wonder what became of him.

I've been bad for a long time, it's time to be good again.
 
unico said:
That was mine, too! Do me.
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Serious?? We were meant to be togethar :love:

financeguy said:
Answer the questions kaffy :hyper:
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k :p

1) I suppose it depends on how you define EQ, but I would perceive myself as having a good one. Where I think I tend to stumble is controlling negative emotions. I think that's more bad temper than anything, though :wink: Still, maturity seems to have tamed that over the years.
2) I'm always striving for personal growth, but that's in all areas.
(3) Fuck yeah, but I'd attribute that to overall awesomeness moreso than just my supergeniuspowers.
(4) I do tend to latch on to certain things, bordering on obsessive, but it always seems to be positive, healthy outlets rather than substances/relationships/destructive habits in general.
 
financeguy said:
There's a lyric in a U2 song, "I knew much more then than I do now", and I kind of think I know what he means. When I was 16 or so, in the run up to exams I studied probably 12 hours a day and reaped the rewards in terms of not only getting by far the best results in my school but also getting first place in the entire country in one subject (would have to credit the teacher for that in part.) If you're the best, on one day, of all those thousands of people, then everything you do afterwards will seem mediocre, so, hey, no point in trying too hard - or so it seemed to me, but maybe it's time to let go off that thinking pattern.

Here is an odd thing. The guy who was second best academically at my school is, or at least was a dipso also (much worse than me. He had already started drinking at school and by university his dipsomania was becoming unmanageable. I know he was an dipso because he told so himself. I kind of suspected it because he would go missing for months on end and not turn up to lectures. I think eventually he graduated with a degree well below his capability) Is it just in Ireland that gifted people get lost in themselves, or does this happen everywhere? I sometimes wonder what became of him.

I've been bad for a long time, it's time to be good again.
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You used the term functioning alcoholic. Or was it highly functioning? In any case, I think that's one of the main things that keeps me from ever flirting with that point, is that I'm afraid I wouldn't function so well, and I'd lose any modicum of intellectuality that I've ever had. Maybe I just don't have enough confidence in myself. Who knows.

What I get from that lyric you cited is that with age comes the realization that no matter how much you know, you really don't know shit, because the possibilities of knowledge are endless. As a 17 year old, I thought I knew it all. Now, I realize how little I do know. I'm far less certain of many things now than I was then.

Define "lost in themselves." The Irish condition does sort of fascinate me, though. It's a unique cultural circumstance, for sure.
 
I don't really know what personal growth is, or means. It's more of that psych-lingo that really means nothing much to me. If I fell into the appropriate IQ category, I'd say that the best hope of happiness lies in being good at something and enjoying it, and accepting that you will not be good at everything (no, not even geniuses get to be that).

The fact that the sum of all human knowledge and wisdom has been out of the reach of any one individual for going on half a millennium now is kind of liberating.
 
financeguy said:
There's a lyric in a U2 song, "I knew much more then than I do now",
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I interpret that line to mean that we experience self-imposed limitations as we mature that we don't perceive when we're younger. There is opportunity for brilliance in naiveté because there can be openness to all possibilities and less fear of risk or failure. "The less you know the more you believe".

financeguy said:
If you're the best, on one day, of all those thousands of people, then everything you do afterwards will seem mediocre, so, hey, no point in trying too hard - or so it seemed to me, but maybe it's time to let go off that thinking pattern.
Click to expand...

Fear of failure and the feeling of "ok now what". I think anyone who has achieved a lofty goal experiences that to some degree afterwards. For me the key - and the challenge -has been to find new lofty goals that seem meaningful and worthwhile to me.
 
This really struck a chord with me:

Why I Stopped Drinking Alcohol
Like many people who wish to better themselves, I make a habit at the end of each year to note what areas of my life need improvement, so a couple of months ago I was going over a list of my
goals
and resolutions for 2007. The normal ones were there, of course, like losing weight, or exercising more - but I also wanted to be more successful at my home-based business, have more energy, and save more money.
The funny (or pathetic) thing is that these are pretty much the same resolutions that I've had nearly every year for the past decade! But, this time something was different in my mind. Something clicked. And that something was that I began to notice a common reason as to why I hadn't achieved these goals before.

I realized that the common reason was my addiction to alcohol, and that it was alcohol that had prevented me from achieving the goals I wanted to because it sabotaged the foundation of my efforts. Oh, maybe on some level I KNEW this before, but it never hit me to the extent that I realized I had spent an entire decade trying to made positive changes in my life, but I had an enemy that was sabotaging me behind my back.

This enemy drained me of energy, inspiration and enthusiasm - not to mention money, time and health. More importantly, I realized that as soon as I stopped drinking alcohol I will be able to accomplish all of my goals and resolutions that I put my mind to. It was a clear and easy choice for me: stop drinking alcohol and my life will improve in every area. Guess what? I did and it has.

Alcoholism Prevents You from Being a Better Person

We all have areas of our lives that need changing for the better, and some of us are more successful at change than are others. If you, or someone you know, is struggling with an alcohol addiction - and simultaneously trying to be a better person - then you can rest assured that it is the alcohol that is preventing you from becoming that better person.

Whether there is a health or financial problem, relationship or spiritual issue, the plain truth is that alcohol is the reason that change hasn't happened as of yet. But, equally true, as soon as alcohol is removed from your life, your goals and dreams will come true as surely as the sun rises each morning.

I simply want to stress how important it is that you recognize that alcohol is the saboteur of your dreams. As soon as you get alcohol out of your life - true happiness, health and success will come in.
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Alcoholism - Why I Stopped Drinking Alcohol
 
Whether there is a health or financial problem, relationship or spiritual issue, the plain truth is that alcohol is the reason that change hasn't happened as of yet. But, equally true, as soon as alcohol is removed from your life, your goals and dreams will come true as surely as the sun rises each morning.
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This bit seems doubtful, at best. Look, I won't make light of alcohol problems, if they are a problem for someone, which is not the case for every person. But this kind of simplistic absolutism... like so many things alcohol serves to fill a void. The problems will not just go away, absent it.
 
Knuckle said:
Boy, have I got a song for you Finance Guy. If you don't know it already, I suggest you download the song "Between the Bars" by Elliott Smith. Spend a dollar, or euro, or whatever. It's the article you cite above, but set to music.
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Well, I tend to make a deliberate effort not to listen to too much depressive music these days. In a similar vein, "The Living Dead" by Suede is my favourite downer song, though it's about heroin rather than alcohol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELBkZK-PNZ0
 
Kieran McConville said:
This bit seems doubtful, at best. Look, I won't make light of alcohol problems, if they are a problem for someone, which is not the case for every person. But this kind of simplistic absolutism... like so many things alcohol serves to fill a void. The problems will not just go away, absent it.
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Agreed. It's not like life will suddenly go and become awesome when you're not drinking. There's so much more you'll have to do to get everything on the right track again. Dealing with problems instead of avoiding them by drinking for instance..
 
VintagePunk said:
You used the term functioning alcoholic. Or was it highly functioning? In any case, I think that's one of the main things that keeps me from ever flirting with that point, is that I'm afraid I wouldn't function so well, and I'd lose any modicum of intellectuality that I've ever had. Maybe I just don't have enough confidence in myself. Who knows.

What I get from that lyric you cited is that with age comes the realization that no matter how much you know, you really don't know shit, because the possibilities of knowledge are endless. As a 17 year old, I thought I knew it all. Now, I realize how little I do know. I'm far less certain of many things now than I was then.

Define "lost in themselves." The Irish condition does sort of fascinate me, though. It's a unique cultural circumstance, for sure.
Click to expand...

I've broken the daily drinking habit, I read somewhere it only takes three weeks to break a bad habit and so I've found. It was never hard liquor or anything, just a few glasses of wine a night. Well, ok, the entire bottle, in recent years. :lol:

I still have my crutches...but progress is being made...so that's something.
 
financeguy said:
Another thing I wanted to ask is whether other people that are gifted have this tendency - when I've done something, especially at work, it doesn't interest me in the slightest doing it again, I am either on or off, not much inbetween, does anyone know what I'm talking about?
Click to expand...

Does anyone else have this?
 
financeguy said:
I've broken the daily drinking habit, I read somewhere it only takes three weeks to break a bad habit and so I've found. It was never hard liquor or anything, just a few glasses of wine a night. Well, ok, the entire bottle, in recent years. :lol:

I still have my crutches...but progress is being made...so that's something.
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Good for you! :up: Sometimes I think there's a real distinction to be made between genuine addiction and just breaking bad habits you've gotten into. Do you think you're more inclined to the latter?
 
VintagePunk said:
Good for you! :up: Sometimes I think there's a real distinction to be made between genuine addiction and just breaking bad habits you've gotten into.
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I've been just an observer in this thread because some of it hits too close to home, but I agree with this.

I've dealt with both in my life, true alcoholics and those with true bad habits, sometimes the line is gray... but there is definately a line.
 
VintagePunk said:
Good for you! :up: Sometimes I think there's a real distinction to be made between genuine addiction and just breaking bad habits you've gotten into. Do you think you're more inclined to the latter?
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Well, among the factors that might lead me to suspecting it's a bad habit rather than genuine addiction, is that for example, when at university, I didn't drink at all for nine months (run up to finals) and, perhaps more significantly, don't recall missing it at all during that period, and even when I did drink it was probably less than the average college student.

That said, on the other side of things, I think it's potentially dangerous to assume one isn't an alcoholic just because one doesn't need a 'stiffener' in the morning or whatever other patterns tend to be associated with full-blown dipsomania.
 
financeguy said:
That said, on the other side of things, I think it's potentially dangerous to assume one isn't an alcoholic just because one doesn't need a 'stiffener' in the morning or whatever other patterns tend to be associated with full-blown dipsomania.
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Yeah, I wasn't talking about that so much as someone who habitually comes home at night and has a couple of drinks before dinner, and maybe even more on the weekend. I think in some cases, the person might not have a serious need, it's become more of a habit that's ingrained into their daily routine, as opposed to an addiction.

PhilsFan said:
Does anyone else here experience earworms?
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CONSTANTLY. I walk around with a soundtrack playing in my head all the time, and often, the songs get "stuck" for hours, or days, even.
 
Non-genius posting again, but can I say that I have the opening drum pattern to U2's Mofo (itself heavily borrowed from The Prodigy) stuck almost constantly in my head at present.
 
PhilsFan said:
Does anyone else here experience earworms?
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I'll get a song stuck in my head sometimes before bed and it will keep me up for hours. Again, like Kieran, not posting as a genius, but I find myself affected by much of the same things that are affecting some of you
 
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