Confessions of a Statistical Freak of Nature

[kyra_ojosverdes]

Me: I'm not thinking at my usual rate
shmuelakahn: ow sigh
Me: didn't want you to think I was ignoring you
Me: just taking longer to process
shmuelakahn: yes I understand dear
Me: thanks
Me: ... it sucks.
shmuelakahn: (I still can't focus worth a noodle)
Me: (is this what it's like to be normal?)
shmuelakahn: major sucks
shmuelakahn: yes
Me: yeah
Me: thank God for friends I can ask that question, lol
Me: I need more RAM, and a faster processor ;-)
Me: I've got memory leaks :-p
shmuelakahn: ?? I'm not sure I understand the question? you mean what it's like to Joe Average 100 IQ?
shmuelakahn: yes
Me: yeah, that's what I meant
shmuelakahn: not it's not at all ---
shmuelakahn: Joe Duh Average never knows any other state, so can't be aware how deficient he is
Me: so like when you're happy with your computer, and have never used someone else's whiz-bang high-powered speedy-fast model, huh
shmuelakahn: for many years now I have said that the greatest handicap G-d can give someone in this world is extra brains
Me: but they must realize that other people think faster
Me: blessing and curse are damn near indistinguishable in that one, yeah
shmuelakahn: how could they? they might notice that other people are faster in responding, but can they perceive a better state?
shmuelakahn: yes
Me: hmmm...
Me: good question. trying to think of times I've been around people who are a lot smarter than me.
Me: I say this because I know you'll understand: that's not something that happens much.
Me: so I've not exactly got a wealth of experience to draw on, there.
shmuelakahn: I don't think it is valid to say "trying to think of times I've been around people who are a lot smarter than me." simply because, you are smarter than John Duh, as such you have awareness of this difference between you and Duh. Being aware would invalidate your observation of You vs. Genius
shmuelakahn: does that make scientific sense to you?
Me: but John Duh is smarter than John Drooling Idiot.
shmuelakahn: not enough to KNOW that, is he?
Me: I think so.
shmuelakahn: maybe
Me: I think everyone knows *someone* stupider than they
shmuelakahn: oh sure
shmuelakahn: but knowing someone stupider is not necessarily equal to being aware of the quantum leap in cognition
Me: true
Me: if we're talking two standard deviations from the mean
Me: versus a difference within one standard deviation
shmuelakahn: exactly
Me: I want to get my IQ tested again... they've re-calibrated the numbers since I was tested at age 12
shmuelakahn: the diff between IQ 100 and 115 is far less that between 115 and 130!
Me: true
shmuelakahn: and I'm nearly off the scale :-p at 142 /147
Me: what year are those numbers from?
shmuelakahn: um let me think
Me: I was tested in 1986... my mother, evidently thinking I wasn't warped enough as it was, told me the number. (157)
shmuelakahn: I actually tested twice, those scores are from 1979-80, my more recent score is 145, from 85
shmuelakahn: YOW
Me: yeah, I made the mistake of telling a classmate. Once.
shmuelakahn: OUCH!
Me: yeah.
Me: after my father retired from the Navy and we stopped moving every 2.5 years.
shmuelakahn: uh oh :-D
Me: I spent the next 5 years trying to escape that goddamned number.
shmuelakahn: yes
shmuelakahn: In Israel the shrinks won't even tell the parents :-D just the school "system". I know my later score because I broke into my school file
Me: if I was the least bit slow on the uptake.. whether on a concept or a private joke or what have you, it was the jeering "well what's the matter, GENIUS, why don't YOU understand it?"
shmuelakahn: the first score was taken in Boston
shmuelakahn: Yes! :-(
Me: or from a teacher (who didn't know the number, or what a hell he was making my life) "why is it that the smartest person in this room doesn't get it?"
Me: LOL you rock
shmuelakahn: :">
Me: so yeah, it's taken years to be able to say, out loud, "I'm smart" without cringing.
shmuelakahn: LOL
Me: and now you see why I'm so grateful for friends who understand what that means.
Me: (not that you didn't know before)
shmuelakahn: I couldn't let other people (with power) knowing things about me that I didn't now could I?
Me: right!

At some later point, I'll attempt to actually make sense of my thoughts and feelings on the matter, but for now, the chatlog will do.

As for comments, if any: be gentle, please. This is a very touchy topic for me, and posting this as a public, as opposed to friends-only, entry is [brain-lapse.... probably misguided as all hell, is what it probably is].

Comments

[twfarlan.livejournal.com]

(nod) I've been right there with you, if it helps to know.

mine was something like 145-150 ish

[mindscat.livejournal.com]

but you know, IQ tests only measure the intelligence quotient or something like that. we all have different ways of learning. and i HATE when people who know that number tell us we should 'get' something just because 'of how smart we are'. insane! for example higher maths have always flummoxed me. and i have this inability to add large numbers together in my head. must.have.paper.

[gunhed.livejournal.com]

I don't know what mine was when I was tested and I'm not that curious. I've never thought it meant that much anyway. It's the overall personality of a person that I pay attention to. Give me a self-aware person with a quick wit and I'm happy.