Are we more intelligent, or do we just think we are?

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Depends on the individual

I have an average iq
so therefore not extremely intelligent.

mind you some people that are really smart, lack common sense

When I was young, I used to think I was more intelligent. Now, I realize that I am quite ordinary.

I tend to identify with this quite a bit..

I don't think I'm intelligent, I'm pretty sure I'm not all that smart, and I have a fair skill set. I know understanding NTs or what NTs would understand isn't a great way to base your intelligence off of, but I do that very often. I'm slow. It takes a while. I'm a slow learner despite wanting to learn many things, I'm almost a 'jack of all trades, but master of none'..

But I might be able to understand certain concepts quickly which may cause people to think otherwise about my intelligence, but other times it'll take years.. and it has taken years for certain things.

My grandmother recently told me that she thought I was very stupid as a child, particularly because I'd talk out against adults with my own very strong opinions, but she believes I developed into a bright person... I'm not sure what it exactly means, but.. that's why I'm not smart. I just don't get it.

I'm not a person of particularly high intelligence.

I'm pretty good at facts

But I suck at spatial things.

I generally feel like everyone else is smarter than me... Or, that they know something I don't. Then, I try to figure it out.

(For what it's worth, I know my IQ, and it's over the 99th percentile...but I also know the IQs of some of my family members and they are all higher than mine. I've always been the dumb one.)


On multiple intelligence--I think this is a very useful way of understanding others. IQ tests are good at measuring only a few of these intelligences. And, they may not even be the most important ones...

I have a high IQ, so I'm intelligent according to that test. A lot of times, I do feel like I think through things better than most people.

BUT, I do not put a lot of stock in this. In the end, it doesn't really matter. Lots of people with less intelligence and less talent are more successful than me. Also, a lot of other people have more friends. All sorts of people have "smarts" in areas that I don't. I am particularly good in music. I also have a lot of "book smarts", esp. in math, but nowhere near other people who specialize in that area. I know people who are amazing mechanics. I have no skill or interest there. I appreciate their GIFT and particular intelligence in that area. I know people who are artists. I draw pathetically.

In a lot of ways, my executive functioning is way worse than other people I know. There are women I know who are AMAZING at keeping their houses so organized and pristine. I am in AWE. I can't do that!

Each person has his or her own gifts. We need to focus on those things. Admire people for who they are and what they can do. Accentuate the positive.

Yep....that's the key....accentuate the positive and deemphasize the negative.

I read the wikipedia article, and it says that the more inept someone is, the more competent they think they are, basically. That can apply to intelligence as well. (stupid people thinking they're smarter than they actually are).

When I was young, I thought I was ordinary, but people kept telling me how smart I was.

That is incorrect.

I think it depends on the individual cuz my intelligence is below average.

From the Wikipedia article you linked:


Explain how I was wrong.
(Hint: quote-mining doesn't make you right).

Oh jesus christ! What you've posted in this comment is different from what you posted in your last comment! Can you not see that??? The parts of the article I quoted disprove that last comment of yours, not your summarization of the article in this comment that I am now quoting!

You said self-assessments of competence increase proportionally with ineptitude. The article says that people at different skill levels misjudge their own competence equally.

What do you mean by "quote-mining"? What else can I use to disprove your idea of what the article says if not direct evidence of what the article says?!

FFS. Never mind. You seem determined to not see that what you said before and what you're saying now are two different things, and I have more important things to do with my time than talk to a brick wall.

This thread needs a George Carlin video on the American "education" system...

I don't even think I am intelligent. At best I feel like I have an average intelligence. But I have been told by a psychologist, that I have a very high intelligence. Either the psychologist was patronizing me, or I'm more intelligent then I think I am.

I think it is pretty well documented that autistic people have above average intelligence. So I think the answer is, no.