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What Is It Like to Have a High IQ?

Having a high Intelligence Quotient (IQ) can be considered a gift since not all people can have this extraordinary talent. However, it does not mean that you are already ahead of others if you have a High-IQ. Many realizations come along as High-IQ people face reality. Understanding oneself will help a lot in dealing with different situations.

Indeed, it is really challenging to have a high IQ. These challenges can sometimes provide an advantage or disadvantage. You must deal with it properly in order to balance everything. There is a mix of emotions in having a high IQ.

For some people, having a high IQ will make them feel great. For some instances, it’s true. However, it does not mean that you can be rich and known by many or even be happy all the time. Many High-IQ people feel lonely. It is also confusing if they going to apply what they know because others may look at it as weird. 

In many situations, it is a must that you also know how to look at others’ perspectives, not just always thinking in your own understanding. I will share more of the things that High-IQ people must know in order to deal with other average IQ people.

IQ Level Test

First of all, how do you know if your IQ is higher than average? How do you test your IQ?

It cannot be determined by simply taking a quiz, whether online or offline. IQ testing is a complicated thing. It involves comprehensive processes. It is also administered by someone who is trained in that kind of test or a neuropsychologist. IQ test consists of several questions that require validation. 

There are many IQ test you can find online, but most of them are not accurate.

>> Read next: Are IQ Tests Accurate?

Feeling of Having a High IQ

How do High-IQ people feel? A misconception often arises because others think of it as smarter than others or better in many ways.

Very often High-IQ people, feel lonely and isolated, because most of the people don’t think the way they think, and so High-IQ people think they are different.

Although deep inside them, they are just like everybody else. They also need to know themselves better. They need to know their strengths and weaknesses. However, we just differ in the way they think and deal with life’s situations.

Way of Thinking from other normal IQ people

Thinking contrarily does not mean being great. Yes, High-IQ people may think beyond the way others think. But sometimes, it just makes them secluded from others.

Most of the time, normal IQ people cannot relate to what they are trying to point out to them by higher IQ people. Sometimes, their line of thinking does not meet in one end.

They oftentimes think weird, and their jokes are quite unfathomable, which others can’t easily understand.

There are questions that do not require answers for some people, but for High-IQ people, they want to know the answer, and they really crave alternative solutions. They try to find answers to my various questions, even if they are just simple things.

They react differently when they think of something. There are ordinary things that require time for them to think about it. Maybe it is because they think beyond what normal to many.

Curiosity about things triggers them to find answers to all of their questions. Moreover, they prefer to read, study, and do researches in order to make things clear to them. Simple explanation sometimes does not satisfy them. They want further analysis of so many things around them. It bothers them a lot when they can’t find answers to my queries. 

Looking at some situations, people with high IQ think can be considered more logical than normal IQ people. When they think of some things, they see to it that they are thinking the right thing. If they need to come up to a conclusion, they ensure that it involves a process and always be explained based on the books and facts. They verify the data gathered to check if they are accurate and valid. They do not just look at the idea, they go beyond it. Therefore, they think more systematically than others.

Life Different from Normal IQ People

Life with a high IQ can be challenging. Expectations are real because others think that you can find answers to all their questions. But this not exactly the truth. High-IQ people find it difficult to deal with normal IQ people. High-IQ people need to go down to their level for them to relate with normal IQ people.

When it comes to being successful, many people assume that successful ones have high or better IQ’s. However, in some standardized test conducted, it’s the average IQ whose score is 100.  Therefore, success is affected by some factors—still, over-all, personality matters in being successful.

I still believe that we don’t need to be more intelligent and surpass the limits for us to become successful. The gauge for being successful is more on showing your eagerness and perseverance to reach your goals. In that way, you can guarantee that you will means for survival and do more about your life, especially in sustaining your daily needs and wants. 

Correlation of High Intelligence and Achievement in Our Lives

Several studies deal with the correlation between high intelligence and achievement in High-IQ people’s lives. Lee Chronbach, an educational psychologist, Ancel Keys, an expert scientist, and Jess Oppenheimer, a child psychologist, reported on their research that an average income of their specific subjects in 1955 was about $33,000 in comparison to the national average of $5,000. Aside from that, two-thirds of the whole subjects had earned their college degrees; and a large quantity had attained professional and post-graduate degrees. The majority of these people became lawyers, business executives, scientists, and doctors. 

These results may seem so impressive, and their success stories appeared to be rather exceptional than the rule of the world. It was then noted that most of the subjects continued occupations like a policeman, seaman, filing clerk, and typist. Researchers finally concluded that achievement and high intelligence were quite far from perfectly correlated. 

One thing that we can predict pertaining to IQ scores in our academic success in school. Most of the researchers suggest that people with high IQ may tend to be more successful in life and at work. And some of them, even with average IQ, can also be successful because they are willing to take risks and be persistent enough to achieve their goals. Because of these things, they also have concluded that our success does not merely depend on our IQ but also depends on how we deal with the situations with the best strategies in life. 

Some studies also noted that children with academic skills might be more susceptible to social isolation and depression than those with less-gifted peers. It was also found that people with high IQs were more likely to use illegal drugs and marijuana since they are sometimes alone and can’t normally socialize with their peers. According to some researchers, one explanation for this claim is their personality trait, which is an openness to experience. An attribute like this is one of the dimensions of the key personality described in the 5 Theory of Personality.

Openness to peers is a characteristic the crucially eradicates unconscious barriers that would otherwise avoid experiences considered communally unacceptable. Furthermore, it is quietly associated with intelligence, knowledge, and creativity. By disparity, being fastened to experiences is more correlated with traditional behavior, routine and narrower sets of interests. 

While some researchers continuously interrogate others’ research studies, most of them conformed that high intelligence may suggest or attract potentials for success. Fulfilling those potentials needs support, traits, and skills, which a test on IQ can’t measure. 

Some Factors and Indications Related to Higher Intelligence

Science says that there are some factors that can be felt and observed once an individual is smart or with a high IQ. Here are some of those factors:

  • You are anxious – It is hard to think that anxiety is a good thing, but some evidence suggests that it might not be bad all the time. Jeremy Coplan, a psychiatrist, studied patients experiencing anxiety disorders, and he found out that people with worst symptoms have higher IQ scores in comparison to patients with milder conditions. Patients with the worst symptoms are more effective and focused on executing tasks. 
  • You’re an early reader – There’s a British study that kids who initiated reading earlier have higher IQ scores in both verbal and non-verbal than those who didn’t start to read earlier. Researchers noted that learning to read has a developmental effect to kids. 
  • You took some sorts of music lessons when you’re still young. Numerous studies are illustrating that training on musical aspects improves executive formation and verbal intelligence, skills that are critical to self-control and focus. 

The simple indications may tell a person whether they are gifted and with a higher IQ than others. If you also think that you are one of them, then you must be thankful because it’s a blessing after all. Don’t feel alone and gloomy, for this may not have a good impact to your life. 

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