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Extraverted and Introverted are opposite preferences. A person’s natural tendency toward one will be stronger than the other.
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Liberalism, Logic's retarded cousin.
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Extraverted and Introverted are opposite preferences. A person’s natural tendency toward one will be stronger than the other.
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Obviously I’m not alone in my ongoing dilemma as to when, if at all, to mention my membership in Mensa. It always felt a bit awkward, and maybe I dreaded the possibility, that someone would think me pretentious or an arrogant ass for even mentioning the fact. When is it OK to let it be known? Should you even put it on your resume? If so, does that put you in ‘bad light’ in the eyes of a potential employer? If you don’t reference it on your resume, could you possibly be sabotaging your chances of securing a job that requires logical reasoning and high intelligence? Just where do you draw the line? And, if you were to put it on your resume, or bring it up during the interview process, just how would you do so?
Try looking at it from a different perspective. Let’s say you’re applying for a job that receives numerous applicants for the same type of job. Your degree is probably no different from dozens of others being considered. What sets your resume apart from all the others? The fact that you may have a Masters instead of Bachelors? Or, a Doctorate instead of a Masters? What about if your degree is from a prestigious university and not a local community or state college? As an applicant, wouldn’t you want to stress where you were educated and the level of your education? And maybe, if you are just entering the job market, you’d want to point out your GPA or making the Dean’s List? Aren’t these the things a potential employer would want to know? I mean, if I’m looking to hire the best qualified applicants for a position, wouldn’t I then want the most ‘bang’ for my buck, so to speak? The answer should be obvious, right?
Why is it considered ‘bad form’ to mention your IQ? Are professional athletes ridiculed for being good at what they do? When was the last time someone said “Hey, you don’t have to excel at so-and-so! Show-off!” to an MLB, NFL, NBA player or other professional athlete? Athletes are highly regarded in their particular sport… so why aren’t highly intelligent people viewed in a similar light?
Below are a few comments gleaned from a recent discussion among fellow Mensans on a private FaceBook thread. Even among ourselves, we struggle with answering this question. The question asked was “Is a Mensa membership something to be proud of?”
Response #1: The profoundly stupid can do things we can not do… This guy I work with amazes me with his stupidity every day… But he should be ashamed in the same way I am proud … But he is way too stupid to realize he is stupid.
Response #2: It’s something I’m proud about – not to an obscene level, but I am proud of my brains just as much as I am proud of my good singing voice. It’s no better or worse than other people are proud of their good looks or ability to play sports well (neither of which I can claim).
Response #3: We have a right to be proud of whatever it is we are good at doing – be it something physical, mental, whatever. There is nothing wrong with that.
Response #4: It just sucks because saying you’re proud of doing a sport is cool but once you bring up intelligence you’re immediately seen has being condescending
Response #5: Perhaps – but that’s their problem. Someone feeling that I am condescending by mentioning I am proud and happy to be a Mensan makes me sad. I don’t feel it’s condescending when someone tells me they are a great dancer just because I have two left feet and dance like a drunken hippo.
Response #6: The question was – is Mensa Membership something to be proud about. And I think someone can be as proud of their innate intelligence as someone can be about any other innate ability. Sure – not every Mensa member lives up to their complete potential. I know I don’t. But I think that being smart enough to qualify is something that I can be proud about.
Response #7: I disagree that qualifying for Mensa is innate. If Usain Bolt never left his couch and ate Big Macs nine times a day, his potential would be the same but his actual time in the 100 meters would be sometime next Tuesday. Standardized tests show a significant training effect and a love of reading and learning is a common trait among our cohort. So, yes, most of us worked to get this smart, and could be proud of it. However, it is often more politic not to be too loud about our memberships because no one likes a smarty pants.
Response #8: I remember that my best test was my GREs, where I scored 2200+. I showed my scores to all my profs, and the first words out of my chemistry professor was, “I didn’t think you were that smart.”
Response #9 (my personal favorite): People will judge you negatively for being intelligent.
Mostly, I think, because they feel threatened.
Because intelligence is not immediately obvious–the way other characteristics can be.
Virtually no one will feel bad about not being a professional athlete. So they can laud that ability in others without feeling personally inferior.
No one, in my experience, thinks they aren’t smart. Until the person they least expect turns out to be demonstrably more intelligent than they are. They don’t expect it, and thus feel threatened. So, to mitigate that feeling, they react negatively.
You should be proud of your intelligence. No one should be made to feel bad about themselves because they’re a few standard deviations above normal.
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So, let me ask a question. Should it be considered bad form to mention your membership in an high IQ society?
If you’re currently employed and happy in your job, how do you think your boss would react to finding out you were a Mensan? Do you think that could be a roadblock to your advancing within the company? Would your boss and fellow co-workers likely feel threatened?
I’ve been asked in the past by a few friends ‘How do you know all that stuff?’ and it’s usually followed by ‘What’s it like you be you?’
Huh? Are you serious? I’m me. I’m really no different than you. I’m just more intense. Puzzling looks are what I usually get in return. Maybe I am different… some might say ‘quite different’. I do tend to over- analyze things, taking new information and applying it towards what is already known and then speculating possible conclusions. I also fill mundane/routine tasks with intellectually stimulating calculations, ie., figuring out how fast the Earth is rotating at a particular latitude. For those of you who are interested, here’s the formula. Take the cosine (sine if your latitude is greater than 45 degrees) your current latitude (my location in San Diego is 32 degrees 58 minutes, and 29 seconds) convert to decimal and multiply that (32.9747) by 1,041.666 (the Earth’s circumference is approximately 25,000 miles. Divide that by 24 hrs in a day = 1,041.666 miles per hour at the equator). In my case, the computation would look like this… Cosine of 32.975 x 1,041.666 = 873.862 mph. That’s the relative speed of the Earth in San Diego. To compute the speed at your location, just change the latitude value in the formula to reflect where you are.
Am I a nerd? A geek? Too introverted? Maybe, I’ll let you be the judge of that. I do enjoy history, politics, and some social interaction. While I enjoy the company of others, I tend to like my quiet solitude more. Contrary to what the popular TV show The Big Bang Theory might have you believe, I don’t like comic books or super heroes… nor, am I stereo-typically socially awkward. What some may confuse in me as being as being ‘angry’, is really just me pondering an idea or thinking in depth about something. Yes, I’m a Mensan, but not all Mensans wear thick glasses and live in their parent’s basement or garage. And not all highly intelligent people have trouble relating to others. We just have a different or unique way of doing so. Mensans, just like all other people, are unique. We don’t all have the same quirks, hobbies, or interests. We just take the things we do have interest in, to a higher level of knowledge and understanding.
Listed below are a few of my quirks or idiosyncrasies:
Curiosity. They say the devil is in the details. When I become curious about a subject matter or a particular object, I research all that I can in order to gain a knowledgeable understanding of it. Over the years, I have acquired considerable knowledge in many areas that all have a common thread… history. Through my several collections, including antiquarian books and coins, I’ve deepened my appreciation of the past and those who’ve shaped the world during their time. The thing I like most about coins are that they tell the stories of the countries of their origin. The images on coinage and banknotes usually contain the images of national events, heroes, and patriotic symbolism.
Mind like a steel trap. I pay attention to the most mundane and trivial things. I file away those ‘facts’ until a later date and can recall them with amazing accuracy. It is not uncommon for me to have already formulated multiple scenarios to an upcoming discussion or meeting, and plot out how to ask and respond to potential questions.
Perfection. While I don’t strive for perfection, I do try to do my best at whatever I attempt. OCD is not one of my faults. I learned a long time ago to let go of that which is not obtainable or is not worth the effort required to achieve the desired outcome. With that said, I’m a stickler for details and context. To me, context is everything.
Peer pressure. This isn’t something that has ever concerned me very much. I don’t give in to peer pressure or what the ‘in crowd’ is doing. I’m my own person and do things because it is something I want to do. At times, it does put me outside of the herd mentality, but that’s OK. Most people are ‘sheeple’… followers… and I view them as weak. That may sound arrogant, and to a certain extent, that might be so. My day-to-day personal experiences have thus far revealed to me that most people are intellectually shallow.
Peer pressure typically has the opposite effect on me. If a certain celebrity, movie, opinion, etc., is very popular… I tend to become turned off towards it. I embrace the insipid… I look for the trivial beauty in the ordinary.
My moral compass is not based upon other people’s opinions. I draw upon insights gleaned from the Holy Bible and the writings of great authors such as Dickens, Hugo, and Paine, to name a few. My values are primarily black and white. It is either right or wrong… there’s very little grey. Those values may not quite mesh with the values of society at large, but in my opinion, I alone must live with the consequences of the choices I make. I have very few regrets in my life.
Perspective. As I’ve stated before, I tend to over-analyze things. I look at situations from many viewpoints and how they are perceived, or can be perceived, by others. I’ve found it to be very true that a person’s perspective is their reality… no matter how asinine or screwed up that perspective is. I constantly re-evaluate what I believe and why I believe the way I do. Most people tend to hold the same beliefs, political positions, and religious affiliations as their parents and close family members… never questioning ‘why’? It’s as if they embrace what is familiar without thinking for themselves.
Introverted or extroverted? Like everyone else, I’m a combination of both but I do fall more strongly into the introvert category. My Jung’s and Briggs Myers’ personality profile identifies my personality type as INTJ. The percentages of each are as follows… Introvert (33%) iNtuitive (25%) Thinking (62%) Judging (100%). Here’s a link that discusses INTJs in more depth. I do value my ‘alone time’… time set aside just for my own personal reflection. It could take on the form of being on the still lake waters at daybreak fishing, walking along a hiking trail, or just picking a comfortable spot on the couch and reading a classic book. That’s my time to unwind mentally.
Outlook on life. I don’t consider myself to be a very religious person. I do believe there are a lot of life lessons conveyed through biblical scripture but I have a problem attributing scripture as the divine word of God. That doesn’t mean having faith in God is a waste of time… it just isn’t for me. Do we have souls? Is there a heaven or hell? What about karma? What is ‘good’ and ‘evil’? Are good or evil based upon changing societal standards? These are just some of the questions I ponder from time to time. My own personal feelings are that we are all here for a very brief time. I do not think we have souls but do hope I’m wrong. I’m not afraid of dying but sometimes do grow weary of life. I think life boils down to what you make of it. Your happiness, your sorrows, your triumphs… and your failures, they’re all temporary. How you come to deal with this thing we call ‘life’, says more about your inner strength and general outlook than anything else. Goals are important. Family is important. Finding things that stimulate your curiosity and adds some meaning to your existence, that’s what makes life interesting. But in the end, the reality is that our legacy is perpetuated only in our offspring and our contributions to society. The totality of our lives, will slowly pass from the memories of those we loved, as they too will inevitably pass away. Only the relics of our brief existence will remain in heirlooms, pictures, and tombstones.
Relationships. Much like an onion, my relationships and friendships are in layers. I make friends easily but most of those friendships are superficial at best. I don’t readily trust people. It takes quite an effort to get close to me. I do have a few very close friendships that have stood the test of time but those can be counted on one hand. I admire the qualities in a person that makes them stand out from the crowd. I favor a person’s inner qualities over their outward appearance… their dignity and grace above their beauty.
I accept people as they are. I don’t try to change them to fit some preconceived idea of who I think they should be. To me, that’s dehumanizing. Either accept who they are, or walk away.
I do tend to forgive people easily, sometimes to a fault, but that really depends on the transgression involved, but I don’t forget. I’m slow to anger but once that line has been crossed, the person that has offended me falls into the ‘you’re dead to me’ category.
I should also add, that many times I will go out of my way to be helpful. But there comes a time when I take a step back and allow people to fail. That’s especially true if they cross me. Let’s be clear… I don’t actively set them up to fail, I just won’t interfere when I see them taking actions or making choices that will have foreseeable negative results.
In closing, I challenge you to self-assess who you are and why you tend to believe the way you do. Why are you the way you are? Always ask yourself ‘why?’ Question everything. Expand your horizons… and learn new things.
(Originally posted 14 June 2014)
Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese woman who gave birth in a Khartoum prison after being sentenced to death in May for allegedly converting from Islam to Christianity, has been freed.
Ibrahim, 27, refused to renounce her Christian faith in court in May, prompting a judge to sentence her to hang for apostasy. The case became an international cause, with several U.S. lawmakers and the State Department blasting the decision as barbaric. Sudan’s national news service SUNA said the Court of Cassation in Khartoum on Monday canceled the death sentence after defense lawyers presented their case, and that the court ordered her release.
“We are happy that Meriam is finally released,” said Al-Sharif Ali, a member of her legal team. “One thing I can say is that Meriam’s strong personality forced the Sudanese judiciary to respect religious freedom.”
Tina Ramirez, executive director for the Christian advocacy group Hardwired, which promoted Ibrahim’s cause, said Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir bowed to immense public pressure and forced the court’s hand.
“We are witnessing a historic moment – in the three decades of President Bashir’s brutal dictatorship millions have lost their lives, yet here stands one defenseless and innocent young pregnant woman who forced President Bashir to respect her dignity and religious freedom.”
Ibrahim’s husband, Daniel Wani, holds dual U.S.-Sudanese citizenship, and Ibrahim’s supporters argued that their children, including a daughter named Maya born in prison in May and a 20-month-old boy named Martin who was imprisoned with her, are U.S. citizens.
Sources close to the situation tell FoxNews.com that Ibrahim was whisked away to a confidential location and that her lawyers will be meeting with representatives from the U.S. Embassy on Tuesday.
“We obviously welcome the decision by the Sudanese Appeals Court to order the release of Ms. Meriam Yahya Ibrahim Ishag,” Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement. “Her case has rightly drawn the attention of the world and has been of deep concern to the United States government and many of our citizens and their representatives in Congress.”
“This is a huge first step,” added Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organization Subcommittee. “But the second step is that Ms. Ibrahim and her husband and their children be on a plane heading to the United States.”
Ibrahim and Wani were married in a formal ceremony in 2011 and operate several businesses, including a farm, south of Khartoum, the country’s capital.
Wani fled to the United States as a child to escape the civil war in southern Sudan, but later returned. He is not permitted to have custody of his son because the boy is considered Muslim and cannot be raised by a Christian man.
Ibrahim’s case first came to the attention of authorities in August, after members of her father’s family complained that she was born a Muslim but married a Christian man. The relatives claimed her birth name was “Afdal” before she changed it to Meriam and produced a document that indicated she was given a Muslim name at birth. Her attorney has alleged the document was a fake.
Ibrahim says her mother was an Ethiopian Christian and her father a Muslim who abandoned the family when she was a child. Ibrahim was initially charged with having illegitimate sex last year, but she remained free pending trial. She was later charged with apostasy and jailed in February after she declared in court that Christianity was the only religion she knew.
“I was never a Muslim,” she told the Sudanese high court. “I was raised a Christian from the start.”
Sudan’s penal code criminalizes the conversion of Muslims to other religions, which is punishable by death. Muslim women in Sudan are further prohibited from marrying non-Muslims, although Muslim men are permitted to marry outside their faith. Children, by law, must follow their father’s religion.
The American Center for Law and Justice, which gathered some 320,000 signatures in an online petition for Ibrahim, praised the decision but called for the U.S. to help her.
“Her release from a Sudanese prison is a critical step toward securing her freedom and safety,” said ACLJ Executive Director Jordan Sekulow. “We now call on the Obama Administration to examine all possibilities to ensure that Meriam and her two American children are granted safe passage and immediate legal status in the United States.”
Many thanks to Mr. Daniel Miessler for the well written article below!
http://danielmiessler.com/blog/25-facts-about-iq-you-probably-dont-accept/
One of the things that irks me is really smart people who still deny that the concept of IQ, the fact that it can be quite accurately tested, or it’s usefulness as a predictor of success.
As this article lays out pretty nicely, the basic moving parts of IQ and the testing of it have been decently understood for some time now, and anyone wanting to know what real scientists agree on can take a look at the following, definitive paper on the topic:
[ Mainstream Science on Intelligence: An Editorial With 52 Signatories, History, and Bibliography ]
The interesting thing about this paper was that the paper represents a consensus on what science knew at the time (1997) about intelligence, signed by 52 experts in the field. And as the article above points out, the points of agreement haven’t changed since then among scientists, yet people still dismiss this knowledge as “myth”.
So here’s the content of the paper, and just as a point of interest, I think the most important section is the one on practical importance.
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