An IQ of 140 is a mixed blessing. On an IQ scale for which the mean is 100 and standard deviation 15, a person with an IQ of 140 is in the 99.616957th percentile. This means that they have scored higher than 99.6% of the population on the test, an achievement equalled or bettered by only 1 in 261 people.
The “blessing” part of this high score is that it suggests that the person learns easily, can problem-solve at very high levels, and indulge in sophisticated abstract thought. This means that with sufficient work they can learn virtually any academic subject in the natural and social sciences. For such a person, virtually all career choices, except those that require special athletic or musical aptitudes will be available. Furthermore, the learning will be easier than for most people and can be acquired through books or computers with a minimum of external help. If coupled with tenacity and a passion to achieve, it represents an unbeatable combination of personal assets for achieving intellectual goals.
However, there are several potential downsides to such intellectual gifts. Often gifted children are perceived as socially different from their peers and are ostracized, ignored, bullied, or ridiculed. This was the case for people like Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk (who had his nose broken when thrown down a flight of stairs). While average children can self-reference to anticipate how others feel, this is often unavailable to those who are socially different. They see the world differently from the average and are sometimes perceived as “weird.” However, this is the difference that enables them to make a difference when they reach adulthood. Jobs, Bezos, and Musk continued to have social conflicts throughout their careers as they founded companies, yet driven by their visions, they were able to change the world. Their personal lives were often fraught with discord, as one might expect from behaviours that are seen as eccentric.
Another potential downside to a high IQ is what Edward de Bono called “the intelligence trap.” Those who have a high IQ are accustomed to being right when most others are wrong–especially in their area of expertise. For this reason, they may tend to dismiss the opinions of others, even when outside their domain of expertise. However, a high IQ is not a valid substitute for knowledge, and those of high IQ who assume that superiority in their field transfers into areas outside their expertise often override the opinions of others who are more knowledgable. Indian astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, who won the Nobel Prize in 1983 described how a scientist may fall into this cognitive trap: ( Quote from Hammond, A. L. 1984. A Passion to Know: Twenty Profiles in Science. New York: Scribner. p.5.)
These people [winners of prestigious awards] imagine afterward that the fact that they succeeded so triumphantly in one area means they have a special way of looking at science that must be right. But science doesn’t permit that. Nature has shown over and over again that the kinds of truth which underlie nature transcend the most powerful minds.
The quintessential inventor Thomas Edison had been unrelenting in his belief that direct current (DC) is the best way to transport electricity throughout America. In spite of substantial evidence provided by his employee Nikola Tesla, showing the advantages of alternating current (AC) over DC, Edison continued to insist that alternating current was too dangerous and refused to pay Tesla for his research on AC. Unable to convince his boss, Tesla sold his findings to George Westinghouse who patented the technology that remains the basis of today’s power grid.
Linus Pauling, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962, advocated in his later years for multivitamin therapy in the treatment of various diseases. His 1970 publication, Vitamin C and the Common Cold, extolling the benefits of high-doses of vitamin C for the common cold, laid the foundations for later claims about the effectiveness of vitamin C and lysine in the treatment of atherosclerosis and cancer. Pauling’s claims were not validated by subsequent research.
Steve Jobs, known for his prescience in the computer world, fell prey to quackery cures for cancer. Informed that he was afflicted with pancreatic cancer, the technological visionary sought cures in spiritual healing, holistic medicine, and a spartan diet of fruit juices, while ignoring all the conventional treatments from medical science that might have saved his life. He ignored the mountains of evidence that would have disconfirmed his belief in such unfounded remedies.
So an IQ of 140 is, indeed, a blessing, but it represents intellectual potential that must be harnessed and managed with careful judgment and appropriate humility.
Peter, your new found free time will be a godsend if you apply it to something that interests you. I enjoy the freedom I have from daily schedules, but continue to work almost as hard as before on things that interest me.
That’s the key leveraging your intelligence to do something worthwhile . To make all the PAIN BEARABLE… And to help others 🤌
I agree, Thomas. Thank you for your comments.
Humility is the enemy of a person with an unverified/untested high IQ. I know this because I’m a very humble person in a third world country (little to no access to IQ tests) and this humility restrains me from admitting or categorically believing I have a high IQ. Everything point to having the IQ except humility (I never want to say or admit being better than others).
Social skills sometimes prevent us from self-promotion. However, those who have high intelligence can usually recognize that many others do not learn as quickly or analyze as effectively, and consequently will suspect that they are more intelligent than average. True or authentic humility may recognizing that you have special gifts but also acknowledging that there are many other highly capable individuals also. However, it seems to me that there is nothing wrong with believing you have higher than average intellect if your achievements support your belief.
I have an iq in the 135-145 range
IQ is just your ability to detect and solve problems. IQ can be fostered at a young age through parenting techniques. Genetics still plays a role however.
IQ does not define how good a you are as a person and should only be used to understand yourself.
Intelligence can corrupt people a lot of intelligent people turn out to be narcissists (Which is just a very very selfish person in all honesty.)
IQ does not mean education, IQ does not mean success.
Society is not really created for people with a high IQ it is created for people with an Average IQ.
High IQ individuals are 100% aware of the mass propaganda and manipulation done in society. We are often ostracized for our beliefs and views because.. lets be real… only .4% of the population has an IQ in this range meaning most of our view points which are based upon our analysis will not match with 99.6% of the populations views.
This is usually why high IQ leads to depression because if you analyze society it is pretty disgusting and full of holes and corruption which are allowed to perpetuate due to the idiocy of the average person.
COVID19 Feardemic anyone? Seriously.. 140iq here… researched about virology and immunology come the start of the pandemic.
I have no medical degree.. I pretty much said the “Vaccines” are going to turn into booster shots due to the mutation rate of this virus.
I also stated that the serious illness from the viral infection was an auto immune response which was mainly present in the elderly (Elderly people usually have stronger immune responses to viruses which is why seniors should get a flu shot)
I said that wearing non medical masks was also pointless as they do not properly filter anything.
I was insulted and ostracized for my beliefs by people who have.. for lack of a better word.. inferior intellect.
I literally had people who are unable to comprehend virology or immunology.. tell me what to do because they were being manipulated by the media….
Fun fact. COVID19 infection rates are higher than ever… but like most intelligent people knew from the start.. this virus is not deadly and COVID19 is an auto immune response to a sarscov2 infection… sarscov2 does not always give you COVID19…
The fact that the average person does not understand that a virus and a disease are two separate things is more or less a joke that highlights the inequality in intelligence society has.
A Disease is a list of symptoms (Temporary or Chronic) which are caused by a singular underlying condition this condition is not the infection of a virus.
This is why there is absolutely no proper answer to “What virus gives you the disease known as the Common Cold” as there are over 200 viruses which can cause the common cold or cause much more serious disease depending on the person infected.
Oh and yes during the pandemic average intellect people absolutely pissed off intelligent people.
Also epidemiologists are a joke that analyze statistics and use them to enact policy they do not understand virology or even research what a virus does they just look at statistics gathered and any intelligent person understands how hilarious statistics are when there are numerous omitted variables in your statistical analysis.
The Above person who stated they had an IQ of 160 btw is nothing more than an average muppet.
Thank you for your comments Brandon. Congratulations on your high IQ. You have the potential to choose virtually any career you want. Good luck!
Brendan, that’s a very even-handed and thoughtful piece, and rings true from my personal experience. I know that there are various correlations of intelligence and the autism spectrum, but I’m wondering if you are familiar with any correlations between intelligence and the mood spectrum. I’m currently participating in a study at Penn examining “stably happy people”, and while those of us at the extreme end of the spectrum (permanently, 100%, stably, happy for life) are exceedingly rare, I’ve noticed that we all tend to be in the 120+ IQ range. Do you have any thoughts or research in this area?
Hi David. I apologize for the lateness of this reply; I just discovered your comments today, amid some heavy website programming. You raise an interesting question about the connection between intelligence and mood. I don’t know of any recent research, although I’ve read some books the suggest a connection between a sense of well-being and intelligence. It is generally believed that those who have a stable sense of gratitude and “well-being” are of the more cerebral types, but I don’t know any source of hard evidence. I wish you well in your study and I’ll keep my eyes open for any connections of this type.