There are significant differences, on average, in the traits of those at opposite ends of the IQ scale, but these differences are not defined precisely enough to be delineated by precise IQ ranges. Furthermore, there are some high-IQ people who do not exude the typical traits of most high-IQ people, because they have other psychological issues. However, since we are talking about averages, we can identify the characteristic traits of low IQ people and high IQ people and then recognize that each of us ranks somewhere on this scale in various traits and that our location on these scales is roughly correlated to IQ.
The following list presents only the characteristics of those of high IQ, The corresponding characteristics of those of low IQ can then be inferred from the opposite. For example, people of high IQ are usually slow to reach opinions, holding their beliefs in abeyance pending new disconfirming evidence. Low IQ people are usually quick to reach certainty, and are typically reluctant to challenge their beliefs in the face of new evidence. So, what I present below provides a rubric that can be used for a rough judgment of someone’s intelligence.
These are some characteristics I have found in the very high IQ people I’ve met although these are, of course, generalizations that will have some counterexamples. High IQ people are:
• usually open to discussing dispassionately, ideas that differ from their own and are slow to reach certainty on an issue.
• usually seeking information that disconfirms what they believe, rather than attempting to confirm their current beliefs.
• usually more interested in talking about ideas and concepts than gossiping about other people.
• willing to challenge beliefs commonly accepted by the group (tribe) to which they belong.
• likely to mistrust dogma and social norms, preferring to set their own standards of behavior and follow their own reasoned protocols.
• seldom aggressive in attempting to persuade others to their point of view, but passionate about the goals they wish to achieve.
• usually draw insightful inferences from their observations, identifying the essential elements in a clutter of information.
• interested in a very wide range of topics spanning the natural and social sciences as well the arts and almost anything of an academic nature. Their reading is scholarly, and they have little interest in tabloids.
• acutely aware of the limits of their knowledge.
These are general observations, and, like most measures of behavior, are heuristic rather than precisely measurable.
