Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!gatech!udel!udccvax1!arti From: arti@vax1.acs.udel.EDU (Arti Nigam) Newsgroups: sci.psychology Subject: Re: Society for extremely gifted people? Message-ID: <811@udccvax1.acs.udel.EDU> Date: 16 Mar 88 01:25:28 GMT References: <7550@apple.Apple.Com> <7692@apple.Apple.Com> Reply-To: arti@vax1.acs.udel.EDU (Arti Nigam) Organization: University of Delaware Lines: 34 I wonder if you have some references or can give me the data on correlations between aptitude test performance and future eminence. What exactly is eminence? I am a lay person (though I have taken graduate coursework in Intelligence Testing), and am by no means exceptionally intelligent. I have no problem at all with the existence of high-IQ societies; I recognize that people of unusually high IQs have special problems and pleasures, and that it is always nice to be in touch with some people with whom you can talk on a similar 'bandwidth' (of course, talking on a similar bandwidth has nothing at all to do with being in complete agreement; the two ideas are completely independent). For those who think that identifying oneself in this manner (being a high-IQ society member) is snobbish, I will point out this truth. High IQ, or even high 'true' intelligence, does not imply greater morality, greater wisdom, higher ethics, or even possession of Truth. I might even make the conjecture that people of high intelligence may be just as "ignorant" as 'the rest of us.' Do you think so? I don't know. As I see it, a person of high 'true' intelligence is (by definition?) able to grasp more complex material more quickly and in fewer steps (i.e., without having to specify as many intermediate steps overtly), and with less direct teaching. That isn't meant to be a complete description. But I will mention that high intelligence does not imply excellence. I am not sure whether it is causally or correlationally tied to higher levels of motivation, but it is certainly clear that motivation is also influenced by many other things which are independent of intelligence. You high IQ folks, do you understand what I am saying? (Perhaps there was a hint of humor in that last sentence; no offense.) Arti Nigam IQ unknown, but quite average, I suppose.