username wrote:

UsaSatsui wrote: As I said before GP got all literal on me, IQ means nothing. All the learning capacity in the world doesn't mean shit if you don't do anything with it. exactly.

For the purposes of comparison I agree. Someone with an IQ of 90 vs someone with 130 doesn't really matter if they are both deadbeats playing video games and doing drugs all day.

Still, from another perspective that isn't comparing individuals, the capacity to learn is a marvel of the human condition. Just because it isn't used, doesn't make it meaningless. I often times wonder about the relationship between capability and happiness.

Without getting too detailed, I have an unique personal situation that I face every day. Two years ago I had neurological testing done to verify the diagnosis of ADD and OCD. The results came back as positive for both. By itself, the testing is meaningless, but in combination with years of therapy and multiple diagnosis, the similarity of results across the board makes it clear that these are fairly accurate assessments of my mental situation.

The interesting part about the test was the breakdown of components and the meaning behind each result. The two parts of the test that relate to our conversation here are the ability to learn and the ability to focus. My learning capacity is in the 98th percentile, yet my focus was in the mid 20s. As it was explained to me, when my OCD kicks in and I cannot release from a thought, my ability to learn skyrockets. Since it is intensely energy driven to be that way, I am most often guided by the ADD symptoms which cause me to have the same attention span as most first and second graders.

Through the miracle of modern science drugs have been made that can alter my focus. For a short period of time with the guidance of a Doctor I tested them out.

I learned a lot about myself during that time. I learned that when I have control over the focus, my mind is sharp and my cognitive capabilities are in top form. Unfortunately, my personality is significantly altered when my mind works that way. Perhaps it is because my social skills are based on having an attention problem. Without that issue, I gain an argumentative side driven by OCD with seemingly no ability to shut it off. I have never been so rude to my wife, family and friends as I was for the two months that I had mental clarity.

So I stopped taking the meds.

And thus am brought back to the same question. Is IQ meaningless if you don't use it?

On an interesting note, in a much more extreme example of my situation, but reversed, there was a House episode about a smart man who was doping himself to dull his senses in order to be happy and gain social capabilities.

jackfrost wrote:

Intelligence = Unhappiness to me. I tend to over analyze every decision I make, and sometime I wish I could turn off my brain. I have literally laid awake at night thinking what I was going to do the next day and worrying about things that I shouldn't be worrying about. Insomnia is a big problem for me. I work with some mentally challenged people and they all seem happy. Isn't that the purpose of life, to be happy. I envy them more than the people I work with making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Happiness is more important than what you make. I'd rather be a broke happy person than a rich miserable person. I am neither.

Jack, do you remain awake even when physically tired or only on days where it may be late, but you didn't have much to do that day.