http://t3x.org/iq/start.html

What to do with a high IQ?

Where to start

The most obvious way to avoid intellectual and emotional disconnection is, of course, to connect with those on the same intellectual level. In a world where contacts can only be made by real-world socializing, this task may feel like running into the proverbial wall.

The above graph summarizes the table from a previous section, illustrating how many people you may expect to meet before finding an equal. (Again, optimistic variant, ignoring age and chemistry, but this time using W15.)

The good news is, communication by computer and smartphone can level the playing field quite a bit. Let's be realistic, though. If you have an IQ of 150, you still have to meet 244 people (statistically) before finding someone with whom you really click (W15).

At this point it might be tempting to adjust your expectations downward a little bit. Don't do that! You'll probably regret it later. Instead, use modern technology to shift the odds in your favor.

Online dating

Use online dating. Be blunt about your intellectual needs. Some people will think you are arrogant. This may be hard to deal with, but don't give in! Avoiding people below your lower limit is for the best of everybody involved. Better they are frustrated now than both of you are frustrated over a long period of time while trying to get to each other's level.

High-IQ meetings

Back in the days, high-IQ societies were hard to find. Today they probably have a homepage and use social media.

So attend public meetings of high-IQ societies in your area. Most of them will probably be 2σ groups (3σ societies have only few members, unfortunately), so quite a few people attending such meetings will be below your threshold.

Don't give up, though! If all of you 3.3σ's give up after not finding someone in the first few meetings, chances of meeting by accident will drop significantly. The chances of a 2σ society member also being a 3.3...σ are 1/53, [f19] but then they already are the top 2.3%, so your chances grow accordingly.

Filtering out the 97.7% that lie outside of your window anyway increases your chances of meeting an equal from a mere 0.8% [f14] to a whopping 36%! [f20] (Even if you are a 4σ, things improve significantly: almost 5% [f21] instead of 0.1%.) [f22]

Given that one new person attends each meeting, that would be 3 meetings for a 3.3σ and 20 for a 4σ. That sounds quite manageable!

The above graph definitely looks a lot friendlier than the one at the beginning of the section: same shape, but Y scale compressed by almost two orders of magnitude! Note that with an IQ below 145, you trivially meet someone in your window in the first meeting, hence the graph has a jump discontinuity at 145.

BTW, pro tip: don't mention your >3σ score when visiting a 2σ meeting! Best avoid the topic altogether!

Make connections in school/at university

School, college, and university are excellent places to find highly intelligent people -- not because they flock there, but simply because there are lots of people and you spend a lot of time with them. Use the chance to check them out! When there are 10,000 people at your university, there are 41 in a 3.3...σ window (W15, including chemistry). [f23] Probably even more, because people below 0.8σ (112 points) normally don't attend university, and filtering those out increases the number of candidates to 193 (per 10,000 students). [f24]

So, if you have the chance, do attend university! Don't mind that most high-IQ people don't make it through the curriculum! Many try, so find them before they find a good reason to drop out!

Support your high-IQ children!

Of course, it's best to get support as early as possible. If your child scored high in an adult IQ test, this will not be an ephemeral phase! If you are not a 3σ yourself, get used to your child knowing quite a few things better than you. Prepare to lose arguments, even about "real-world" topics, like politics.

A high IQ, especially above 150, not only results in massive raw thinking power, but also in some qualitative differences, e.g.: seeing connections where you see disjunct subjects and seeing differences where you see unity.

Remember that this kind of thinking is not wrong, just different. It might even be undesired in this world, but you cannot change the way your child thinks. You can only accept it, and the better you do this, the more confident your child will be be later in their life.

Finally: remember that your child is still a child! Even if they are a fast thinker and good at expressing themselves, they still need your support! Probably more so than the average child! Respect your highly intelligent child intellectually and support them emotionally!


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