Curiosity, my bread and butter.
I signed up to a particular site asking interesting questions. The questions asked on the site could be about many different topics like anime, science, movies etc. This particular question was about high IQ.
The question was Do people with high IQ think differently?
Questions about IQ on this particular site are subjective and I was surprised by this person answer.
The answer was by the user name Sanya K
Had you asked me 10 years ago, if have given you a different answer. But I used to work, play, and surround myself with people with above average intelligence. I was no different to them in my thinking.
But now I live in a retirement village, and I volunteer with foodbank, and I now mix with many people with below average intelligence. Some people are bordering on intellectually disabled.
The difference between me and them, I find, is curiosity, or lack thereof.
Lower IQ people just aren’t curious about things, and aren’t interested in learning new things. They get by doing what they’ve always done, and they’re contented with that.
When a person comes up against something they don’t understand: a low IQ person will just shrug and move on, or they’ll ask someone else to fix the problem for them; a high IQ person will google it, ask questions, read more, try it for themselves, experiment, and is determined to understand.
High IQ people are curious about lots and lots of things. Even if it’s just academic, the knowledge and understanding in itself is a reward. Even if you’re not going to apply it, the titbits of trivia are fun. Low IQ people aren’t even interested in a trivia quiz that’s aimed at their level. Low IQ people don’t watch quiz shows. If they do, its more about the prizes, or how much money the contestants win. High IQ people are interested in the questions and answers, and test themselves while they watch, because it’s fun. It’s a hobby in itself.
There’s also the aspects of learning faster, picking up on concepts easier, etc, but in a field you are interested in, even an average person can learn faster than a higher IQ person who is not interested. To me, this is similar thinking across the board – I want to do this thing, therefore I want to know how to do it, therefore I’ll push myself till I get it right. The need to apply a skill comes first, therefore they learn.
With curious people, the learning is first, then that opens possibilities to applying it.
Now that I know quite a few lower IQ people, I have found the real difference is curiosity. I’m actually amazed how uncurious some people are. They wont play a card game they don’t already know, because they just aren’t interested in learning it. They won’t try a food they’ve never had, because they aren’t interested in a new experience. They’ve never needed it before, so they don’t see the need for it now. They just aren’t curious.
With high IQ people, there’s an awareness of possibilities out there. They realise there’s a whole lot they don’t know. And when they find out about a new thing, they want to know all about it. Science, the arts, mathematics, geography, history, culture, what makes people tick, what makes the world go round… That’s curiosity.
I have a drive to know things, just the love of learning, discovering and just seeing things in a different way/light.
Curiosity is one of my strongest traits, if there is something I don’t know, I will research, look at multiple sources and try to understand the topic.There is a downside to curiosity, mental health. Needing to know things can cut both ways. To shrug things off would be wonderful but I need to know, even though it could damage me.
What do you think of this answer?
Links for more insight into this subject:
https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/developing-curiosity/0/steps/156372
https://www.spring.org.uk/2022/05/curio.php
https://hbr.org/2014/08/curiosity-is-as-important-as-intelligence
