I had to take a test to get in the navy, didn't find out how I did until a couple years later when I got in trouble for falling asleep on watch (real big deal). i was told.....looking at your test scores what are you doing on the deck force to begin with?

I had to take a test to get a job at a creamery, there were about 20 of us in there. I was told by mail I'd passed, and got my interview date, I got the job and never saw any of the others so....

When I decided to get into selling insurance I had to take a test to get my licenses, yep,,,,passed.

I do think in with a 100 other Americans I could totally hang in the intelligence area.

I lurk CP threads. I might be looking at a hard no.

If the world ran on 40 times of dead people, you'd be Albert Einstein lol.

Yes and I run a 4.3 40

At a fundamental level intelligence is about problem-solving. The more easily one can solve a problem, and the more complex the problem is, the more intelligent that person probably is.

I found a concrete example of this when I was still pretty young, probably in my early twenties, when I became aware of a man by the name of Efren Reyes.

Efren was a Filipino national pro pool player. His story was that he was a terrible student in school (probably had some kind of learning disorder but this was back in the '50s), and dropped out of school by 6th grade. Consequently he began spending his time in a pool hall, cleaning, picking up around the place, etc. Eventually he began playing. By the time he was 19 he was one of the best players in the world. He eventually won world titles in every major billiards discipline. He was essentially unbeatable for three decades.

But to understand his genius you had to watch him actually play. He wasn't Tom Brady great; he didn't win because he played the percentages and managed the game perfectly. They called him the "Magician" because of his inventiveness and creativity while problem-solving. Watching him play, and knowing where he came from, I realized that intelligence had nothing to do with education and everything to do with how a person examined a situation and then attacked it. In billiards terms, Efren was/is Michael Jordan, or Patrick Mahomes. Efren broke the game, he was a cheat code.

And I see it nearly every week when I go out and play a few games of pool at the local pool hall. There's no such thing as a dumb good pool player. Many of the people I've played might not have the best educations, some don't speak very well, many have menial-type jobs, and some are borderline criminals, but if they can play well it's because they can think through problems well. They can see their options as they lay in a few seconds, do the 'calculus' to figure out which is the best option vs. the worst, and plan out their shots accordingly. And the good ones also always have a plan B.

A football example might be Dan Marino. He was considered pretty dumb coming out of college, but in his prime I never saw a QB that played the game any smarter. He was a genius at deciphering defenses and understanding where the blitz was coming from, understanding the on-field situations, etc. Maybe he wasn't a Rhodes scholar in the classroom, but he was an Einstein on the field.

Actually....

Just as up on...

old blues
classic boxing
rasslin'
all track events
football
literature

.....but is that intelligence?

Well yeah.

Efren Reyes is an amazing player. Probably the best I've ever seen in person, though some of the old school locals here would compete for that spot at times, e.g. Dave Matlock, Mike Banks, etc. They're all sharp as hell too.

And I agree 100% with what you said. Intelligence revolves around problem solving, the ability to abstract and recognizing patterns.

And yes, I'm more intelligent than the average US citizen, of course.

You've seen him in person as well? Was it during a pro match or off-strip/afterhours? About 27 years years ago, I saw him in an off-strip place pull off a shot to win a match for $50,000 that defies explanation. And he called the pocket. Basically the cue and 9 were frozen, the 9's natural angle would take it into the side rail at about the 2nd diamond. He looked it over, walked around the table, chalked up, pointed with his cue at the side pocket across from him, got down and stroked across the cue, sending it 3 rails while the cue went in the opposite direction 3 rails. They collided back in the middle of the table, and the nine caromed into the side pocket. Most insane billiards shot for money I've ever seen.

And the fact that he worked it out and committed to the shot in less than 30 seconds is utterly amazing.

Nope

I voted "yes" although my Wife would say I am full of crap......

I refuse to believe the edave and I are the only below average guys here.

The broncos and patriots fans aren't coming around much any more.

I believe the most common IQ test administered is the WAIS. I have administered it and have taken it. The sort of skills and abilities it measures would not be readily obvious when just talking with someone in a normal social setting. Furthermore because the scores comes from four pretty distinct sections, scoring low in one area doesn’t really mean you will end up with an average or below average score.