By Manny Roman
While performing my usual “research” on the wonderful WWW, I ran across an inc.com article on the 7 questions that sort of test your smarts. The title of the article is “If You Say Yes to Any of These 7 Questions, Science Says You’re Definitely Smarter Than Average.” Even though most run against conventional wisdom. (Which in itself is a sign of intelligence, since conventional wisdom is so often wrong.)
The article states that Jeff Bezos says the number one sign of high intelligence is a willingness to change your mind a lot. He looks for people who can admit they are wrong and readily change their opinions.
It also says, “… like the famous survey where more than 80 percent of respondents said they were above-average drivers, which is mathematically impossible, and all the respondents had been injured in car accidents, which is pretty darned ironic, most of us think we are willing to change our minds when better data, better evidence or a better point of view comes along.”
I, of course, immediately tested myself, however, first let’s see what the questions are.
You like to spend time alone
Research on people 18-28 who socialize more tend to be happier. This is not true for the highly intelligent. Socializing will not increase how satisfied you are with your life. It will actually make you less happy. Apparently the smarter you are, the more focused you will be on longer-term goals and socializing will be a distraction. You may not be a loner, you may just be smarter than most.
You often think you’re wrong
Some people take a position and refuse to consider any other options and points of view, they just know that they are right. (You know who you are, don’t you?) This is something called the Dunning-Kruger effect which is a type of cognitive bias. People believe they are smarter and more skilled than they actually are and lack self-awareness. This is a lack of wisdom to know that there may be much you don’t know and that rather than demanding to be right, you look for what is right. If you do not fear being wrong and are willing to admit it, saying “I think” rather than “I know” then you might be smarter than most.
You don’t get up early
According to the Wall Street Journal, the most productive time of day may be 4 a.m. (Yikes!) However, research shows that night owls are more likely to have more intelligence, better jobs, and larger incomes than the “early birders.” Just be mindful to be sure your wake-up time is productive for you.
You can delay gratification
Research demonstrates a relationship between intelligence and self-control. If you can weigh a couple of options and be patient for the better one, you might possess high intelligence.
You Procrastinate
Science author Adam Grant sees procrastination as a key to innovation. As Grant says, “The time Steve Jobs was putting things off and noodling on possibilities was time well spent in letting more divergent ideas come to the table, as opposed to diving right in with the most conventional, the most obvious, the most familiar.” Procrastination to just put off what you don’t want to do, may have some value in causing you to perform other needed tasks. This is not the procrastination that is being covered here. They are talking about delaying because you don’t think you have yet found the best solution, path, option or the smartest approach.
Online Test
For the 7th test you must go online to inc.com and search the site for the article.
It is a short video of moving lines. And is worth the extra effort.
Regarding my honest and objective evaluation of my answers to the test, my answers indicate that I am highly intelligent, especially the not getting up early and the procrastination ones. My lovely wife, Ruth, thinks that I am the world’s greatest procrastinator since I always say, “I told you I will get to it, you don’t need to keep reminding me every six months.” She says I’m intelligent, but lazy.
Manny Roman, CRES, is association business operations manager at Association of Medical Service Providers.
