How to Know Your I.Q. Level without Taking the Test & Brainy Stories by Billy J. Burton - HTML preview

Why This Book?

You must have heard all sorts of things about the Intelligence Quotient (I.Q.). Most

psychologists believe this tool to be accurate to determine your cognitive intelligence but nothing else. Some people believe Emotional Intelligence and the Multiple Intelligence theory are better

predictors of your life outcomes. Lots of people think it’s just a number or that it simply

measures your ability to take the test.

Are they right?

Well, in a way, but not entirely or I wouldn’t be writing this book.

A long time ago I felt like these people, until I took my first I.Q. test out of curiosity. It wasn’t anything fancy and expensive, no; just a regular test crafted by a psychologist who wanted to

help his readers discover their I.Q. level, from 50 to 170. Surprisingly, I scored much higher than

expected without trying too hard, the score that was looking back at me, was within “the top

2%”. However, there was one caveat; the book specified that if you scored either in the lower or higher 2% then the test was probably not a good measurement of your I.Q.!

I was puzzled, not sure what to make of it. I told some friends about it and got slammed, they

pretty much said I took it wrong, and I was an idiot. I had taken that test because I had always felt disconnected from most people, sometimes really smarter, other times really dumber, but

nevertheless always different. Given my friends’ reactions, I forgot all about this test for many

years until I ran into a new book.

That second book had been written by another psychologist. It wasn’t an I.Q. test; it was aiming at explaining the difficulties of “The Gifted”. Being unaware of any particular troubles they

might have, I perused through it at a bookstore.

These so-called “gifted people” actually represent “the top 2%”, I seemed to be a part of, when I took that I.Q. test. Intrigued, I sheepishly bought the book, afraid the checker would think me

vain for assuming the label “gifted” might apply to me. I devoured that book over a single

weekend. Out of a list of 50 traits, associated with giftedness, I seemed to exhibit every single one of them. I had always thought I was an average person, but suddenly, there, it was staring me

in the face. I was convinced to be a gifted person endowed with cognitive prowess, but at the

same time, emotional difficulties.

So actually, I wasn’t crazy or weird; I was part of this world of high I.Q. people with all of the discrepancies from the norm that it entails. I started looking into the specifics of giftedness. At

that level, intelligence isn’t just quantitatively different, it’s also qualitatively diverse.

Then, a few years ago, I ran into the third book that would forever alter my outlook on I.Q. and

intelligence. It described how there actually was two main types of gifted individuals, essentially those labelled “Moderately Gifted”, who comprise practically the entirety of “the top 2%”, and

those above that I.Q. level who exhibit even more unusual emotional and behavioral traits. To my astonishment, I appeared to be part of the stranger realm of the “Highly, Exceptionally and

Profoundly Gifted” individuals.

Recently, I was able to confirm that psychological approach with professionally administered

I.Q. tests.

Still, that awareness incited me to inquire about a potential link between one’s specific

emotional, behavioral, and intellectual makeup and one’s I.Q. level. After years of studies and research, I have finally developed a psychological understanding of intelligence. I have devised a

way to assess it through the measure of its emotional and behavioral consequences on the tested

subject.

With this book, I have the desire to help the reader understand what intelligence really is, what it

feels or looks like in everyday interactions with diverse types of individuals. Likewise, I wish to

assist you in evaluating your own probable I.Q. level, regardless of your difficulties in taking an

I.Q. test, may it be because of its cost or because of emotional, psychological, or neurological deficiencies.

As I aim to rid the I.Q. concept of any appraisal issue, in this book, I strictly equate an I.Q. score

with its corresponding intelligence amount and its dissimilarities from the norm. For, as we will see, a person who took a certified test, then was given a precise score, may really belong to a

more elevated I.Q. rank.

In the first part of this book, I will present a summary of what I.Q. tests really are, as well as the advantages of resorting to a psychological approach to measure intelligence. In a second part, I

will strive to explain the unique psychological aspects of members of most I.Q. ranges.

By recognizing yourself in one of the groups presented, you will be able to evaluate which I.Q.

range corresponds to you. At the end of this book, I’m including numerical tools, still based on personality traits, enabling you to narrow this bracket down significantly for more precision.