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How high intelligence influences scientific progress

In my last post, I wrote that people with very high intelligence often find themselves having to explain their thought processes, even when they seem completely clear to them. This is precisely where the challenge lies: making complex thought processes understandable, not only to the general public, but also within the scientific community. Intelligence as a driver of knowledge High intelligence promotes three skills in particular in science: Pattern recognition: Those who discover connections in complex data where others see only randomness lay the foundation for new theories. Abstraction: Complex phenomena can be translated into models that can be scientifically processed. Problem solving beyond the norm: New methods or theories emerge when one leaves familiar paths of thought – high cognitive flexibility and originality are crucial here. Where these talents are particularly needed Mathematics and theoretical physics: Abstraction and logical rigor are central here. Philosophy and log...

Intelligence tests and the obligation to be comprehensible

Intelligence tests do not essentially reveal what someone knows, but rather what someone is cognitively capable of: recognizing patterns, drawing logical conclusions, understanding complexity, thinking abstractly. Those who score particularly high in these tests have ways of thinking that are not accessible to everyone. I myself achieved the third-best result out of 86 participants in the innovative ENNDT (“Equally Normed Numerical Derivation Test”) numerical intelligence test. According to conventional tests, all participants were already in the top percentile (IQ 135+). Based on my result, my IQ was estimated at 172. Even though I haven't always scored so high on other tests, I consider this result significant because it shows that I can solve problems that even most gifted people find difficult. But this is precisely where a problem arises: what seems completely clear and almost trivial to me is often difficult for others to understand, also for many gifted people. Those who thi...

Reconciling CTMU and TDVP: Toward a Unified Model of Conscious Reality

Foreword (Claus D. Volko): I talked with ChatGPT about the CTMU and the TDVP. Then I had the idea that I could ask ChatGPT to compare these two models and assess whether a synthesis is possible. The result is astounding, IMHO, because I've never read an article in which the author tried to do the same, and I've neither found such a text on Google. If ChatGPT really created this analysis itself, it is the proof that AI is able to do science and infer new scientific knowledge on its own.   Understanding the CTMU: A Beginner-Friendly Introduction to Christopher Langan's Model of Reality Introduction Imagine a universe that isn't just made of matter and energy but is also inherently intelligent. A universe that processes information, understands itself, and evolves with purpose. This is the central idea behind the Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe (CTMU), developed by Christopher Langan, an indepe...

A note about Mensa

The page about Mensa on German Wikipedia ( https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mensa_in_Deutschland ) contains an interesting passage: The criterion for membership in Mensa is an intelligence quotient that is higher than that of 98% of the population. In the intelligence tests commonly used in Germany (mean 100, standard deviation 15), this corresponds to a score of 130 or higher. Mensa offers its own intelligence test for this purpose, which is evaluated by a psychologist. This test is approved for persons aged fourteen and older. External assessments, e.g. from registered psychologists, can also be accepted; for children under the age of fourteen, this is the only option. Almost half of new members submit external assessments. High IQ scores are often first achieved in tests independent of Mensa, which then draws attention to the topic of giftedness and Mensa. That means that almost half of the Mensa members have probably practiced dozens of intelligence tests until they once reached a sc...

Summary of "The Inappropriately Excluded"

The late Michael Wells Ferguson was the author of the article "The Inappropriately Excluded", which I consider a classic and a must-read. Many highly intelligent people dream of reaching high positions in society, such as becoming university professors or winning the Nobel Prize. Ferguson shows that professors, doctors, judges, etc. are on average not that smart and that people with far above average intelligence usually do not get into these positions. The reason is not that these people have shortcomings but that highly intelligent people are systematically discriminated against. <<In the popular culture, IQ has become a point of contention. Many people credulously accept that the eminent have very high IQs and that people of ordinary accomplishment have ordinary IQs. For example, it was widely reported that Garry Kasparov has an IQ of 190. In truth, his IQ is verified to be 135.>> <<Over an extensive range of studies and with remarkable consisten...

The Internet – from the ‘democratisation of knowledge’ to a surveillance state à la 1984?

How the Internet was celebrated in the 1990s: access to knowledge suddenly became much easier. Everyone could educate themselves. In addition, freedom of expression reached a new level: anyone could create a website and write whatever they wanted on it, accessible to everyone. But from the very beginning, dark forces were at work in the background, viewing the Internet primarily as a means of controlling the population. Intelligence agencies built up extensive databases on every single inhabitant of the world, based on what they revealed about themselves on the Internet. As realistic-minded people have long recognised, running a website or blog now poses a risk: because everything you reveal about yourself can be used against you. But that's not all: posts on social media or other channels can also be monitored and evaluated. As people spend more and more time on the internet and many administrative procedures are already carried out online, the dark forces have more and more oppor...

Which professions are particularly suitable for someone with an IQ of 140?

According to ChatGPT, an IQ of 140 is well above average (approximately 2 - 3 standard deviations above the mean) and corresponds to roughly the top 0.5% of the population. This does not automatically mean that a person is ‘capable of anything’, but rather that they have a very high level of general problem-solving, abstraction and learning abilities. However, whether someone is suitable for a profession also depends heavily on personality traits, interests, motivation, social skills and resilience. Professions that are typically performed particularly well by people with very high IQs are those that: involve highly complex analytical or creative tasks, require a high degree of abstraction, enable independent thinking and pioneering work. Typical fields: Science & research Theoretical physics, mathematics, AI research Basic research in natural sciences or humanities Philosophical or logical basic research Technology & development Complex software development, algorithm design C...