Intelligence vs Happiness

[Dr.Evil]

Ok here goes. I am trying to find a corilation between high intelligence and depression. We have all heard the phrase "ignorance is bliss" and stupid people are often happy as a pig in sh*t . I have never added a poll to a thread before so I hope this works. I know this is will not prove anything at this stage but it will do untill I devise a decent test.

[iNow]

A self-report measure of intelligence isn't that useful. Not many people are going to report they are of below average intelligence. Also, does bad spelling make one less intelligent?

[ecoli]

It is my prediction that people with below average intelligence will be the happiest.

[Reaper]

There's an old saying: Ignorance is bliss. Those who know more tend to have less reasons for being optimistic.

[dichotomy]

I think there are some useful studies of occupations and happiness/contentedness. From memory Dentists and Police where proportionately up there for the least happy. Gee, and I'd have thought being a cop would be pleasant!

[bombus]

I think there are some useful studies of occupations and happiness/contentedness. From memory Dentists and Police where proportionately up there for the least happy. Gee, and I'd have thought being a cop would be pleasant!

 

Is that why Dentists look down in the mouth:-)

[thedarkshade]

Intelligence vs happiness???

 

I'm of average intelligence, sometimes happy, but most of the time fully depressed!

 

Am I an aloner?

[Dr.Evil]

Is that why Dentists look down in the mouth:-)

 

You got there first!

 

I know this isn't very scientific yet but the results are roughly whatI would expect. So far 62.5% of voters consider themselves above average intelligence. and 80% of those would consider themselves are of average or below average happiness. A real assesment test will be online within the week and I'll post a link. Also happiness is subjective aswell but I think I can trust most peoples self assesment for that.

[iNow]

You have a sampling bias and non-representative population in your study ta boot.

[Mr Skeptic]

Most incompetent people do not know that they are incompetent, so they tend to think they are above average instead. Just another example of how ignorance is bliss Also why what you are looking for is not likely to show up very well in a self-reported poll.

[Mag]

A self-report measure of intelligence isn't that useful. Not many people are going to report they are of below average intelligence. Also, does bad spelling make one less intelligent?

 

agreed.

You can give these test to many many people, and very few of them will put "below average"

 

This was done in our Social Psychology class. The professor gave out a questionnaire, one of the questions was how you'd rate your intelligence.

No one put "below average" - a few people put "average" and the rest put "above" and upwards.

There were roughly 75 people in the class at the time.

[Dr.Evil]

Would any of you guys like to help write some questions for me? once I have about 20 - 25 I'll incoperate them in to an online test.

 

Sorry I'm feeling too lazy to do the whole thing.

[SkepticLance]

I think the nature of this forum is to bias the intelligence result. Even if everyone is totally honest about that, it seems to me that unintelligent people will not be terribly interested in this forum and will be underrepresented.

 

On another point, there have been surveys that shows above intelligent people to be healthier and longer lived than those who are below average. Intelligence here as measured by standard IQ tests, and lets not get into a discussion of what they might mean!

 

I would think that good health correlates with contentment, if not happiness. Thus high intelligence would be correlated with contentment.

 

In addition, other surveys have shown that wealthy people are more content than those who are poor. Intelligent people are more likely to gain wealth than unintelligent people, so there is another cause for correlation with contentment.

[ecoli]

You have a sampling bias and non-representative population in your study ta boot.

And I lied.

 

Intelligent people are more likely to gain wealth than unintelligent people, so there is another cause for correlation with contentment.

 

clearly, you are not a researcher

[dichotomy]

Is that why Dentists look down in the mouth:-)

 

They also often say, "I'm filling unwell today".

[Dr.Evil]

In addition, other surveys have shown that wealthy people are more content than those who are poor. Intelligent people are more likely to gain wealth than unintelligent people, so there is another cause for correlation with contentment.

 

Partially true but a most intelligent people don't use their full potential and so feel unforfilled. I was thinking about using wealth in the equation and making a 3d scatter graph. This could then be used to look at the corrilations between money and happiness, happiness and intelligence and intelligence and money.

[iNow]

I shudder to think that I'm actually proposing this path... again... but...

 

What is your definition of intelligence? What is your definition of "happiness?" Both seem a bit "loosey goosey" and far too gray to serve as a reasonable "scientific" metric.

 

 

It's like trying to correlate my awesomeness with my awakeness. ... Not exactly good parameters, ya dig?

[Dr.Evil]

It is a tough one, Intelligence is very hard to measure accurately. I suppose I need to measure problem solving, memory and spatial awareness as an absolute minimum. People may have other stenghs and weeknesses but as an average with a large enough sample it should work as an average. Wealth is very easy to quantify and for happiness a self assesment as a percent is going to have to do.

[YT2095]

well I`m generally quite happy most All of the time, and almost always have cool things to look forwards to and am seldom other than optimistic and I`m Never without an Option!

I tend to be that one that sees the "Silver lining" and cheers everyone else up, I think on my feet even when it looks like Shit`s gunna happen, and I enjoy doing it

 

my "IQ" according to Official tests puts me in the less than .5% category, so I guess it kinda Blows some of the ideas out the water

 

I realise that doesn`t help the predictions expected here, but that`s not My problem!

[Dr.Evil]

I'm pretty happy now myself. I haven't always been though I had deppresion between 8 and 21. My I.Q changes a lot depending on what tests I take but it is always over 120. We wouldn't fit well on the graph but lets wait for the results. I think a lot of rich, intelligent people are happy because they more often than not earned their money though hard work or a good Idea and they can spend their money in a way to enrich their lives. rich, ignorant people are quite often never satisfied or waste their money on things which won't make them feel good about theirselves.

[YT2095]

well, I`m hardly "Rich" financialy, but I have Enough most of the time because I`m good at saving up.

I Have had lots of money before (quite a bit actually) and it didn`t make anything better or worse LOL, so cash is kind of a non-entity as far as excess goes.

needless to say I spent it all on family and friends and took several on Holidays, so I have cool memories now

[Mr Skeptic]

You may consider asking people to take an online test to determine their intelligence. This would at least reduce the rate of innocent overestimation (self-serving bias) that would tend to run rampant otherwise. However, I am not convinced of the reliability of online IQ tests, and a few of them seem more like a scam.

[YT2095]

well I can tell you that I took mine as part of a MENSA exam/test at Aston University.

and was asked to join, and I also declined.

 

granted you only have MY word for that, but I have no vested interest in telling lies here either.

[SkepticLance]

I assumed for this question that happiness equated to contentment. I see two main kinds of happiness.

 

1. Contentment - the general background feeling.

2. Ecstacy - the wonderful feeling we get from time to time when something pretty special happens - like the minutes after a sky dive when you realise you are still alive!

 

Since type 2 is fleeting, it is probably not good for this question. Can we assume type 1 is what we are talking about?

[insane_alien]

i'm happy pretty much constantly. it takes something pretty big to really bring down for more than a day. like the death of a family member. that'll bring anyone down. even then i managed to have a chuckle remembering some of the good times. and, according to IQ tests i'm above average intelligence not geeky enough to remember my score or percentile like YT but it was above 120.