IQ vs. EQ

So I've been listening to Tim Ferris interview Walter O'Brien (AKA "Scorpion") and they were talking about IQ (Intelligence quotient) versus EQ (Emotional quotient) and it sparked some thoughts. The reason they were talking about it was because Scorpion tested out at 197 IQ at age nine which classified him as a child prodigy. Also for those who don't know what EQ is it is pretty much being aware of one's own and others emotions and how those emotions affect everything.

So if I recall correctly, Scorpions opinion on the matter was that generally if  you have a high IQ (150+) then that will hamper your ability to traverse the stream that is life (my own words folks). Apparently while people with less IQ are trying their best at life, the high IQ people are looking beyond the task at hand and wondering what the point of it all is. Rather than solving the life problems in front of them they are looking beyond the problems into the future and searching for meaning.

If all we do is work really hard, have some fun, make some mistakes, have some experiences, and finally grow old and die then what is the point of it all? Scorpion said that most geniuses think thoughts like these and unfortunately many (not sure about the number) commit suicide before the age of 16. Now I'm not saying I'm a genius but that childhood is sounding very familiar, but of course I'm still here so obviously so no need to worry folks. It reminds me of Solomon who said "for with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief" Ecclesiastes 1:18.

Of course there was more to their talk than that. I also found the relationship between EQ and IQ very interesting. Apparently naturally those with high IQ have low EQ and generally I think you will naturally have a higher EQ if you have a lower IQ. The big difference comes from the fact that you can raise  your EQ through learning but IQ is somewhat unalterable. But let's not confuse IQ with being smart, you can definitely get smarter by changing the way you approach problems, using different techniques, so on and so forth.

Scorpion is a prime example of a child prodigy who had a massive IQ and little EQ who then went on to train up his EQ and be very successful in life. His company is actually based around having many geniuses who have crazy IQ's and are supervised by people called super nannies. These super nannies instead have very impressive EQ's and are able to teach and literally baby sit the geniuses to make sure they use their intellect in the most correct fashion.

All this reminded me of those periods where I'm either studying, reading, gaming in large amounts and having less exposure to human interaction. I find that my mind will be more clear and focused. I will think faster and enjoy thinking. It's like, rather than getting tired of what I'm doing I just keep getting better and better, but when this happens I've noticed some negatives.

I tend to get very easily annoyed at people. Its obvious if I'm in the middle of something and someone interrupts me - I will get really annoyed (of course I try not to show it because I know I'm just overreacting). This I'm sure is common for most people (yes?), but I have also noticed my mind wanting to order everyday very systematically and if there is one change to the routine it is very frustrating. Even if it's something I like and there is plenty of time I just get so annoyed that the perfect plan I had got ruined.

So I wonder what would happen if you isolated a person and had them perform some activity or routine to get them into that zone and had them take an IQ test. After have them get back to normal life interacting with people and have them take it again. Perhaps it would be normal for people to test better when isolated? Perhaps this is already common knowledge? I don't know because I haven't researched it. Mostly because I want to write a post everyday and if I spend too much time researching then it will be too time consuming and it will be harder to build up the  habit.

Anyway if anyone reads this please tell me what you think or know. All this IQ/EQ stuff is pretty interesting huh?

Public thoughts and Life Direction

So I was listening to a podcast where Tim Ferriss interviewed Seth Godin. They were talking about adding value to peoples lives which a lot of people who Tim interviews seem to talk about. Anyway one thing Seth said to do was to write one blog post everyday. From what I can recall the reasoning behind his advice was to add value to the people who read the posts and also to develop personally.

I believe the way he described it developing you personally was that if you take a stand on something everyday publicly - that act will help you grow personally. I figure I am butchering everything he said but I kind of get what he means. When you write your thoughts out and you do it in public where everyone can see it and hold you accountable it is suddenly another part of you that is real.

It's like you are a jigsaw puzzle except you are the one who creates your pieces and decides where they go. If you choose to make your jigsaw puzzle in the dark and never show anyone then the significance plummets. But if you choose to work in the light so you can see what you are doing and everyone else can too then it has so much more power.

Only you can decide what pieces you create, where you put them and who to show. So why not do your best under the light?

---

Haha beware the cheesiness!

Well that took a turn, but it was meaningful. I've just finished my Chiropractic degree (graduated last night) and with all this choice before me I've been sort of directionless. Well I guess I have some direction but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. It seems like for every decision I make I have something to lose and even though I could give myself some amazing advice if I wasn't myself (complicated) it's hard to listen to yourself in these situations.

It's like when you are a kid and you see your parents doing all these things and you say "When I grow up and have children I would do right by them and not do all this rubbish". But then you grow up and realize how freaking hard things can really be and what your parents did doesn't seem so bad. Plus I'm not even a parent yet so I don't know the half of it.

In effect I know I should just sacrifice things to move forward but I'm more afraid of losing things than I thought I would be when I was just an onlooker. For everything you do in life there are plus's and minus's and no one reaches their death bed after living a long life without loss so why not just go for it? In the end you'll only have yourself to blame.