I'm not stupid, honestly, I'm not

[kattahj]

I'm thinking of taking a Mensa test. There's one in my home town in a couple of weeks. I've always felt that it's kind of silly to take tests no-one's making you take just to prove that you're smart or whatever, but now I'm sorely tempted

Comments

[fjm]

Actually, it sounds as if you might be mildly dyslexic. I am by the way, and didn't get diagnosed until my twenties (when I had a job in a library and they discovered that while I can ace a test on the theory of sequencing, I can't actually do it.)

The kind of problems you are describing are identical to mine and they all have one thing in common: they require you to use two quite different modes of reasoning and combine them with a visualisation of just one of them.

When I was 16 I could do trig, calculus etc etc. But give me a problem that started "If John has eight apples..." and I would become, in turn, baffled, stressed and finally tearful.

Edit: and I am now in charge of a huge budget, and thank god the finance officer is supportive because I cannot learn how to do this unless I figure it out for myself.

[kattahj]

Considering that I not only aced maths, but I learned to read and write when I was four, I really don't think that's it. The trouble isn't that I can't calculate "If John has eight apples" - I can do that easily. The trouble is that math textbooks require the actual calculations to take certain paths. In a way, it's like orienteering. I'm supposed to go find all these stations, when I can see the goal right there, and why can't I just go to it?

[fjm]

ps, with the exception of the book where you are allowed to cry in the streets, "The Emperor has no clothes!"

[kattahj]

Heh, thank you. :-)

[wesleysgirl]

I don't know what to say about smart/not smart, except you've always seemed smart to me! And also I thought Edgar Sawtelle was not at all what it was cracked up to be.

[kattahj]

Thanks, good to know, on both counts!