Relation between IQ and career path

[Cybah]

(I'm 16 and german so sorry if my English is a little off)

First off, I want to say that the purpose of this post is not to brag about IQ or some other bs like that.

So when I was about 7 years old I took an IQ-Test because I was bored of school and another one when I was 12, both at psychologists, the second one being due to having social issues.

I've been curious for a while now to analyse these tests and see my scores in different areas.

Also, I started gaming at age 5 and when I was around 7-8 I started excessively gaming each day for hours upon hours at a time, it got more and more throughout the years which will be important for the later part of this post.

There were 3 main areas testes in both tests: working memory, logical thinking and processing speed.

In the first one I took when I was about 7 I scored:

126 in working memory,
127 in logical thinking,
129 in processing speed.

Then after having been gaming for years each day for many hours and forgetting about my social life, I took another one at age 12 as said, where I scored:

117 in logical thinking,
135 in working memory,
136 in processing speed.

What I've noticed throughout the years is that I've been able to learn how to speak English with barely any accent and my typing speed has always been way above average, obviously increased over the years. I am now able to type at 150WPM on a typing test like one on the site 10fastfingers which fits with the high processing speed but got a lot worse at mathematics.

In primary school I used to be really good in maths and would always be class best, them when time passed my logical thinking started decreasing more and more and I am now not that great at maths anymore compared to what I used to be which frustrates me a loooot very often when I compare myself to other students at my school.

I'm wondering, since as you can see in the results that when I started gaming excessively, my processing speed increased by 7 points and my logical thinking decreased by 10 points, could that have to do anything with gaming?

I've always had a big love for science and technology, especially physics, astronomy to be exact. I'm now worried that due to my decreased ability to think logically and a lack of vocabulary in my main language because of having very few social interactions in the real world over the past years, I won't be able to get into scientific fields like astro physics and quantum physics anymore, which I find extremely fascinating and interesting.

Is it possible to succeed within these fields even if you only have an above average score of about 117 in logical thinking? Because I'd really love to get into research about dark matter, black holes, different theories about the universe and other interesting topics like that...

If you read through all of this, then damn... You've got a ton of patience my man and I highly appreciate you for taking the time.

 

[ZapperZ]

Without any kind of statistics that connect the two variables, this answers to such a question will be pure guesswork and speculation. Is that what you really want?

Zz.

 

[Cybah]

Without any kind of statistics that connect the two variables, this answers to such a question will be pure guesswork and speculation. Is that what you really want?

Zz.

I'm just kinda wondering about wether anyone has ever seen a study that proves a relation between those things.

 

[pinball1970]

I'm just kinda wondering about wether anyone has ever seen a study that proves a relation between those things.

I suggest you Google, avoid social media sites and get some hints from broad sheets like the Guardian. Not too dumbed down, good details if a little fuzzy at times but as a rule they reference the study where relevant.
From the experiences of dragging my son off his X box, I would say gaming is fun but one dimensional.
Plenty of visual stimulation, excellent graphics that excites BUT it is providing the entertainment for you. Your contribution is minimal compared to reading, where you have to get used to visualizing concepts in your head as you go along. This applies to fiction as well as non fiction. If you get stuck you write down where you are and see if it makes sense.
Read more game less is my advice and in a few years from now you may find yourself on here arguing with fresh42 about Gödel's incompleteness theorem.

 

[Fig Neutron]

First of all I would like to say that I am not aware of a study done linking gaming and reduce logical thinking, but that doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist.

I am 17 and have also taken a few IQ test. My scores on IQ tests tend to vary considerably even on tests that are intended to score same area of intelligence. I definitely understand having some social issues. I am not always particularly good with people and tend to think much differently than others causing a bit of a disconnect in conversation.

Ok, enough back ground. What I would like to say is that if you are interested in pursuing physics it is definitely possible and IQ is not always the best indicator of potential. Math is definitely something that you can improve. Math isn’t something that comes naturally for me but is always the place that I score the highest. Once you become comfortable with the procedures and gain confidence in your abilities, it will be much easier to build on your experience, even if you don’t particularly enjoy the math.

As someone who is interested in the a lot of the same areas of science as you, I definitely think you can do it. My IQ averages in the mid 130s. I suppose it’s a bit of a character flaw but I don’t like to do anything I’m not good at so if I didn’t think that it was possible to become skilled in the field of physics I wouldn’t be here. (And I certainly don’t consider myself gifted in physics right now )

 

[jrmichler]

Keep in mind that an IQ test is really a test of your ability to take that test. It also tests your ability to read and comprehend quickly, to identify patterns, of your short term memory, and general knowledge.

Career success is also determined by how well you know your job, how hard you work, how effectively you work, whether you like your job, how well you work with your coworkers, and other factors. None of those factors are measured by an IQ test.

I won't be able to get into scientific fields like astro physics and quantum physics anymore

Do not waste time worrying about something that you will not study until you get graduate school. Concentrate on high school math and physics, then get an undergraduate degree in physics. Focus your efforts on learning the material rather than on being the best in your class. By then you will have the background to know better what you really want to do, AND you will know if you are able to learn physics.

 

[Torbert]

I am a bit older than video games. But in one case...
My friend did the IQ tests and follow up interviews and was told to go to vocational schools rather than the standard educational university.
This angered him and he went to university and spent a very intense four years, graduating with a double major.
He had a great deal of memorized information but ended up in a career not related to his majors. He had difficulty turning his knowledge into useful analysis of problems encountered in the workplace.
He eventually ended up in vocations similar to what had been originally recommended to him.

My IQ analysis was quite different from his but I enjoyed manual labor and used my math learning for hobby rather than income for the most part. Now I am retired, digging out old notes from my youth and trying to update them with new knowledge. The Higgs field and gravity waves together have me doing speculations on Cosmology not appropriate to the forum. A fun hobby for retirement, beats watching TV.
Am I smarter or dumber now compared to then? Is this difference directly attributable to my activities?
My opinion is yes, thinking makes it easier to think, rote survival via the easy path makes ignoring difficulties easier. Careers are inherently more difficult if chosen rather than fallen into.

Disclaimer: I am autistic and outrageous IQ scores are not predictions of any success. This is due to narrowness of interests.

 

[nuuskur]

I'm mostly an idiot and a to-be-mathematician. No further evidence needed, I suppose

If an IQ value could be placed on me based on some tests, I wouldn't care to know. I know nothing about the inner workings of this evaluation process. It's as if there is a problem posed and just a final answer given (e.g a problem of the form $f(x) = 0$ and the $x$ is given). Well, how about the process of coming up with that specific $x$? What am I supposed to do with the $x$ alone? I want to know how they arrived at my IQ being such and such.

 

[pinball1970]

I'm mostly an idiot and a to-be-mathematician. No further evidence needed, I suppose

If an IQ value could be placed on me based on some tests, I wouldn't care to know. I know nothing about the inner workings of this evaluation process. It's as if there is a problem posed and just a final answer given (e.g a problem of the form $f(x) = 0$ and the $x$ is given). Well, how about the process of coming up with that specific $x$? What am I supposed to do with the $x$ alone? I want to know how they arrived at my IQ being such and such.

It's based on logic, spatial relations, vocabulary and maths problems rather than knowledge. This way you can assess a young child who will not know the capital of Peru but could find the next shape in a sequence. Presumably they divide the score by your age since it is a quotient, intelligence quotient. There are different ones, Hawking was 170 apparently. Feynman was 121 and he won the Nobel and did a lot of other remarkable stuff.

 

[Vanadium 50]

"129"
"129, that's good, isn't it?"
"That's very good, Bob. That's almost gifted"

 

[pinball1970]

"129"
"129, that's good, isn't it?"
"That's very good, Bob. That's almost gifted"

129 is superior according to the 1928 classification, some of those other words are probably not as politically correct if you Google. I had no idea 'moron' was that old.

 

[HowlerMonkey]

There is no spoon...I mean ...relationship.