How would you rate your basic 6 abilities ?

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And why not. Every day we learn more, even if we don't try. While a young man can be smarter then an old man, the same young man will be smarter then himself in time, even if only slightly.

 

Many people here do claim to have an above average intelligence though. And I do not doubt it. Simply that many of the people here are fans of fantasy and roleplaying games doesnt' amount to great intelligence, of course. But considering the subjects spoken of in here, and the manner in which people speak, I'd say an average SPer rates well above an average person from somewhere else.

But then, I don't have a very high regard for an average person from somewhere else, as many should know by this point.

Let's put it another way then. According to the tests I've taken (I believe and care very little for their results), my intelligence rates around 130. Although I make a habit of being interested in only what I care about -which is very little, amounting to that I've little experience with what normal people do-, I still seem to learn things much quicker than an average person. I usually have far more viewpoints to offer, and with little preparation I can usually fare moderately well in a debate over a subjet I know next to nothing about. That's in normal life, or on a normal discussion forum. Not in SP.

Although many times it's because these things are connected to countries or cultures that a mere Finnish person who minds only his own life can know little about, it still doesn't remove the fact that here, people actually know what they talk about. Here, you see a lot more variation on opinions, a lot more well founded opinions and written reasons for why the opinions are what they are. And here I've found myself without a word to say back more often than what I would like. If there is a thing called "intelligence", then I firmly believe that Sorcerer's Place has more of it, than the average Finnish peddler would.

But in D&D, an intelligence of 18 really has suffered from a serious inflation, as basically every mage has at least that much, and still manages to act like he was on the same wavelength with a normal person.

 

@ Jaguar
Knowledge is not the same as Intelligence, you really should read a couple of articles about intelligence.
Actually intelligence degreases slightly round your 40ties.

@ Foradasthar
I think your right when you say that he average IQ on Spboards is a bit higher dan the average IQ,

Many People seem real intellects on these boards...but don't forget that you can think as long as you wish before put your lines dong, and anybody posting on these boards has acces to worlds largest encyclopedia..!

 

So you're saying that a gifted baby is more intelligent than your average 40 year old?

Doesn't quite work Nightal. Attributes are NOT constant and they can improve and they DO improve over time. Everything from Strength to Charisma. I am Stronger, more agile, more enduring, smarter, wiser and far more charismatic than a 5 year old. Why? I'm older.

 

@ Nightal: How many do you really believe go and google around for the things they say on these boards? Here, the average debate goes so deep that you really can't just google around for something to say and paste it here, wishing that to make a good impression. If someone does do that and succeeds, then the very fact that they're willing to search that information, and are actually able to process it enough to make a point in the unique situation going on here in the boards speaks of the fact they are above average intelligence.

And time is irrelevant. Some people are naturally quicker than others. Some again slower but more effective. For a better measure, go check some other boards. Much because of the geeky nature of these boards, and because of Tal's reign of terror (had to say that ), the mundane sort just don't feel comfortable here. You have to think before you post, and that alone is a mark of intelligence when people do it gladly.

@ Abomination: Well it's not that simple. None of us here can really prove what "real intelligence" is. So far it's merely how you see it. Is intelligence just knowledge and learned functions, or is intelligence the (lacking English psychology words here) 'raw processing power' of each individual brain? Or perhaps both combined? Most people seem to think it's just the raw processing power, with next to nothing to do with knowledge.

At any rate, I'm going offtopic here.

 

You're not going offtopic in trying to define what intelligence is. Intelligence is a combination of factors as is almost every other attribute. Charisma isn't just how well you 'get along' with people, it is also how attractive you are physcially for example. Intelligence is a combination of factors in this reguard also, how well you can apply knowledge (your 'raw processing power' definition, how well you 'recieve' knowledge and your memory.

These factors are hard to rate but they are easy to compare when you have two individuals. People can tell if someone is more intelligent than someone else if they have known both people for awhile.

 

Intelligence:

Fluid reasoning:
measured in tasks requiring inductive, deductive, conjunctive, and disjunctive reasoning to arrive at understanding relations among stimuli, comprehend implications, and draw inferences.

Acculturation Knowledge:
measured in tasks indicating breadth and depth of the knowledge of the dominant culture.

Quantitative Knowledge:
measured in tasks requiring understanding and application of the concepts and skills of mathematics.

Short-term apprehension-retrieval:
also called short-term memory, measured in a variety of tasks that mainly require one to maintain awareness of, and be able to recall, elements of immediate stimulation -- i.e., events of the last minute or so.

Fluency of retrieval from long-term storage:
also called long-term memory, measured in tasks that indicate consolidation for storage and mainly require retrieval, through association, of information stored minutes, hours, weeks, and years before.

Visual processing:
measured in tasks involving visual closure and constancy, and fluency in "image-ing" the way objects appear in space as they are rotated and flip-flopped in various ways.

Auditory processing:
measured in tasks that involve perception of sound patterns under distraction or distortion, maintaining awareness of order and rhythm among sounds, and comprehending elements of groups of sounds, such as chords and the relations among such groups.

Processing speed:
although involved in almost all intellectual tasks measured most purely in rapid scanning and responding in intellectually simple tasks (in which almost all people would get the right answer if the task were not highly speeded).

Correct decision speed:
measured in quickness in providing answers in tasks that require one to think.

@ Foradasthar
About googling around,
Your right in what you say, but it is easier to look intellectual when googling around,

And even when you miss the point, after giving a answer in a debat which you googled around for,
will there be anyone to notice?

@Abomination

Intelligence can be trained...but it will only slightly, almost unnoticable improve,
The thing is that a 40 year old knows how to use its intelligence and a baby doesn't.


end of discussion?

[ September 17, 2004, 10:27: Message edited by: Nightal ]

 

@Nightal- thanks for posting the list. And all of these different "intelligences" are defined through different kinds of intelligence testing. Given the inherent problems with standardized testing, one could even go further and ask what kinds of intelligence are still being left out. And then there's the question of which form of intelligence is privileged. Try putting a brilliant physicist and a brilliant composer in a room together, and tell me which one is smarter? Coming up with a single "Intelligence" score is a bit tenuous in RL, which is why I try to think of it in PnP as having a definite meaning only with regard to game mechanics (spell levels and the like). I always think that a player's RPing of a character's intelligence (or any other stat) will have a definite impact on bonuses and penalties to stat checks, etc.

I personally also think the same could be said of every other ability. There are many different ways of measuring Strength, and most of these involve muscular coordination and so cross over into the territory of Dexterity, while others involve muscular endurance, and so would cross over into Constitution. Imagine two fighters with equal Strength stats, one of which was RPed as a huge, hulking brute, and the other of which was RPed as a trim, conditioned athlete. I would give a bonus to the first if he was, for example, engaging in some village contest involving lifting heavy stones, while I would give a bonus to the second if he wanted to leap over some fence in the heat of battle.

 

I score 18 in every ability, good for me!

 

Hmm... I still think all stats could be divided into endless substats. It's just a matter of deriving some overall, whether a mean or otherwise.

 

@ Bion
Yes you are definitly right in what you say,
to bad the ability scores are so vague...

The 6 ability scores should be divided in 3 sub-scores, or so.
And the avarage of those 3 scores is your ability score.

Good idea? or not?