Congrats to kombat on his SAT score and all, but his thread spurred me to write my own.
My sophomore year in highschool we took MENSA tests in my psych class. I scored above the requirements for MENSA membership.
great! right?
not so much. I have a difficult time with math at or above 11th grade algebra. I also have hit a point in my econ studies where I’m having a hard time grasping the concept of nominal vs. real value (I maybe just haven’t found a good enough explanation. Or this is me rationlizing my idiocy).
I feel like I’m missing pieces of the puzzle on various subjects because of my own incompetance to grasp concepts like that as easily as other concepts. I would appreciate some responses from older members of the comunity about if their ability to understand concepts grew as they aged. I wonder now, if I’m doomed to be a MENSA qualified dipshit for the rest of my live.
Nephorm, if you’re out there; you’re one of the people I would really appreciate imput from.
I appreciate it.
I never passed 10th grade in highschool. I’m currently a JR. majoring in CS at temple university with a 3.85 GPA. My I.Q. is not high enough for mensa. However, I do very well in my studies. Why? Because I work hard, and don’t give up. I also know when to ask for help (I ask questions constantly in class) 
I do particularly well in math, not because I’m particularly gifted in it, but more so because I absolutely do not mind spending large amounts of time doing problems (which, inevitably I do). I almost always finish my tests last, because I’m slow, yet always score high. I’m a terrible writer, however.
School seems easier now then when I was younger. I think it’s simply because I’m mature enough to put in the time required to do well and to take advantage of the resources offered (asking lots of questions in class, and out of class. actually studying. doing optional reading … etc.)
I say “Fuck” too much to be in MENSA, regardless of my tested IQ.
DB
[quote]zephead4747 wrote:
I would appreciate some responses from older members of the comunity about if their ability to understand concepts grew as they aged.[/quote]
Don’t worry about it. If you are active in trying to learn new things you will begin to grasp concepts as they become clear and you gain insight to other concepts.
I also had a very difficult time understanding economics for the simple fact that I spent my time studying mathematics and physics and learning how to measure actual physical phenomena. The problem I found with economics is that all the formulas didn’t make sense to me. How, for example, did these economists come to their derivations? Thruogh historical interpretation?
In a physics lab, measuring gravitational effects is a trivial matter because we have no reason to believe that an object when dropped will behave any differently at each event.
Economics is a completely different ball game. It deals completely with how humans make choices in a world fraught with scarcity. How can we predict a human will behave the same in every situation if his conditions are not the same or if he has learned from past mistakes, for example? Are we not capable of changing our mind about what we value?
It wasn’t until I understood the concept of value that I could shrug off all the mathematical/historical economists’ theories. They serve no purpose to economic insight.