This question was originally posted on Quora.com and was answered by Natalia Postrigan, Entrepreneur, COO, management consultant You have an IQ of 130. Or more. You are very good at seeing the causal relationship between things or events (the link between the cause and the effect). You see abstract concepts behind physical objects. You are very good at deducing (seeing the big picture and making valid conclusions about its elements) and inducing (reconstructing the big picture after understanding a small part). You make mistakes like everybody else, but tend to not repeat them, unless intentionally, for the purpose of research or to challenge the outcome. In potential partners, you look for qualities like kindness, sense of humor, optimism etc, because, frankly, you don’t meet that many people who are smarter than you, so it is not your priority. You are acutely aware that you often depend on people who are not as smart as you are (for example, your managers at work, especially at the beginning of your career), so you focus on learning to be wise, not just smart. You’ve been told, not seldomly, that you overthink things. Because, duh, of course you do. Thinking and overthinking is like breathing for you. You are conscious about your “soft” skills, because you know that the smarts need to be complemented with good social skills, and you are worried whether the nature shorthanded you at something else as a compensation for the intellect you got. Most people don’t know your IQ is above 130, because your priority is to be assimilated in the society, not to be an outlier. So, you don’t wear your IQ on your sleeve. You are not a big talker. You are a listener, because you are fascinated with the way other people think. You are fascinated with the world, because everywhere you look you can find food for thought, something to ignite your curiousity. Sometimes, frequently, you feel like an alien, walking on Earth like you landed yesterday, because there is so much to absorb and think about. That’s, in a nutshell, how it feels to have an IQ above 130. Maybe, just as well, every human (sometimes?) feels this way. Source
