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Parents and intelligence

I think that my parents would have had a similar intelligence to me, when they were my age - I test at about 135.

However, in my parents I see a kind of mental stagnation: they seem to have stopped applying themselves to learning/understanding new things after the age of 35. What worries me is that I am starting to stagnate already - I have a lot of challenges to deal with regularly, but they are all within my field of competence. Perhaps it is inevitable that the older we become the more set our minds are.
 
However, in my parents I see a kind of mental stagnation: they seem to have stopped applying themselves to learning/understanding new things after the age of 35.

I was trying to figure out how to word it, until I read your post. That rings true with me. My parents are the same. Stagnated. I love learning, and I've been a learner my whole life. I don't know if I'm more intelligent than my parents, but because I keep learning I've got more potential.
 
I think hearts can be pretty fickle things in and of themselves.

Key words "can be" and you are quite correct.
 
My mom is an ESFJ, so as far as intelligence goes, i'm probably a few dimes higher on the IQ scale than she is -- still she's great in her own ESFJ kind of way.

My dad is an INFJ, and highly intelligent. I sometimes find myself competing with him (we're both really competitive) and if we ever get into a disagreement of opinions, I am right only half of the time -- overall I recognize that he is much wiser than me and he is generally an inspiration to me, even though we have some different strengths and flaws (he does a better job of playing the outgoing type and can relate to people better, he's more of an artist, and he seems to easily become quite assertive when necessary -- whereas i'm more gentler and a bit more of an intellectual), many of our strengths and flaws are overlapping.
 
In the realms of facts, spirituality and understanding things before they happen: Yes.

In the realm of experience: Fuck no.

That, and my parents pay MUCH more attention to money and things around. I have almost zero experience with paying bills straight to someone. My car and insurance payments were made through my parents. I'd give them the money, they'd give the money to whomever needed it. Now, the insurance is being pulled directly from my bank account.

The thing is that I think I've learned how to balance myself out at a much younger age than my parents(And many other people. I don't like to sound arrogant but that's just how it seems). When the shit hits the fan, emotionally, I stay calm and do what needs to be done. Dad used to have one helluva rage, which he didn't really whither down until a few years after he got out of the marines. Mom's just caring and intelligent but can be VERY naive in the way she goes about handling her emotions.

I think they've been realizing my maturity lately- They've been coming to me for answers and both have confided in me with their marriage and emotional issues. My little brother hasn't a clue about these things I know and I feel horrible about that.

Either way, in the right areas, yes. In others, no.
 
I don't associate intelligence with how well read a person is though because anyone can aquire knowledge through e.g. studying.

To be intelligent one needs a certain basic knowledge, dont you think?
I agree -- and I strongly dislike it when someone refers to someone as 'stupid' just because they haven't read or studied the same things that he or she has.

Intelligence is more a fact of being able to learn new information by using logical tools such as deduction, extrapolation, and abstraction. Its being able to adapt what you already know into something new. Its also to some degree a certain level of openmindedness.
 
PP, I think that's where I am with my mother but it's increased over time and I find myself in a weird position. She definitely knows how to take care of her finances better than I do (she works part time as a substitute teacher and collects a little bit of government aid, but she makes mortgage and car payments and all the rest and STILL has money left over...I make more than she does but I'm always in the red or near the red zone). But it's everything else that frustrates me.

Yes, there are many different ways to indicate intelligence. Emotional intelligence, spiritual intelligence, mental and physical intelligence, etc. When I say intelligence I mean cognitively, and coming up with solutions that are well thought, rational, and realistic. Maybe it is the story of two people with polar opposite cognitive processes...or perhaps it's cognitive dissonance.

And perhaps it's the difference between what I define as important, versus what my parents define/d as important. Intelligence could be as simple as a generation gap. I like to think things through and ponder and consider the universe before I make a decision, but to my mother it can seem like I'm making a snap decision because I didn't talk about it or discuss it out loud...while for her, she either talks all of it out to everyone and anyone or she makes an impulsive decision based off of one source.

It's that impulsive heart of hers that really annoys me, and I think I've zeroed in on impulsivity as a cognitive weakness in my mother. She frequently expresses her impulsiveness with jumped-to conclusions without a rational basis, or she purchases high-dollar items based on what one source tells her (i.e., the television). She doesn't research.

But it depends on what I mean by intelligence. Me, I'm speaking of cognitive development...but I fully agree that there are other forms of intelligence - and many forms are far more important.
 
What kinds of intelligence?

Linguistic
Logical-Mathematical
Bodily-Kinesthetic
Spatial
Musical
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal

?
 
Both of my parents seem to be pretty intelligent people. I usually only think either one of them (usually mom, as I debate with her/see her more often) is 'dumb.' And I'm wrong in thinking she's dumb. She's not. She's just stuck on old ideas, that I myself being younger, am more easily able to transcend.

She would say I am naive and idealistic and live in my own fantasy world, and I would say she is willfully ignorant to maintain her perception of the world or reality around her... Which is basically, essentially--the same thing.
 
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