{ smooth voice }

All the ladies tell me I'm gifted.  Oh wait, they all say I'm a gift.  Oh, never mind....

{ / smooth voice }

 

and

Sorry, I can't honestly answer that I'd be gifted as I too am one of those 'I read a book once... a long time ago' type people.  Just can't make myself find the time or drag myself away from playing on the Xbox 360

The tough thing about a survey like this is that they almost need the first question to be "can you do an honest appraisal" of yourself.

Whenever I've talked to people about this list I just have to bite my tongue.

Examples:

Do you love math? "Oh yea, I love math!!" Really? When was the last time you did something mathematical. Then you get into something in college they did.  Unless someone is subscribing to a magazine with math problems to solve or spends hours a week playing with spread sheets to do statistical analysis then the answer is...no.

Or  do you have extraordinary ablities and deficits? "Oh definite!" Really? What have you done that's extraordinary or what significant deficit do you have to overcome every day?  "Well, I have depression..."

Or my personal favorite, Do you have a vivid imagination? "Oh YES I sure do!"  Really? Do you write poetry? "Well no". Stories? Paint? Stained glass? Weekly Comics? Write screen plays? etc...etc.. If your answre is "No but I have really crazy dreams" then the answer is...NO you don't. Most people don't have vivid imaginations IMO. Everyone has vivid dreams now and then.   This is followed up with "Do you feel driven by your creativity?" and if they say yes, then the follow-up is "Well? What were you driven to do?" and it's usually silence.

 

thanks a lot Draginol ..... I am not gifted .... 23 out of 37 (62.2%).

I knew that ..... but i was hoping to be proven wrong.

you happy now ?

ThinkAloud: I think you are highly intelligent regardless.

When we debate, never confuse my disagreeing with your beliefs as a sign that I don't have the utmost respect for you.

I never confuse the two. Thanks so much for the nice words. The feelings are mutual by the way.

and very Merry Chistmas for you and your family. Hope you relax and enjoy the time off.....dont think about taxes. it is just money .

[x] Are you a good problem solver?
[ ] Can you concentrate for long periods of time?
[x] Are you a perfectionist?
[ ] Do you persevere with your interests?
[ ] Are you an avid reader?
[x] Do you have a vivid imagination?
[x] Do you enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles?
[x] Often connect seemingly unrelated ideas?
[x] Do you enjoy paradoxes?
[x] Do you set high standards for yourself?
[x] Do you have a good long-term memory?
[x] Are you deeply compassionate?
[x] Do you have persistent curiosity?
[x] Do you have a good sense of humor?
[ ] Are you a keen observer?
[x] Do you love mathematics?
[x] Do you need periods of contemplation?
[x] Do you search for meaning in your life?
[x] Are you aware of things that others are not?
[x] Are you fascinated by words?
[x] Are you highly sensitive?
[x] Do you have strong moral convictions?
[x] Do you often feel out-of-sync with others?
[x] Are you perceptive or insightful?
[x] Do you often question rules or authority?
[ ] Do you have organized collections?
[x] Do you thrive on challenge?
[x] Do you have extraordinary abilities and deficits?
[x] Do you learn new things rapidly?
[x] Feel overwhelmed by many interests/abilities?
[x] Do you have a great deal of energy?
[x] Often take a stand against injustice?
[x] Do you feel driven by your creativity?
[x] Love ideas and ardent discussion?
[x] Did you have developmentally advanced childhood?
[x] Have unusual ideas or perceptions?
[x] Are you a complex person?

Once upon a time I was an avid reader, now, not so much. I stick to nonfiction and generally skim articles. Not sure why this is exactly, but there was a time when I read voraciously.

As for the mathematics, I could go either way with it. There is some math I like, some math about which I am borderline obsessive. I create numerical mnemonics for phone numbers, and try to make relationships out of any set of numbers I see. But I'm not crazy about showing my work...lol!

[X] Are you a good problem solver?

I think so because I solve network/database/development problems for a living and am fairly good at it.

[ ] Can you concentrate for long periods of time?

Not really. I tend to switch between projects a lot.

[ ] Are you a perfectionist?

No.

[X] Do you persevere with your interests?

Yes. It turns out I really do.

[X] Are you an avid reader?

Very much so.

[X] Do you have a vivid imagination?

Oh, yes.

[ ] Do you enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles?

No.

[ ] Often connect seemingly unrelated ideas?

Not really, although sometimes I think I do.

[X] Do you enjoy paradoxes?

Yes.

[ ] Do you set high standards for yourself?

Not so much.

[X] Do you have a good long-term memory?

Absolutely.

[ ] Are you deeply compassionate?

No.

[X] Do you have persistent curiosity?

I think so.

[X] Do you have a good sense of humor?

Yes.

[ ] Are you a keen observer?

No.

[ ] Do you love mathematics?

Not really, just some aspects of it, like theoretical computer science.

[ ] Do you need periods of contemplation?

No.

[ ] Do you search for meaning in your life?

Not any more.

[ ] Are you aware of things that others are not?

Hardly.

[X] Are you fascinated by words?

Yes, very much so. I love language and languages.

[ ] Are you highly sensitive?

No.

[X] Do you have strong moral convictions?

Yes.

[X] Do you often feel out-of-sync with others?

Yes.

[X] Are you perceptive or insightful?

Somewhat more than others, yes.

[X] Do you often question rules or authority?

I question rules when I don't understand why the authority is the authority.

[X] Do you have organized collections?

Yes.

[X] Do you thrive on challenge?

Sometimes.

[X] Do you have extraordinary abilities and deficits?

I am very good with words, word games, and grammar and I learn vocabulary extremely quickly. I have deficits.

[ ] Do you learn new things rapidly?

Not really rapidly but steadily.

[ ] Feel overwhelmed by many interests/abilities?

No.

[ ] Do you have a great deal of energy?

Not really.

[X] Often take a stand against injustice?

Does travelling to Israel during wartime to support the country count?

[ ] Do you feel driven by your creativity?

No.

[X] Love ideas and ardent discussion?

A bit.

[ ] Did you have developmentally advanced childhood?

No.

[X] Have unusual ideas or perceptions?

Yes.

[X] Are you a complex person?

Am.

I have a much easier survey to decide if you are gifted or not.

[] Do you need to take a survey to validate that you are gifted?

If you answered yes to this question, you aren't gifted.

Gifted people know they're gifted. They see proof of it all the time in things like consistently higher grades with less effort in school and better paying jobs.

I have to disagree with this point, afaust. I have seen many gifted people who work menial jobs. One other interesting characteristic is, money does not ALWAYS tend to be a primary objective.

It's all in fun anyway, for crying out loud, it's like an online IQ test. In the end, it in and of itself means nothing.

I agree with you about money not being an objective. My sister is quite a bit more intelligent than I am, yet she teaches high school math for less than a third what I make.

That's why I also mentioned grades. This wasn't an all inclusive list of factors. It was merely an illustration of some of the examples gifted people see that shows them they're gifted. Maybe I should have been clearer about that.



I know. That's why I posted my 1 question quiz. Everyone else seemed to be taking it so seriously answering the questions, so I was making fun of them.

You are correct. Being honest is the hardest part in this -but I tried anyway.

[x] Are you a good problem solver?
[x] Can you concentrate for long periods of time?
[ ] Are you a perfectionist?
[x] Do you persevere with your interests?
[x] Are you an avid reader? Being honest on this one was easy
[x] Do you have a vivid imagination?
[ ] Do you enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles? I wanted to say yes, but...no
[x] Often connect seemingly unrelated ideas?
[x] Do you enjoy paradoxes?
[x] Do you set high standards for yourself? This one I might be fudging on
[x] Do you have a good long-term memory? too long -sometimes I think it is a curse
[ ] Are you deeply compassionate?
[ ] Do you have persistent curiosity?
[x] Do you have a good sense of humor? BIG TIME
[ ] Are you a keen observer?
[ ] Do you love mathematics? No, but I did pass the stuff okay
[x] Do you need periods of contemplation?
[x] Do you search for meaning in your life? All the time. One reason I do JU
[x] Are you aware of things that others are not?
[ ] Are you fascinated by words?
[x] Are you highly sensitive? Too much so
[ ] Do you have strong moral convictions?
[x] Do you often feel out-of-sync with others? Every. Single. Day.
[ ] Are you perceptive or insightful?
[x] Do you often question rules or authority? Always have, always will
[ ] Do you have organized collections?
[ ] Do you thrive on challenge?
[ ] Do you have extraordinary abilities and deficits?
[x] Do you learn new things rapidly? Especially when motivated out of curiousity or $$$
[ ] Feel overwhelmed by many interests/abilities?
[ ] Do you have a great deal of energy?
[x] Often take a stand against injustice?
[x] Do you feel driven by your creativity? All the time
[ ] Love ideas and ardent discussion?
[ ] Did you have developmentally advanced childhood? no and mostly because: see "Do you often question rules or authority?" question above
[x] Have unusual ideas or perceptions?
[ ] Are you a complex person?

Or my personal favorite, Do you have a vivid imagination? "Oh YES I sure do!" Really? Do you write poetry? "Well no". Stories? Paint? Stained glass? Weekly Comics? Write screen plays? etc...etc.. If your answre is "No but I have really crazy dreams" then the answer is...NO you don't. Most people don't have vivid imaginations IMO. Everyone has vivid dreams now and then. This is followed up with "Do you feel driven by your creativity?" and if they say yes, then the follow-up is "Well? What were you driven to do?" and it's usually silence.

While you're right about the other parts, I disagree about the imagination thing. The question is do you have a vivid imagination, not do you do anything with it. For example, I don't write, draw, etc. I wouldn't say I'm particularly creative. But I do have a very vivid imagination, I often imagine complex scenarios playing out in my mind. Day dream or fantasize about whole worlds and complex stories with characters and dialogue in my head, particularly before going to sleep, driving, eating alone, or just in general when I'm by myself with nothing I feel like doing.

Just because I don't draw or write down any of the stuff I imagine doesn't mean I'm not imaginative. Obviously it does mean I'm not driven by creativity though, I'm perfectly happy with my fantasies staying in my head.

Btw, I agree that "vivid crazy dreams" don't qualify, dreams are involuntary, they just happen.

I think people, in general, aren't introspective enough to really give honest answers to these questions.

Because I'm compulsive, I'll put detailed explanations on my answers.

[ ] Are you a good problem solver?

The closest thing I would say I have to an unusual specific talent is software debugging.

[ ] Can you concentrate for long periods of time?

I have often programmed or worked on a project for 16 hours straight and do so on a regular basis.

[ ] Are you a perfectionist?

I don't think I am but I am often told I am.

[ ] Do you persevere with your interests?

I founded my company in college writing PC software and games and continue to do so today. I've participated in on-line communities and have continued to actively blog for several years now.

[ ] Are you an avid reader?

I read on average 2 books a week normally and up to 4 books a week when I'm not.

[ ] Do you have a vivid imagination?

I spend a considerable amount of time imaginging strange alien worlds, their cultures and histories and documenting them.

[ ] Do you enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles?

No.

[ ] Often connect seemingly unrelated ideas?

I think this is related to debugging in many respects as one must piece together seemingly unrelated things. In JU debates, I try to point out the relationship between raising the taxes on the wealthy and lost jobs.

[ ] Do you enjoy paradoxes?

Yes.

[ ] Do you set high standards for yourself?

Because of my sheer arrogance I feel I have to back that arrogance up with deeds.

[ ] Do you have a good long-term memory?

Yes.

[ ] Are you deeply compassionate?

No.

[ ] Do you have persistent curiosity?

Yes. That is why Wikipedia is slowly destroying my life.

[ ] Do you have a good sense of humor?

Only if one considers morphing picture of their children into appearing to be aliens and sending that out as your Christmas card to a 100+ people to be humorous.

[ ] Are you a keen observer?

I don't really think I am.

[ ] Do you love mathematics?

More like an obsession with mathematics. Besides trying to solve mathematical puzzles, I spend more time playing Excel games than PC games.

[ ] Do you need periods of contemplation?

Yes, to the point that our next house will have a conservatory to just sit and piece things together.

[ ] Do you search for meaning in your life?

Unfortunately. Having concluded that there is probably no after life I spend a lot of time trying to search out what the point of living is other than the compulsion to pass on our genetic material.

[ ] Are you aware of things that others are not?

Probably in the sense that most people don't seem to be very aware. So it's all relative.

[ ] Are you fascinated by words?

Like many people on JU, I enjoy writing and will consider subtle distinctions in word meanings in order to convey slightly different tones in what I write.

[ ] Are you highly sensitive?

No.  I generally just don't care.

[ ] Do you have strong moral convictions?

No. I am more of a moral relativist because, I don't care.

[ ] Do you often feel out-of-sync with others?

Yes. Because I'm arrogant and don't care what other people think. The downside of narcisism I suppose.

[ ] Are you perceptive or insightful?

That it difficult to judge. I think I am more perceptive than most people but only because most people are oblivious.

[ ] Do you often question rules or authority?

Yes. Because many rules and much authority exists purely due to inertia of "that's how it's always been".

[ ] Do you have organized collections?

Heh.  Coin collections. Comic book collections. Software collections. Books are arranged by author (fiction) and title by category if non-fiction, etc.

[ ] Do you thrive on challenge?

I am hyper-competitive.

[ ] Do you have extraordinary abilities and deficits?

That's hard to quantify. I don't think I'm exceptional at any specific thing but have an extremely broad skillset that allows me to accomplish objectives that most people would need a team to do in order to pull together the same skills. So I'd say entrepreneurship is an extraordinary ability.  I would also say that my combination of not caring what other people think with a strong drive to execute on what is in my rational self interest is a significant deficit.

[ ] Do you learn new things rapidly?

I believe so. For instance, in Spring I decided to become a beekeeper. Picked up some books, found out where to acquire what I need and became a beekeeper.

I became a software developer by picking up "Teach Yourself C in 21 days" and voila.

[ ] Feel overwhelmed by many interests/abilities?

Yes. Between trying to be a good husband, father, business manager, investor, writer, game designer, skinner, software developer, desktop publisher, bee keeper, comic book collector, computer techie, web master, editor, etc. I have a hard time finding time for what needs to be done.

[ ] Do you have a great deal of energy?

Supposedly.

[ ] Often take a stand against injustice?

No. I am usually the source of it.

[ ] Do you feel driven by your creativity?

When I was in 1st grade, I thought our money was flimsey. So I started making my own money from bottle caps and exchanging it with other 1st graders (until the teachers found out what I was doing).  In 7th grade I started drawing comics and when I had enough of a collection submitted them to newspapers and various syndicates (I sucked so received a lot of friendly and polite rejection letters). Also during this time I started drawing comic books and writing stories about "Earth Space Wars" about humans in the early 23rd century battling it out with aliens called the Drengin and Arceans and Torians and so on. I later used this to create my own video game.

Was also the editor of the high school poetry book and in my first month at college founded a magazine for the residence hall that I wrote and published along with an artist friend of mine.

[ ] Love ideas and ardent discussion?

I have been known to debate issues.

[ ] Did you have developmentally advanced childhood?

No. I was considered slow.

[ ] Have unusual ideas or perceptions?

Apparently.
[ ] Are you a complex person?

[ ] You were flunking your ninth grade geography/Civics class 3/4 of the way through the school year,
and received an A in the class.
[ ] You enjoy reading technical manuals rather then novels.
[ ] You got almost 1/2 way through the Hobbit and put it down because
it's just the same thing over and over and over.
[ ] You asked your biology teacher how does a muscle contract, she said a nerve impulse tells it to.
That was her whole answer.
[ ] You realize that the only way for what we know about the universe to make sense,
is for the universe to not make sense.