Prog Fans: High IQs?

Maybe all prog fans have high IQs, but definitely not all people with high IQs like prog.

But I don't think liking prog has anything to do with being smart.  It's all about having an open mind.

ivan_2068 wrote: Well, I have a cousin who has borderline IQ, not so low to be considered special, but you can't keep a 2 minutes conversation with him (of course he isn't able to write on a forum), but the kid without my advice (because being honest I never paid too much attention to him in a conversation) showed me his DVD and Cd coollection last month. He hasn't a defined taste but he has all Yes, Rush, Kansas, Rick Wakeman collection, among his favorites. He asked me for advice, because his brother is a metalhead that likes Prog' and told him I knew about Yes, and I burned a CD with songs by Genesis, Marillion, Magenta, etc. The next day his mother asked me how to pay by internet with her credit card for Revolutions, so I took him to my secret music stores, where all the owners knew him already. He doesn't understand what Progressive Rock is, but he likes it. So not only people with high IQ like Prog, but I still believe most progheads need a normal - high IQ, because Progressive Rock implies not only taste but also understanding and research, something that people with low IQ aren't normally able to do. Iván

Well said Ivan -  - but it is great that your cousin likes the music - a reaction that is similar to many, for example,  autistic people.  

kirklott wrote: yargh wrote: Indirectly.  As music goes, prog isn't exactly the elite in terms of complexity or technique. If prog fans are geniuses, what are jazz and classical fans... super geniuses?  I think that people who are genuinely interested in music as music, and who come from backgrounds that aren't prejudiced against rock music, will probably like at least some prog.  People who have genuine interests in music as such tend to be (in my experience) of greater than average intelligence. Well, my thread started by specifying modern music, i.e. a recently created art form, as opposed to classical or jazz which are more traditional genres. Not everyone who is bright and open to rock will like prog. I have plenty of bright friends who don't understand at all why I like it. And as for Rush, while I'm not a fan, I am thankful that Neil Peart writes lyrics that are much more intelligent than, say, Rush contemporaries like Journey or Loverboy.

I only know one person who is really smart (well, he has a ridiculously high IQ and we'll proceed on the assumption that having a high IQ means you're smart), and who is *really* into music, but who doesn't like any prog at all.  He's Julliard-educated, loves avant-garde classical music (Xenakis, Ligeti, Boulez, etc.) likes some jazz... but the only popular music he's into is Motown, soul and '80s synth-style pop.  He finds almost all "rock" music to be "dumb."  He even ripped apart stuff like Henry Cow and Thinking Plague which I gave him to try, saying that everything they were doing was smoke and mirrors and had no compositional integrity.  He's a tough nut to crack, and I doubt I'll ever get him to like any prog.   

As for Neil Peart, I think he's too hit and miss.  Is his stuff better than that of Journey or Loverboy? Well, yes, but what exactly does that mean?  Unlike Journey or Loverboy, Peart writes lyrics that beg to be noticed (one reason why I love Led Zeppelin despite their forgettable lyrics is that the lyrics are wholly unimportant to the Zeppelin experience).  I think Peart's lyrics are often hurt by their obviousness and obnoxiousness, but I can't deny that he also has some really good songs.  Like Ian Anderson, he has ambitions for his lyrics that are beyond his ability to consistently meet, although when it works it works very well. 

Well, I have a cousin who has borderline IQ, not so low to be considered special, but you can't keep a 2 minutes conversation with him (of course he isn't able to write on a forum), but the kid without my advice (because being honest I never paid too much attention to him in a conversation) showed me his DVD and Cd coollection last month.

He hasn't a defined taste but he has all Yes, Rush, Kansas, Rick Wakeman collection, among his favorites. He asked me for advice, because his brother is a metalhead that likes Prog' and told him I knew about Yes, and I burned a CD with songs by Genesis, Marillion, Magenta, etc.

The next day his mother asked me how to pay by internet with her credit card for Revolutions, so I took him to my secret music stores, where all the owners knew him already.

He doesn't understand what Progressive Rock is, but he likes it.

So not only people with high IQ like Prog, but I still believe most progheads need a normal - high IQ, because Progressive Rock implies not only taste but also understanding and research, something that people with low IQ aren't normally able to do.

Iván

stonebeard wrote: Cygnus X-2 wrote: stonebeard wrote: Cygnus X-2 wrote: stonebeard wrote: anyone have a link where i can find out my IQ???? Why, here's your IQ my good man: You didn't think I expected a neo-prog related post from the likes of you?  Tsk, Tsk... Oh I knew that you would know that I would know to put a neo-prog related post in response to your post about you wanting to know what your IQ was. Well...I can only answer that with a.... (insert embarassing neil morse "church" phote here) ....erm....I didn't really feel like trudging through 1000 pages of Mariah Carey to find it.

I hope you don't mean

P.S. Sorry to those who are confused, but this is a common occurence among us.

Cygnus X-2 wrote: stonebeard wrote: anyone have a link where i can find out my IQ???? Why, here's your IQ my good man:

Cute, but predictable and off-topic.

If the thread said "Where Should I Start With Genesis?" I suppose you'd say the Bible!

yargh wrote: Indirectly.  As music goes, prog isn't exactly the elite in terms of complexity or technique. If prog fans are geniuses, what are jazz and classical fans... super geniuses?  I think that people who are genuinely interested in music as music, and who come from backgrounds that aren't prejudiced against rock music, will probably like at least some prog.  People who have genuine interests in music as such tend to be (in my experience) of greater than average intelligence.

Well, my thread started by specifying modern music, i.e. a recently created art form, as opposed to classical or jazz which are more traditional genres.

Not everyone who is bright and open to rock will like prog. I have plenty of bright friends who don't understand at all why I like it.

And as for Rush, while I'm not a fan, I am thankful that Neil Peart writes lyrics that are much more intelligent than, say, Rush contemporaries like Journey or Loverboy.

stonebeard wrote: Cygnus X-2 wrote: stonebeard wrote: anyone have a link where i can find out my IQ???? Why, here's your IQ my good man: You didn't think I expected a neo-prog related post from the likes of you?  Tsk, Tsk...

Oh I knew that you would know that I would know to put a neo-prog related post in response to your post about you wanting to know what your IQ was.