Prog Fans: High IQs?

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

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. 

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.  

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.

kirklott wrote: thefalafelking wrote: I don't know about my IQ, but I tend to be more the intellectial type of person. I study linguistics and literature (spanish and latin) right at this moment, I listen to prog and jazz (and i hate punk) and i like to analyse people and circulmtances. I think things through and through, which sometimes gives me a really bad feeling. this feeling is one of the big disadvantages of 'thinking'. I don't know if my studies have anything in common with listening to progmusic, but where I life, people that completely differ from me (intellectually) listen to teenage punk rock and dance music for the masses, I guess this a sign on the wall! but I can't tell anything definitive about this matter, It's just how I feel about it. Are you really in Belgium? Besides being bright, you must also drink a TON of coffee because I think it's 3:45 a.m. there. [IMG]height=84 src="http://www.capitolmarket.net/photosh1/coffee.jpg" width=121> Well, I'm with you. I like complex music (prog, classical, etc.), I'm a cross-cultural filmmaker by profession and an ex-journalist, my favorite author is Jack Vance in part because of his intense vocabularly. New York City is the place where I've felt most at home, in terms of being around intellectual peers. Most if not all of my suburban neighbors drive me nuts. I was always classified gifted and excelled in school, and now my kids do too.  My wife thinks this is the reason I like prog instead of Bruce Springsteen or Hootie and the Blowfish or Sting or whatever.

Sting is really good if you give it a listen man.

Internet IQ tests are rarely accurate. I've been given anywhere from 120 to 180 depending on the test.

I've never taken a certified IQ test. I don't really trust them regardless; I think there are more dimensions to intelligence than an average IQ test could evaluate.

greenback wrote: people who have a high iq: they listen to iq

CaptainWafflos wrote: Internet IQ tests are rarely accurate. I've been given anywhere from 120 to 180 depending on the test. I've never taken a certified IQ test. I don't really trust them regardless; I think there are more dimensions to intelligence than an average IQ test could evaluate.

The only thing that IQ tests measure accurately is your ability to take IQ tests.

maidenrulez wrote: Syzygy wrote: CaptainWafflos wrote: Internet IQ tests are rarely accurate. I've been given anywhere from 120 to 180 depending on the test. I've never taken a certified IQ test. I don't really trust them regardless; I think there are more dimensions to intelligence than an average IQ test could evaluate. The only thing that IQ tests measure accurately is your ability to take IQ tests. Hardly...proper iq-tests are much more diverse and complex than those internet tests...you can not "teach" your self to become good in them

I wouldn't consider myself an expert on the subject. I don't make the tests myself. It also depends on your personal definition of intelligence, but I've never seen a single IQ test that is capable of testing, for example, the ability to draw, the ability to compose music, and the ability to compute mathematical equations. You can be artistically intelligence or logically intelligent. I guess if the tests were designed more around this, I'd take them more seriously.

Besides, there are other factors. Some people are simply not good test takers. I've met brilliant people who have had mediocre SAT scores. No test can determine all-around intelligence. I think even the creators of these IQ tests would concede that.

Well what is it that an PROPER iq test is meant to analyze?

It is not creative mathers as art or compositional skills, it is basically meant to be an overview of the abilty to solve a great array different of problems whitin a certain time.

And a proper IQ-test does just that and has different assignments whitin the categorys of:

Language

Memory

Logics

Calculation

Technical understanding

Logics

And understanding of figures and room.

All these assignments must be solved under a certain degree of time...say 20 seconds as most people will be able to solve them although perhaps not as quicly as an intelligent person.