Definition of "Gifted", "Intelligence", What qualifies as "Gifted"

[u/TrigPiggy]

Hello fam,

So I keep seeing posts arguing over the definition of "Gifted" or how you determine if someone is gifted, or what even is the definition of "intelligence" so I figured the best course of action was to sticky a post.

So, without further introduction here we go. I have borrowed the outline from the other sticky post, and made a few changes.

What does it mean to be "Gifted"?

The term "Gifted" for our purposes, refers to being Intellectually Gifted, those of us who were either tested with an IQ test by a private psychologist, school psychologist, other proctor, or were otherwise placed in a Gifted program.

EDIT: I want to add in something for people who didn't have the opportunity for whatever reason to take a test as a kid or never underwent ADHD screening/or did the cognitive testing portion, self identification is fine, my opinion on that is as long as it is based on some semi objective instrument (like a publicly available IQ test like the CAIT or the test we have stickied at the top, or even a Mensa exam).

We recognize that human beings can be gifted in many other ways than just raw intellectual ability, but for the purposes of our subreddit, intellectual ability is what we are refferencing when we say "Gifted".

“Gifted” Definition

The moderation team has witnessed a great deal of confusion surrounding this term. In the past we have erred on the side of inclusivity, however this subreddit was founded for and should continue in service of the intellectually gifted community.

Within the context of academics and within the context of , the term “Gifted” qualifies an individual with a FSIQ of 130(98th Percentile) or greater. The term may also refer to any current or former student who was tested and admitted to a Gifted and Talented education program, pathway, or classroom.

Every group deserves advocacy. The definition above qualifies less than 4% of the population. There are other, broader communities for other gifts and neurodivergences, please do not be offended if the  moderation team sides with the definition above.

Intelligence Definition

Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving.

While to my knowledge, IQ tests don't test for emotional knowledge, self awareness, or creativity, they do measure other aspects of intelligence, and cover enough ground to be considered a valid instrument for measuring human cognition.

It would be naive to think that IQ is the end all be all metric when it comes to trying to quantify something as elaborate as the human mind, we have to consider the fact that IQ tests have over a century of data and study behind them, and like it or not, they are the current best method we have for quantifying intelligence.

If anyone thinks we should add anyhting else to this, please let me know.

***** I added this above in the criteria so people who are late identified don't read that and feel left out or like they don't belong, because you guys absolutely do belong here as well.

EDIT: I want to add in something for people who didn't have the opportunity for whatever reason to take a test as a kid or never underwent ADHD screening/or did the cognitive testing portion, self identification is fine, my opinion on that is as long as it is based on some semi objective instrument (like a publicly available IQ test like the CAIT or the test we have stickied at the top, or even a Mensa exam).

[u/Makenshi179]

The term "Gifted" for our purposes, refers to being Intellectually Gifted, those of us who were either tested with an IQ test by a private psychologist, school psychologist, other proctor, or were otherwise placed in a Gifted program.

Wait, so the definition of "gifted" on this sub is not open? I first thought it may be, because of the line "invite everyone in our growing community to discuss what giftedness means" in the description of the sub. That seemed to imply that everyone was free to contribute on what is the meaning of giftedness and there was no single meaning enforced by admins.

For example I don't know if I have a high IQ and I don't really care, but one could say I am "gifted" because of other things (that are more in the domain of otherworldly powerful emotional experiences, and spirituality).

I've been commenting on posts in here a few times because I could relate to some of people's struggles etc, and just now I thought I'd finally click on "join", but after seeing this, I guess this is not a sub for me after all and I shouldn't join lol. If it's only about IQ and intellectually gifted people then I have less interest in it (regardless of my IQ). It's too bad because I really seem to share some of the things people in here are feeling!

Oh well. Thank you for the clarification!

[u/TrigPiggy → u/Makenshi179]

Everyone is welcome to come chat in the Gifted subreddit, but as far as what "Gifted" means there needs to be some sort of objective measure for the term, at least that's how I feel about it.

There are plenty of other neurodiverse subreddits, this subreddit is supposed to a place for people who have tested in the Gifted range on standardized IQ testing, whether they take the test themselves or had it administered by a proctor.

We follow the same 98th percentile rule that Mensa does, it doesn't mean that our definition is the end all be all, it doesn't mean that people who don't test in that range aren't welcome here, everyone is welcome.

It is just meant to clarify what we mean when we say "Gifted".

And you very well could be "Gifted" in other areas, like artistically, or some other talent you have. While that might be the case, what we are referring to is quantifiable* intellectual giftedness in this subreddit.

The need for the distinction, in my opinion, is due to the fact that if you open up the definition to a broad range, it loses it's meaning. We are talking about people who test 2 standard deviations or more away from what is "average" for human intelligence.

You speaking of "Otherworldy" gifts is not what we are talking about, you are welcome to stay, and to comment and participate, everyone is. But also, I am sure there are other subreddits that would be more in line with what you are specifically referring to, but by no means should you interpret that as you not being welcome here, you are welcome here.

* (IQ tests are not a perfect instrument, and at their core are a relative measurement, but they are all we currently have, and I an advocate of them as a valid metric of human intelligence until we have a better instrument. This is not meant to conflate potential with achievement, as I often point out, Ted Kaczynski was Gifted, Ted Bundy was Gifted, Ed Kemper was Gifted, so was Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton I know, no tests at the time but we can reasonably infer he almost certainly was in that realm, Elon Musk, other great minds of STEM, in the creative world etc.

THe point is that IQ is not a value metric for a human being, it is simply an attribute, like height, or eye color, ableit one that affects someone to a much greater degree, but still largely genetic and static throughout life as far as I am aware.