Before determining what the benefits of intelligence and a high IQ are, we need to define a high IQ.

What Is A High IQ?

IQ tests measure intelligence level. What is a high IQ score? An IQ of 115 or more can be considered to be a high IQ (and intelligence) level. Only 15% of the population have an IQ level of 115 or above.

An IQ of 124 is needed to become a member of the International High IQ Society. This is the first entry-point score into high IQ societies.

At the next step up, around 2% of the population has an IQ greater than 130 which is ‘gifted’ intelligence. This is an IQ of 2 standard deviations from the average IQ. This is Mensa standard –  IQ score on a valid, standardized IQ test required to become a member of Mensa. (Click here for a tutorial on how to prepare for and get into Mensa.)

This table can help you interpret IQ scores in terms of relative IQ rankings:

High IQ & Intelligence Benefits

Intelligence benefits and the advantages of having a high IQ include the following:

Intelligence Benefits 1: Brain Fitness & Brain Performance

Athletes have known for a long time that athletic performance benefits from targeted training that has a scientific basis. Scientific has revolutionized sporting achievement. The same approach is now being applied to the brain, to optimize its performance.

• The brain is a physical organ, and like other organs or muscles in the body it can be trained to be fitter and more efficient.
• Your IQ is not just your ability to solve problems –  it is a measure of your overall brain fitness and efficiency.

There are two ways the brain can increase its power and efficiency as IQ increases:

• Brain plasticity – the ability of brain to reorganise itself by growing new brain cells or connections.
• Energy supply to the brain – particularly when it’s working hard.

With a smarter brain, there are all-round cognitive benefits for attentional focus, problem solving efficiency, learning capacity and memory – much like there are all-round physical benefits to being in good shape physically. Having a higher IQ also directly improves health and life-expectancy as this data shows:

Intelligence Benefits 2: A High IQ as Cognitive Capital in the Knowledge Economy

According to Jerry Muller in his article Capitalism and Inequality in the March 2013 s issue of Foreign Affairs, we live in a ‘cognitive economy’ where cognitive ability is at a premium:

“…a period of growing equality of access to education and increasing stratification of marketplace rewards, both of which have increased the importance of human capital. One element of human capital is cognitive ability: quickness of mind, the ability to infer and apply patterns drawn from experience, and the ability to deal with mental complexity. Another is character and social skills: self-discipline, persistence, responsibility. And a third is actual knowledge. All of these are becoming increasingly crucial for success in the postindustrial marketplace.”

Quickness of mind, the ability to infer and apply patterns and deal with mental complexity – these are all aspects of our general intelligence.  They are all critical in our knowledge based economy.

A high IQ in a knowledge economy benefits people for:

• Problem solving at work
• Learning at work
• Adaptability at work
• Continuous improvement at work
• Being flexible in workplace

This pays off in terms of income and professional success, as shown in this data:

Intelligence Benefits 3: Biohacking & Self-Quantified Cognitive Performance

Biohacking is an intervention approach in which scientific, evidence-based technologies are self-administered – for instance for biochemical or neurophysiological augmentation.

Due to its ability to rewire your brain through neuroplasticy effects, the HighIQPro improve IQ app is a ‘biohack’ – a technological intervention to improve cognitive performance. Apart from the measurable effects on learning ability, problem solving, reasoning and attentional focus, HighIQPro training has other effects on brain function – such as the amount of REM (dreaming) during a night’s sleep. REM sleep is known to play an important role in learning and consolidating memories.

Biohacking has joined forces with the self-quantification movement resulting in a philosophy of self-experimentation and scientifically based training and technological intervention to improve human potential and performance – both physical and cognitive. HighIQPro is packaged with an extensive brain testing battery for attention, IQ, memory and cognitive resilience, so pre- and post-intervention measures can be taken to objectively track cognitive performance gains.

Intelligence Benefits 4: Countering Cognitive Aging & Loss of Cognitive Functioning

Aging entails many physical, biological, chemical, and psychological changes. The brain is no exception to this phenomenon. As we age, particularly beyond our mid 40s, there is a general drop in cognitive performance in problem solving and reasoning ability, spatial ability, as well as short-term memory.

This cognitive decline is a normal process, with cognitive decline symptoms including forgetfulness, distractibility, less efficient learning and less flexibility and power in problem solving. It is known there is a decrease in grey matter (dedicated processing circuitry) in the brain between adulthood and old age, whereas white matter (long-range connectivity) in the brain increases from age 19-40, and decline after this age.

This natural cognitive decline benefits from HighIQPro scientific brain training, slowing down the process and in some casing reversing it.

Intelligence Benefits 5: Overcoming Attention Disorders

Attention deficit disorders include symptoms such as inattention, easy distractibility, disorganization, procrastination, and forgetfulness.  The working memory capacity training used in HighIQPro directly trains the executive and attentional control mechanisms that are weakened in attention disorders. This training has been shown in replicated studies to result in these attention-related cognitive benefits (reviews: Morrison & Chein, 2011; Salminen, Strobach & Schubert, 2012):

• Multi-tasking – i.e. attentional selection between two sets of information associated with different tasks.
• Detaching attention from irrelevant items and attending to new relevant items.
• Shielding against interfering information.
• Reduced symptoms of ADHD.
• Improvements for frontal lobe stroke patients.

Thus HighIQPro scientific brain training can be an effective ADHD strategy, as well as a useful training method for less pronounced attention disorders.