Are there different kinds of intelligence? (struggling with IQ self esteem)

[Never_give_up]

Can someone be great at mathematics for example but very bad at visualization or can't manage to create a simple joke?

How can I be great at some things that require intelligence and extremely bad at other things that require intelligence? Is this how it supposed to work? Am I low IQ or not? How to make sense of it? (I don't want to give examples cause it will make it too long to read.) Do you have examples from your own life that you seem not to be that intelligent but other examples that you seem to be extremely intelligent? if yes , how do you make sense of it?

[Leo Gura]

There is a factor to intelligence which is general, across-the-board. That determines a baseline. But then there are individual types of intelligence over-top of that. So people can be quite dumb or rusty in some domains.

For example, I've always struggled with math intelligence. Math was always an uphill struggle for me because the way my mind works is not wired for it. My verbal intelligence is way higher and comes to me effortlessly. Intelligence determines what comes easily or naturally to you and what doesn't.

But also don't forget that you can develop higher intelligence by training, education, cognitive development, consciousness work, emotional work. Rationality, for example, isn't automatic, it must be developed. If you fail to develop rationality you will be pretty dumb even if you have high general intelligence.

1-4% of the population has aphantasia, which means that cannot visualize, they do not see images in their mind. It's not a lack of intelligence, it's a kind of neuro-divergence. Maybe you have that, I don't know.

Edited April 10 by Leo Gura

[Vynce]

Don't forget, a high IQ person, that can't act as intelligent is still practically dumb.

I had a friend in school, who was by far the smartest, fastest learning and most understanding. But he smoked and drank beer basically everyday. Now he looks like a shipwreck.

Edited April 10 by Vynce

[Davino]