An Interview with Anja Jaenicke on Genius, Men and Women, and Religion (Part Two)
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/03/08
Abstract
Anja Jaenicke is a German Poet and Actor. She discusses: high IQ societies; intelligence tests; other tests taken; true IQ; intelligence and genius; women and men, and high-range IQ tests; important genius in history; favourite authors, poets, painters, or composers; personal opinion on gods or God; and religion.
Keywords: Anja Jaenicke, intelligence, genius, gods, men, religion, women.
An Interview with Anja Jaenicke on Genius, Men and Women, and Religion: German Actor and Poet (Part Two)[1],[2]*
*Please see the footnotes, bibliography, and citation style listing after the interview.*
1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You are part of a large number of high IQ societies. What ones mean the most to you? Why?
Anja Jaenicke: The high IQ landscape has changed very much over the years. There are countless societies out there to choose from. Some make it and others don’t. When I began looking for high IQ groups online, there were not so many choices available as today. I am a founding member of the WGD (World Genius Directory founded by Dr. Jason Betts). As a poet, I have been very active in the Poetic Genius Society. Today, I think it is not so much the name of a certain society that matters, but the people who took the initiative and invested their effort, time, and love into the upbringing of these groups. Without naming anyone in particular, I would like to thank those among us who are working tirelessly to make the communication in high IQ groups and societies not only possible but highly enjoyable.
2. Jacobsen. What have been the mainstream intelligence tests taken by you before? What have been the scores and the standard deviations?
Jaenicke: As a child, I have taken the HAWIK (Hamburg-Wechsler Intelligence Scale für Kinder) and later the WAIS. Germany is mostly a mediocre country and in my childhood there were many concerns about measuring the IQ of children. The tendency was to foster the ordinary and not the extraordinary. Children with a higher IQ were often bullied and forced to adapt to the learning pace and capacity of the lesser talented. Germany had made bad experiences with the fostering of elites during the Third Reich and after the war the official aim was to create an education system based on the average population rather than one that promotes excellence. Everything above or below average was regarded as out of the norm or not normal. My scores as a child were very divergent, from Mensa entry criteria to ridiculously high, depending on the circumstances, but also on the particular state of my development. I do not think the results of these tests are very representative as a whole. Anyway, for me, the actual fixed number does not have such importance because, in my opinion, it is a fluid value. I try to fill my IQ potential with purpose and become the best me I can possibly be; that is enough work for one lifetime.
3. Jacobsen: What have been the alternative or non-mainstream intelligence tests taken by you before? What have been the scores and standard deviations of those scores?
Jaenicke: I have taken a couple of high-range tests. I think the average result of all tests taken gives a good and trustworthy result.
4. Jacobsen: What would be the most accurate IQ or true IQ for you?
Jaenicke: My shoe size is 37 (US 6 1/2). My body mass index and my true IQ are very personal, but the score of 153 S.D. (Standard Deviation) 15 listed in the World Genius Directory suits me most [Ed. A statistical rarity of 1-out-of-4,873 people out of the general population].
5. Jacobsen: What is intelligence to you? Do you identify as a genius?
Jaenicke: Intelligence is somehow recursive. Everything which is animate is in its own way intelligent and has a complex dynamic, connected to particular loci in a given verse. The root of the word genius is “geno-,” which includes the whole of mankind. I like that, but I would describe myself more as a polymath. I know a little bit of all kinds of something, but I really know nothing.
6. Jacobsen: Why do women appear to take fewer high-range IQ tests? Why do the highest scores appear to be almost dominated by men?
Jaenicke: That is an interesting question. One could say that the structure of IQ tests is more oriented toward male intelligence or that men are more competitive, but that is not the whole answer. Recently, I have read an article in a German newspaper, where someone suggested to separate boys and girls in science classes because of the lesser participation of girls in mixed classes. I think that is total nonsense! But in my opinion, there is a point that should be discussed more openly in high IQ groups and that is about mobbing. I have spoken to a lot of women and many say that they have been mobbed or insulted in the high IQ community at least one time. Some of them even left the groups or prefer to communicate on a private basis via email. It seems only too comprehensible that women with very high intelligence and sensitivity do not perform well under this kind of pressure. It is perfectly understandable when they back off and leave the high IQ community. While a high IQ score in a test is certainly something desirable, we should not forget our awareness for our fellow men and women. A high IQ is nothing without a minimum of empathy.
7. Jacobsen: Who do you consider some of the most significant or important geniuses in history?
Jaenicke: The first anonymous who ignited the flame.
8. Jacobsen: Any favorite authors, poets, painters, or composers?
Jaenicke: A.A. Milne, Edgar Allen Poe, Douglas Hofstadter, Bertrand Russel, J.W. Goethe, William Shakespeare, the unknown artists of the Lascaux and Chauvet cave in France, Vincent van Gogh, Lucas Cranach the Elder (I have some loose family ties to him), J.S. Bach, Mozart, The Rolling Stones, etc. We are all standing on the shoulders of giants.
9. Jacobsen: Do you have any personal opinion on God or gods?
Jaenicke: In your question lies the answer. Every opinion about God or gods is personal and entirely subjective. But the fact that you spelled the one God with a capital G suggests that the importance lies in the all comprising unity of One.
10. Jacobsen: This one is murky. It is hard to define. What is religion?
Jaenicke: Well, let’s see, first, we should differ between religion, spirituality, and, pure gnosis, which means knowledge. From early times on, humans have had an inborn spirituality, a connectedness to nature and the universe and the strong awareness of something greater. I would go so far to say that we are not alone with this concept. While I have been working with wolves for a behavioural study, I noticed that they have a sense for hyper-natural phenomena. Later, I have often noticed the same in my dogs. I think all intelligent large mammals are able to experience the overwhelming vastness of the universal realm to a certain grade. And nature is the key to spirituality. Religion, is a manmade construct, which has proven to be very useful to communicate a certain desirable moral or ethical codex. It is mostly based on myths and legends, which are very important because they are our connection to the past. But many religions use mediators to interpret between the direct spiritual and the people. These interpretations are often based on the principles of blind obedience and subjective beliefs without any proof or certainty. The unfortunate byproduct of this kind of blind faith is dogma and dogma can lead to error, fanaticism, and fatality. Nevertheless, religion has an important purpose to accompany humanity from infancy to adolescence. In a world where moral, ethical, and humanitarian aspects are often ignored, religion and prayer practiced in private has its very own and important standing. Or as Kierkegaard would have said: “The function of prayer is not to influence God but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.” My personal approach is an open one based on old and new knowledge, and science. I somehow don’t think it is heretical to state that a God is also a Dog. Is the light of the reflection from a mirror less light than the candle I hold? Everything is fractional and has multiply sides. One should not avoid a Void.
Appendix I: Footnotes
[1] German Poet and Actress; CEO, HIQ-MEDIA-POOL INC.; Member, Poetic Genius Society.
[2] Individual Publication Date: March 8, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/jaenicke-two; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.
*High range testing (HRT) should be taken with honest skepticism grounded in the limited empirical development of the field at present, even in spite of honest and sincere efforts. If a higher general intelligence score, then the greater the variability in, and margin of error in, the general intelligence scores because of the greater rarity in the population.
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