Conversation with Beatrice Rescazzi on Family, Genius, and Community: President, AtlantIQ (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/01

Abstract

Beatrice Rescazzi is the President of AtlantIQ. She discusses: the trend in the high-IQ societies; family history; some crucial or pivotal moments of upbringing; some of the gifts; the asynchronous development of the gifted and talented; the overexcitability of the gifted and talented; educational; professional; a high-IQ community; AtlantIQ; functional, active, and existent high-IQ societies; become involved with or members of AtlantIQ; Graham Powell; more important figures within the high-IQ community or communities; some of the greatest geniuses in history; few women geniuses in the history of world; few women who are in the high-IQ communities; a respectful and positive space for women; a similar set of issues for members of the LGBTI community; favourite hobbies; favourite colour; top 5 favourite books; the rankings or listings within the high-IQ societies; and importance of publications like those published by AtlantIQ, the Triple Nine Society, and others.

Keywords: AtlantIQ, Beatrice Rescazzi, community, family, genius.

Conversation with Beatrice Rescazzi on Family, Genius, and Community: President, AtlantIQ (1)

*Please see the footnotes, bibliography, and citation style listing after the interview.*

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: I have been interviewing members of and working intensively with members of the high-IQ communities at a wide range of rarities for a number of years now in a number of different capacities. In an effort to compile and analyze every resource available now, so far, in the preliminary analysis, I have noticed the graveyard for most societies, or as AtlantIQ lists them as “dead” societies. Why is this the trend in the high-IQ societies?

Beatrice Rescazzi[1],[2]*: While the first high-IQ societies were physically existing, with real addresses and meeting places, over time new societies were born exclusively online. Since the resources required to run an online group are fewer, I think that even those founders who also had less time and passion to devote, have created new high IQ companies more easily, but they also closed just as easily. Either way, my societies graveyard is to be taken with some humor.

Jacobsen: Taking a step back, what is family history, e.g., geography, culture, language, and religion or lack thereof?

Rescazzi: First, I would love to be more interesting than that but, my family has been native to north-central Italy since time immemorial: the surnames in my family all show origins in the area between Florence and Venice, at least since 1300.

As for the culture, although I love my birthplace with all its wonderful art and tradition, and it seems that my ancestors were couch potatoes who never ventured into faraway places, I have always felt like a citizen of the world: I do not recognize the need for state borders; I believe that it is everyone’s duty to resolve the problems that afflict people even in the most distant geographical areas; and I believe in full international collaboration for the common good of the whole humanity.

As far as politics and religions are concerned, I know I’m unpopular when I say that I see both of them primarily as dangerous means of division, and act like filters that stand between the observer and the world. We know that the human brain – like other organs – has evolved to waste as few resources as possible: consequently it is more natural for us to jump to easy conclusions rather than “waste energy” and continue to ask ourselves questions, study and overcome the cognitive dissonances that keep us in the pleasant convinction of having the best ideology and the best possible cult. Whenever we label ourselves as followers of the political party “X” or religion “Y”, we are not only looking at the whole world through that filter, but we are creating a division from others. I study with pleasure the different ideas and thoughts of philosophers and prophets, but I take care not to embrace any ideologies, parties, religions and beliefs and to maintain a global and inclusive vision without any filter before my eyes.

As for languages, as you can see, unfortunately my English is a little ungrammatical. Yet, I guess it’s still good enough that I might be elected President of the United States. In a discontinuous way I study other languages that intrigue me such as Japanese and Esperanto, above all.

Jacobsen: What were some crucial or pivotal moments of upbringing?

Rescazzi: Since all the readers will be tired of reading my interview up to this point, I can tell you a secret, Scott: I hated school for many years. My problem was following a boring program instead of being able to get the answers to my many questions right away. Hence, many crucial moments in my upbringing were negative. I didn’t fit especially at Catholic private middle school, where bullying, hypocrisy and closed-mindedness were at home.

When I came home from school, on the other hand, I had huge libraries with many thematic encyclopedias, grammars, essays, novels … I also had my Commodore 64 with programs of astronomy, musical composition, creation of sprites, text speech. So, for many years, school for me was a place I couldn’t wait to leave to go home to finally read, study and code.

It was only when I started university that I was able to really manage my time and learning methods.

Jacobsen: When did you find out about some of the gifts for yourself?

Rescazzi: I have not known that I am gifted for many years. I’ve always felt like a fish out of water but if you ask around, many feel that way, and so in itself it doesn’t mean anything. I did not coincide with the stereotype of the bespectacled male child who does great at school. Furthermore, the type of intelligence where I shine the most is the spatial-visual type, which has little relevance at school, where abstract subjects are given more prominence.

When I was around sixteen, I bought a quiz book for fun. At the end of the book there were tables with a score each. I realized that my scores were sometimes reaching the extreme upper limit or even exceeding it. Because it appeared from the book that I was very good at math while I was not in school, I considered that book very unreliable, and I left and forgot it in my library.

Many years later, when the Internet became available, I learned about giftedness, psychometrics and more about other neurodiversities such as sensory synaesthesia, which is also one of my characteristics. I began to delve into these topics and discovered that the quiz book bought years ago, now yellowed by time, had been written by the famous psychologist Hans J. Eysenck.

So I began to consider the possibility that my different way of thinking could result from a different IQ than the norm. I took some tests online, to find that they confirmed my hypothesis. I discovered that logical-mathematical intelligence has nothing to do with grades in mathematics at school, even for those who are dyscalculic.

Some tests were considered valid for entering groups with gifted individuals. So, as a fish out of water, I finally found myself in good company becoming a member to many high IQ societies. Later I went to a psychologist to have a more precise profile of my potential. So, I was pretty slow to realize that I was gifted…

Jacobsen: What are some important things to keep in mind about the asynchronous development of the gifted and talented?

Rescazzi: In my opinion, the most important things to keep in mind about the asynchronous development of the gifted and talented, is that giving little importance or ignoring people’s feelings can lead to very serious consequences, both immediately and in subsequent years. Second, the talent of gifted children is in danger of being wasted. These children do not always have the strength to overcome the loneliness that comes from misunderstanding with their peers, teachers and sometimes families as well. Great importance must be given to the development of a balanced emotional sphere, which will allow the child to manage their feelings and make right decisions in life. Unfortunately, we still tend to believe today that intelligence is sufficient to understand everything, while the emotional part is even an obstacle to reasoning. But this is an outdated concept, and it is dangerous to perpetuate it, especially when you see how many depressed people there are among the gifted, who then become unable to manage their own lives and be successful, even with the highest IQ.

Jacobsen: What are some important things to keep in mind about the overexcitability of the gifted and talented?

Rescazzi: With regard to overexcitability, in my opinion it is necessary that more information be disseminated on this and on all aspects of giftedness. In this way, people who are in contact with the talented child understand that having a high IQ is not just having bright ideas, but there are also other characteristics, which also manifest themselves in behavior and character. The greater the understanding of the strengths and limitations of talented children, the more it will be possible to support them in their educational path. Children who are 2E (twice exceptional) should expecially be kept in mind.

Jacobsen: What did you pursue educationally in young adulthood and moving forward?

Rescazzi: At the University I mainly studied ophthalmology, optics, orthoptics, computer science. Subsequently I followed several university and non-university courses on every topic that ignites my curiosity. If I am not busy, I study many hours a day on my own, be it with a course or with manuals and books.

Jacobsen: What did you pursue professionally in young adulthood and moving forward?

Rescazzi: My working career includes optician, orthoptist, eye surgery assistant, and also computer science teacher in adult courses. Being fond of learning, I taught myself many things including electronics, robotics, and also, how to build 3D printers and 3D print, and this has become a more frequent activity of mine in recent years, since one of my projects is to make medical devices easily accessible to everyone. Some of my inventions and designs appear in the issues of Leonardo – the society magazine.

Jacobsen: Now, when did you find a high-IQ community?

Rescazzi: I found the first high-IQ community in 2009. It was the International High IQ Society.

Jacobsen: With AtlantIQ, why did you found a high-IQ community?

Rescazzi: It seemed to me that many high IQ societies didn’t give much prominence to the actual abilities of the gifted. It is true that the Intelligent Quotient is the expression of a potential, but I wanted to bring together the people who actually use that potential and express it in the most varied forms. The “low” cut-off required for admission to the AtlantIQ Society along with the submission of documentation proving special skills in the arts and sciences, on the one hand includes more talented people, on the other excludes those who only collect IQ tests without having anything intellectually interesting to offer.

Furthermore, it seems to me that knowledge is put aside a bit in many societies, while in my opinion, a thirsty mind requires numerous inputs and resources. So I also created a virtual library with over two thousand books, that is accessible to every member. I also decided that it was time to found a society with totally free admission, where even students, artists, unemployed – who cannot pay a fee plus the cost of the tests, which are required in many other societies – are welcome. High-IQ society doesn’t have to be a club, in my opinion.

Jacobsen: In some of my preliminary analysis or review, why is AtlantIQ one of the few functional, active, and existent high-IQ societies compared to a graveyard of others? Even of those who may be functional, there are a large number who are barely active or who may be paralytic – not so for the AtlantIQ community.

Rescazzi: I suppose that AtlantIQ reflects a bit my way of being, which is that of a very active person.

Jacobsen: How can people become involved with or members of AtlantIQ?

Rescazzi: I’m not a fan of social media, but as they are a popular medium to communicate and share, there is an AtlantIQ Facebook group for those interested in the AtlantIQ high IQ Society.

Instead, for those wishing to become a member, there is detailed information for submissions on the dedicated page of the website: www.atlantiqsociety.com

Jacobsen: How has Graham Powell been an important support for the AtlantIQ community and development of the society?

Rescazzi: Graham Powell holds the position of Vice President and as such presents our quarterly magazine with me. Thanks to his linguistic knowledge he can amend articles written by contributors. In fact, once I complete the graphics, layout and content, Graham revises the text and sometimes contributes his poems himself. In the past he has participated in meetings abroad with representatives of other high IQ societies as an exponent of AtlantIQ. Depending on the society’s activities, he can also hold the position of judge or consultant.

Jacobsen: Who are some of the more important figures within the high-IQ community or communities inasmuch as it or they exist? Why them?

Rescazzi: There are two main types of members in the high IQ community: those who like to brag and draw attention, publish their test results, and pose as philosophers. And there are the modest people, who listen instead of talk, whose name is not so well known, who use their skills to solve problems, put into practice brilliant ideas, and study to improve themselves, without making a lot of noise.

My admiration goes to the latter.

Jacobsen: Who do you consider some of the greatest geniuses in history?

Rescazzi: It is no coincidence that I have dedicated the AtlantIQ Society to Leonardo da Vinci. I consider him an incomparable polyhedric genius.

We know of Archimedes his numerous brilliant inventions, and although many of his writings have been lost, there is still enough material to consider him a true genius.

I would also like to say Socrates, but since he left nothing in writing, there is even the remote possibility that Socrates never even existed and that his words are to be attributed to others.

There is a cultural bias in Western culture and schoolbooks that universal men like Shen Kuo and other brilliant characters from distant cultures aren’t even named. Similarly to Leonardo, he mastered a wide range of different subjects, but 400 years earlier.

Finally, a modern day genius that I admire is Elon Musk. He certainly doesn’t hold the patent record – like the incredible Shunpei Yamazaki – but Musk has the rare gift of shaping the future and thinking so outside the box that it arouses bewilderment to people who believed they knew what was possible and what was not.

Jacobsen: Why are there so few women geniuses in the history of world who have been permitted to flourish?

Rescazzi: The answer partially lies in your question: “… who have been permitted to flourish.” The smaller build of the female gender together with a less aggressive soul has led to suppose in many societies that women should be kept in a condition of subjection, where their rights are permits. This has done nothing but keep many human communities of the Earth in a condition of backwardness and low dignity. Because it’s the way people treat others that shows how much people are worth. The evolution towards a society free from sexual prejudices is still in progress, and has not yet begun in many parts of the world.

Jacobsen: Why are there so few women who are in the high-IQ communities?

Rescazzi: There are two main reasons for the low number of women joining high-IQ societies.

The first is cultural. Statistically, gifted girls are less recognized than boys. A character factor also intervenes: females tend to doubt their potential more, with a more widespread Impostor Syndrome, while males are generally more inclined to overestimate themselves and flaunt their skills. Furthermore, the traditional division of duties prevents women from having free time to devote to themselves, due to occupations at home: it is worrying to note that there are no adhesions by women from the more traditionalist countries at all.

The other reason is that there is indeed a difference in the brains of men and women: the distribution of IQ in the male and female populations is different, with a greater variation in the male than in the female with the latter more concentrated in the average values. It means that among males there are both more subnormal and gifted individuals, while in females both the subnormal and the gifted are rarer (some links grouped in this article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variability_hypothesis#Modern_studies)

Jacobsen: What can be done to create a respectful and positive space for women in the high-IQ communities?

Rescazzi: I think it is important to start with general education to respect others at school and in families, avoiding stereotypes and differences in education from early childhood. As long as there are things like silly pink toys for girls and interesting blue toys for boys – as is still the case even in the most advanced societies – we will not be able to have people who are truly free to be as they are and able to follow their aspirations. You may know that women from Mensa and other high IQ societies have created a separate social media group that includes both women and those who recognize themselves as such: it happened because the large male majority in other high IQ groups more often makes these places a source of quarrels based on competition and vanity, while there is a lack of sensitivity to address certain issues, such as homosexuality, mental illness or bullying.

Obviously, this is a generalization, and there are also many talented men with mature and respectful behavior, but we know that even a few individuals in a group are enough to create toxic dynamics and an inhospitable environment for a certain type of people.

Jacobsen: Is it a similar set of issues for members of the LGBTI community within the high-IQ communities (similar to women)?

Rescazzi: I know of homophobic individuals in high IQ societies, and I believe that this, together with other manifestations of intolerance towards diversity, discredits the very value of the much inflated IQ measurement, which evidently does not take into account deficiencies in judgment and sensitivity. Everyone is welcome in the AtlantIQ Society, if it needs to be said.

Jacobsen: What are favourite hobbies?

Rescazzi: Good for you that you have specified “favorites”, narrowing the field a bit, because I cultivate a lot of hobbies, and I don’t know how much space I am given here. Among my favorites are astronomy and space missions, which I follow with such great diligence that in the end I have also infected my husband with this interest. I love all new technologies and I love to experiment with the 3D printing by creating a bit of everything, from Martian habitats for competitions to optical instruments and useful objects for those who need them, such as the face shields that I 3D printed for the healthcare workers during the pandemic. I am interested in robotics, and lately, in the branch of soft robotics. The mascot that appears at the bottom of the list of members on the website of the AtlantIQ society, is called Verbo and is one of my robots. I like nutrition, herbalism, food history and cooking by inventing healthy desserts. I like to draw (2D and 3D), and manage the company’s Leonardo magazine in the graphic field, in the publication, in the contents I write and receive from members. I love to learn, invent and build. I love computer science, programming languages, collecting and restoring retro computers… I stop here.

Jacobsen: What’s your favourite colour?

Rescazzi: Purple. Besides being a beautiful color, it’s interesting from a physics point of view as no single frequency of electromagnetic radiation can create purple: there is no such thing as a purple light in the electromagnetic spectrum (not to be confused with violet). The purple pigment was also very valuable and rare in nature and has a very interesting history.

Jacobsen: What are your top 5 favourite books?

Rescazzi: It’s a difficult question because I’m an avid reader, so I’ve tried to limit the number to ten, but not without doing wrong to other titles that I love equally.

Freedom from the Known by Jiddu Krishnamurti.

Ulysses’ Lies. The Adventure of Logic from Parmenides to Amartya Sen by Piergiorgio Odifreddi

Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity by Carlo Rovelli

The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind by Gustave Le Bon

Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov

The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm.

Kinds of Minds: Towards an Understanding of Consciousness by Daniel C. Dennett

The Philosophy of Moral Development by Lawrence Kohlberg

Meeting with Japan by Fosco Maraini

Jacobsen: What explains the rankings or listings within the high-IQ societies? Why is this an endeavour to list the highest of the highest in this niche community?

Rescazzi: I’m sorry to be brutally honest, but those lists are nothing more than an expression of vanity. Some members literally pay to appear in “genius lists”, and like to show this IQ number of theirs like it corresponds to the amount of what they are worth, which in my opinion is counterproductive to their own value and dignity as a person, now reduced to a mere number. Yet, this number seems enough to make them self-proclaim geniuses.

It should be remembered that the IQ shown in many lists and societies is often based on online tests that may not be very accurate, or have even already been compromised by the presence of answers on the internet. In the best case, it represents the measure of a potential, leaving out things like critical thinking, creativity, self-perception, maturity, sense of reality, emotional balance and many other skills that could divide a person who simply scores high on a test from a properly intelligent person.

On the same wave, we’ve also seen the creation of high-IQ societies that ridiculously restricted entry to anyone but the founder, or a few others, just to point out that an online test had given him an incredibly high score. Unfortunately these monstrous scores, which if confirmed would overshadow those of Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein put together, do not show correspondence with any achievements of the same level in life. To me, it doesn’t look much different from those superficial busty women who are all about their physical appearance and whose giant breasts are fake. Here, I said it. Now, if I become the most hated member of the high IQ community, it’s your fault, Scott …

Jacobsen: What is the importance of publications like those published by AtlantIQ, the Triple Nine Society, and others?

Rescazzi: I can answer for the AtlantIQ Society only: Leonardo magazine is a means for all AtlantIQ members to express themselves, to inform others and get informed, to get to know the Society and its members, to learn new things and stay updated. It is a free magazine that also includes many guest authors and can be read and downloaded for free by anyone.

Many thanks to Scott Jacobsen for this interview, who like a gentleman didn’t ask my age not even in dog years.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] President, AtlantIQ.

[2] Individual Publication Date: September 1, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/rescazzi-1; Full Issue Publication Date: September 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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