Conversation with Mohammed Karim Benazzi Jabri on Family, Intelligence, Genius, Islam, Faith, and Intelligence Test Scores: Member, World Genius Directory (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/08

Abstract

Mohammed Karim Benazzi Jabri is a Member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: growing up; an extended self; family background; peers and schoolmates; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; some work experiences and educational certifications; some of the more important aspects of the idea of the gifted; some social and political views; thoughts on the God concept or gods idea; science; me of the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); the range of the scores; and ethical philosophy.

Keywords: France, Islam, Mohammed Karim Benazzi Jabri, Morocco, World Genius Directory.

Conversation with Mohammed Karim Benazzi Jabri on Family, Intelligence, Genius, Islam, Faith, and Intelligence Test Scores: Member, World Genius Directory (1)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: When you were growing up, what were some of the prominent family stories being told over time?

Mohammed Karim Benazzi Jabri[1],[2]*: Perhaps the most interesting was that of my grandfather on my mother’s side, he was a revolutionary who fought for years against the French resistance against the occupation of Morocco by France in 1912, he always told us with great pride of his adventures and his tricks and how close he was to death on several occasions with the desire to help force the French out of Moroccan territory.

My paternal grandmother was a healer. She used to cure patients with hepatitis and other ailments with medicinal herbs and other natural remedies, since at that time doctors were scarce and everyone with an illness went to healers and curanderos. But perhaps the one that left a very deep impression on me was the unpleasant experience of my mother’s illness as a child. For several years she had repeated psychotic outbreaks with hallucinations, she also had phobias of an obsessive nature and was under psychiatric treatment. It was a very hard time for me and my siblings.

Jacobsen: Have these stories helped provide a sense of an extended self or a sense of the family legacy?

Jabri: There was a positive and a negative part.

The positive part was from my father who is also a doctor by profession. He taught me several values that have served me throughout my life such as generosity, humility, the importance of family and that you have to work very hard to achieve your goals. He loved his country and his work. As soon as he got his medical degree in France he went back to practice medicine in Morocco and to take care of my grandparents who were already very old and with many health problems. He is a very beloved doctor in my city, he was nicknamed the doctor of the poor because he treated them without charging them for the consultation and without receiving anything in return, after treating them he even gave them money to buy their medicines. He was honest in his work and very modest.  He has always wanted me to be a doctor just like him even though I had other preferences for other careers at first.

The negative part was living through these difficult times of my mother’s illness that contributed negatively to me.  As a result, I too ended up developing anxious depressions and some types of phobias.

Jacobsen: What was family background, e.g., geography, culture, language, and religion or lack thereof?

Jabri: My great-grandparents are of Berber origin were born in Feguig a city that is in the east of Morocco, near the mountains of the atlas on the border with allergy surrounded by a wild desert and mountains, a very hot city, then my grandparents had to move

Looking for a job and a better future in the city of Oujda, it is the city where I was born and grew up until I took the road to Spain to continue my studies. We are a large family of five siblings. In Morocco, in marriages it is common to have enough children thinking that when they are older they will take care of their parents and help support the family. There it is socially frowned upon to admit the parents when they are older in the residences for the elderly, it is part of the Moroccan culture.

The religion in Morocco is Muslim, the official language is Arabic and there are several dialects depending on each region, the second official language is French. My city is small and conservative, but each time the new generation is having a more open and more liberal mentality, although the traditions and customs of our ancestors are maintained but now with a certain touch of modernity. My parents are very religious, I would say they are fanatics, they pray five times a day, they do Ramadan and have made a pilgrimage to Mecca. I grew up in that religious environment, hence my Muslim religion, I consider myself an open person with a different view of the world unlike most of my countrymen, grows up with a certain degree of ostracism towards some customs and habits that are part of Moroccan culture and that remain to this day, although I retain my religious beliefs.

Jacobsen: How was the experience with peers and schoolmates as a child and an adolescent?

Jabri: In both primary and secondary school I had a pretty bad time, there the teachers’ method of teaching consists of you learning things by force, if you don’t do your homework they punish you, they mistreat you physically and psychologically by hitting you, insulting you. I was afraid to go to school, which caused me anxiety and a lot of nervousness. As for the relationship with my classmates, it was not bad at all. There were good moments when we laughed and had a lot of fun, and other bad moments when we were upset and fought with some of our classmates. Once at school, things improved a lot and I stopped suffering so much from the mistreatment and aggressive behaviour of the teachers. I always had very few friends, at most two or three, I was very shy and a little unsociable.  I enjoyed spending hours talking with my father about medical and other scientific topics.

Jacobsen: What is the purpose of intelligence tests to you?

Jabri: The purpose of the intelligence tests for me. If we talk about the high-rank tests, in part, they serve to entertain me, I have fun spending sometimes hours trying to solve some test, looking for more and more creative solutions for each item, since they are very complex tests that require much imagination and many hours to get to solve the items of a given test. And in part, they are also used as a psychometric measure of the g with variable reliability depending on the type of test and the author who designed the test.  It is a different way of estimating the ci compared to classic tests such as the WAIS and other time-limited tests, which are rather static, simple tests and depend largely on how fast you are and the processing speed you possess. Psychological tests are sometimes less reliable for people who are susceptible to problems of anxiety, stress or if you suffer from a psychological disorder or simply if you take them without having slept well the previous night or any other circumstance that may negatively influence the final result of the test.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Jabri: As a child, I did not take any psychological tests to determine my IQ, but I entered school at an early age and finished the courses with good grades. In school, I got the first grades in subjects like math, physics or chemistry and not so good in other subjects that were less interesting to me, where I was bored and wanted to finish the class as soon as possible. A little over two years ago, thanks to a friend who knows him through Quora and who had told me about the high ranking tests, I tried to take several tests in a small period of time and they didn’t turn out badly, I got quite high scores in most cases. But throughout my life I have always had a mistrust of myself in my abilities, I suffered from the impostor syndrome.

Jacobsen: Who seem like the greatest geniuses in history to you?

Jabri: For me, the most outstanding in the Arab world is Ibn Sina. He was a philosopher, scientist, doctor, mathematician. I contribute many works on geometry, astronomy, logic and psychology and natural sciences.

Albert Einstein is famous for his special and general theories of relativity.

Besides, I have a special admiration for Nicolas Tesla. Engineer, physicist, inventor, he laid the foundations of the second industrial revolution, although it did not have a happy ending because of his mental disorders, he died alone and poor despite his contributions to science.

Jacobsen: What differentiates a genius from a profoundly intelligent person?

Jabri: Albert Einstein, said ‘that we are all geniuses. but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live a life believing it is stupid)’

Geniuses are not only intelligent, but they are also very creative, they are usually great inventors, painters, musicians, philosophers. A genius is partly capable of understanding reality, which leads to generating transformations that benefit everyone.  We attribute the great scientific advances we have achieved today, thanks to their great ideas, theories, thoughts and inventions that revolutionized an entire world

A deeply intelligent person, he has cognitive skills, much understanding to solve difficult and complex problems with divergent thinking. High ability to adapt to the circumstances and diverse situations that life presents.

Jacobsen: What have been some work experiences and educational certifications for you?

Jabri: In Morocco, I started to study biology, then I had to continue my studies in Spain where I studied a year of chemical engineering and changed my career to medicine where I graduated as a doctor. Afterwards, I worked as a doctor for a while in an outpatient clinic in Valencia, currently, I am practicing my profession in a private clinic.

Jacobsen: What are some of the more important aspects of the idea of the gifted and geniuses? Those myths that pervade the cultures of the world. What are those myths? What truths dispel them?

Jabri: Throughout history, a series of stereotypes have been created, myths deeply rooted in society regarding the gifted that are not completely true, they are merely beliefs that often do not correspond to reality. They were considered as misfits, unsociable, they are supermen and superwomen who stood out in all areas and can perform any job without any difficulty, at the academic level is thought to get the best grades, and usually have a high academic performance, achieving both school and professional success. Nothing could be further from the truth than the fact that few people perform in an outstanding way academically, either because of lack of motivation or because of boredom in class. Many times they end up failing at school and a considerable percentage of them end up leaving school. They are emotionally labile, extremely sensitive, in fact, they are vulnerable, and if they do not receive the necessary attention and support and a specific education from an early age to unfold their potential and so that talent is not lost, they do not achieve the desired goals that are expected of them on an academic and professional level. Many develop psychological problems from feeling frustrated, they end up having anxiety, depressive pictures, sometimes obsessive behaviours and various types of phobias.

Jacobsen: What are some social and political views for you? Why hold them?

Jabri: Today we live in a capitalist society, which is dominated by business deregulation, unemployment, injustice, poverty and economic inequality. Economic growth seems to benefit only the highest class of society, unscrupulous billionaires, who seek to make their fortunes at the expense of the poorest, without concern for human dignity, in an attempt to enrich themselves using all the means at their disposal, sometimes illegal, without concern for the generation of more poverty, environmental pollution and destruction of the natural habitat, violence. Pharmaceutical companies make billions of dollars in profits, taking out more and more expensive drugs that are out of reach of many people, they care more about how much money they make than about people’s own health, not everyone can pay what it costs for example the drugs to treat the various types of cancer, especially in the poorest countries.

In order to come to power, in the electoral campaigns before the elections, politicians often make false promises that then do not comply, sometimes financing their election campaigns or political parties with money obtained illegally, really only look after their political interests most of the time that what their people really need, we see each time the emergence of ultra-right parties, radical with their speeches divide society by promoting xenophobia, gender violence, social inequality, as in Spain with some political parties such as the party of Vox. Sometimes politicians in an attitude of manipulating people use religious arguments to attract more voters. Now with the crisis of the COVID-19, apart from the mismanagement of the pandemic by many governments, the rulers of different countries do not agree among themselves. We see at the beginning of the pandemic, a divided European Union. Richer countries in a selfish attitude try to recruit all the medical equipment, the drugs that seem to have some effect on the COVID-19, depriving other countries with fewer economic resources, lack of solidarity. Perhaps, we are undoubtedly facing the worst face of humanity.

I would like there to be solidarity among countries around the world to win the game of the pandemic we are living today. More coordination between countries, more collaboration. At the social level, that there be justice, eradicating poverty, social injustice, child exploitation, and less investment in arming and allocating this money to invest in universal health care, fighting unemployment. I would like to see the extinction of anarchist governments, dictatorial regimes and more care for ecology and the environment.

Jacobsen: Any thoughts on the God concept or gods idea and philosophy, theology, and religion?

Jabri: Religions all have the same purpose, to establish social norms and rules, to put order and justice. These norms do not differ much between one religion and another, they have the same basis for the purpose of worshipping one god in either the Muslim, Christian or Jewish religion…for a reward in life as well as in the afterlife, promising an eternal life after death. Before religion people lived in a wild and disorderly way, it was chaotic, people killed, stole, raped, there was no justice. Almost all religions come with various prohibitions and restrictions that greatly limit people’s freedoms in order to have a sin-free life.

Having one religion or another depends a lot on the social, family and cultural environment of the place where you were born and raised, on the education you received. The Muslim religion its parishioners are the most faithful to their religion in the sense that they follow it and practice it in a more passionate way and with more fanaticism but as always there are exceptions. The parents pass it on to their descendants and so it is perpetuated and passed on from generation to generation. With time we see that religion is fading and losing weight, in many occasions you find people who say they have faith, believe in God but do not practice it or practice it partially, both in the Christian and Muslim religion, although less frequently in the latter, especially among the youngest because the mentality and lifestyle, is sometimes incompatible and does not fit with the times of now.

As for me, I believe in God and try to live with faith. It is difficult for me to conceive of the idea that this universe with this harmonious balance has been created from nothing, hence my need to believe in a creator. I follow the Muslim religion because my parents are Muslims and I have been educated and taught since childhood to practice the Muslim religion and by my own convictions. For me Islam preaches non-violence, respect and solidarity. Unfortunately, some radical extremists or terrorist groups justify their actions by misinterpreting the Koran and the Muslim religion.  With their violent acts, they have greatly damaged the image of Islam and Muslims around the world.

Jacobsen: How much does science play into the worldview for you?

Jabri: Thanks to science man came to step on the moon for the first time and who knows in the not so distant future we will reach Tuesday, we discover other galaxies, extraterrestrial life. In the field of medicine, which is constantly being renewed, science has given us much, thanks to the discovery of drugs, vaccines have saved millions of lives throughout history, in parallel with technological advances and their applications in the field of medicine have led to a revolution in modern medicine. Science in all its fields implies greater development associated with an improvement in the quality of life, social equality and in general the well-being of the population.

In my opinion, governments need to invest more in education, research, and seek greater dissemination of information and knowledge, such as opening more libraries, cultural centers, and more accessibility to the Internet. To try to train more and more qualified, prepared and trained people, which would lead to an improvement of our society as a whole.

Jacobsen: What have been some of the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations) for you?

Jabri: I did high-grade tests from several authors, among them Mathema by Dr. Jason Betts where I got my maximum score of 158, cosmic by James Dorsey also with a score of 158, the ISPE test and from other authors like Marco Ripa, Alexi Edin and Ivan Ivec among others.

Jacobsen: What is the range of the scores for you? The scores earned on alternative intelligence tests tend to produce a wide smattering of data points rather than clusters, typically.

Jabri: My range is between 144-158, depending on the type of test and the author who designed the test, my lack of knowledge of English limits me when doing verbal tests.

Jacobsen: What ethical philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Jabri: Religion and my parents’ education have taught me values such as honesty, solidarity, compassion, trying to help others as much as I can, respect for others regardless of their ethnicity, religious beliefs or any other human condition, I live a life free of prejudice. Also because of my profession as a doctor, I must act according to ethical principles, I try to be honest, transparent in my work, I am very understanding and empathetic with my patients, trying to do my job in the best possible way. In my day to day life, I try to take advantage and enjoy the best moments that life has to offer and adapt to difficult circumstances, I always try to give my best.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: October 8, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/jabri-1; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: 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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