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China Elevator Stories
The Many Faces of Intelligence: Energy Sensitivity, Visual Skills, and Beyond
There are many other areas of intelligence beyond those tested in standard IQ tests.
11/08/2025
Ruth Silbermayr
Author
I have been dealing with a lot of unconscious, unintelligent people. I didn’t realize there were so many of them, but if you’re like me — a person who simply likes to concentrate on solving problems when they arise — you’ll probably also know how stressful it is to deal with people who are constantly creating problems in another person’s life without ever offering to solve any.
Some people create so many problems in our lives that we simply have to let them go. Some of them, such as stalkers who found us online as bloggers, or whom we met while sitting at a café or taking a bus, are certainly people who create problems for the person being stalked. People whose heads are so extremely cluttered that they have to bring everything in your life into chaos are also people who are too much to deal with for someone who wants things to be in order so life works more effortlessly.
I enjoy it when things are streamlined and flow naturally, as they are supposed to. A flow is a harmony; there doesn’t need to be any force, and no outside pressure is needed because a river flows on its own. Moreover, no human being needs to push it for it to flow.
In my mind, being able to understand how things work well and naturally is one form of intelligence. If you have this kind of intelligence ingrained within yourself, you may not even be able to grasp how certain people are completely incapable of understanding the natural laws that govern human behavior, how things work properly and effortlessly, and the natural laws that tell us when something is either in harmony or out of harmony.
There are many different kinds of intelligence. I have written about different kinds in another post before. But today, I would like to concentrate on kinds other than those mentioned previously, since there are plenty more — and dealing with people who lack certain kinds of intelligence can be such a hassle.
These are a few of the different kinds of intelligence that exist, and only one of them is commonly tested in standardized IQ tests:
Social intelligence:
Social intelligence refers to the ability to understand social behavior and the intelligence to apply social skills effectively in real life, demonstrating social competence. Social intelligence can be measured through the SQ (Social Intelligence Quotient). Most sociopaths lack some degree of social intelligence. They may not be completely devoid of it, but often lack social skills and competence in certain areas. This may not be immediately apparent when you first meet them, but usually becomes evident over time.
Their lack of social skills often makes it unhealthy for others to be around them—for example, when a sociopath stalks a woman and fails to understand that ‘no’ means ‘no’; that when she asks him to keep his distance and not touch her, it is appropriate to respect her wishes and stay away; and that it is unacceptable to scream at her, put her down, degrade her, or do other offensive things in her presence without her consent. Many women would likely ask such a person to leave them alone, and when the person repeatedly ignores this request, it reflects a lack of social intelligence. It means the person is unable to grasp what proper social behavior entails or apply it in real life.
Similar to social intelligence are intra-personal and interpersonal intelligence, which could be seen as sub-categories of social intelligence.
Intra-personal intelligence:
This refers to the ability to know what you want, feel, and to understand yourself. I have enough intra-personal intelligence to know what I want and don’t want, as well as who I am and who I am not. Some people don’t, and they don’t understand themselves at all. They seem to be constantly searching for who they are without ever truly finding themselves or understanding themselves well enough to stop searching — such as the sociopathic stalker I have written about on my blog.
To me, a person with such low intra-personal intelligence can be quite stressful, since he also projects onto others — or at least onto me — that I don’t understand myself either and need to go look outside (such as on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or elsewhere) to find myself. I already understand and know myself well enough, including who I am and am not, what I like and don’t like; therefore, I don’t need to search online for my “self.”
I didn’t understand that some people don’t have a high Intra-Personal Intelligence Quotient (or don’t have it at all), and that this is why this person was constantly looking outside to “finally learn to understand himself.” Usually, this led to a misidentification of who he was — seeing himself as having superior intelligence, superior looks, and being superior in other ways in which he wasn’t actually superior.
Children who are intelligent in understanding their own feelings usually show this by, for example, putting their feelings into words at a young age and being able to explain what they feel to their parents when asked. A person who has a high Intra-Personal Intelligence Quotient may also have a high Interpersonal Intelligence Quotient, since those are often related.
People who have overall high intelligence also demonstrate it through their ability to speak, write, listen, relate to others, behave appropriately in social settings, cook, or perform other tasks intelligently. Though nobody needs to be intelligent in all areas, a highly intelligent person will show their intelligence through everyday behavior.
Some may believe they are extremely intelligent—like the singer who constantly tells me how smart he is and how dumb I am, insisting he is never wrong. He expects me to accept his put-downs, derogatory name-calling, and abusive behavior every day. He demands that I do not think critically, criticize him, have my own independent opinion, or live a life without him. According to him, I am such a “lowly human being, retarded and ugly” that he is above me and I am beneath him. He expects me to accept that I don’t deserve to be free of his abuse and that I deserve nothing more than to be treated like a slave—catering to his needs while sacrificing my own, even to the brink of sacrificing my life so he can meet his insignificant, illegitimate needs at my expense.
He is arrogant and selfish, thinking and talking only about himself and unimportant, shallow things that hold no interest for me. When I tell him this, he responds by putting me down, verbally abusing me, and shouting all kinds of slurs all day long to “put me in my place.” He considers only his own needs, never mine, and has been trying to destroy my life and steal from me in a horrific and extremely embarrassing manner.
Interpersonal intelligence:
Interpersonal intelligence means you can easily understand other people’s feelings and motives. It is similar to Emotional Intelligence (EQ). Like with Intrapersonal Intelligence, the sociopathic stalker believes others need to constantly put their feelings into words and listen endlessly to others talk about their emotions. However, a person high on the interpersonal intelligence quotient scale doesn’t need this, because they can understand other people’s feelings well enough without constant verbalization.
They recognize that people who have been provoked or had their boundaries violated may become angry and act out. They are often able to perceive other people’s motives as well. Some, such as empaths, can even feel others’ motives, which is why narcissists—who often conceal their manipulative intentions—attack empaths who set boundaries or expose the narcissist’s mask sooner than others.
Many people don’t easily see through such hidden motives and may think you’re a bad person for removing a narcissist from your life to protect yourself. If you’re not born a narcissist, you may struggle to understand their malicious motives. But once you learn about narcissism and experience malignant narcissists firsthand, you’ll know whom to avoid and whom to keep in your life if you have high interpersonal intelligence.
Some people can feel motives, while others can simply understand them.
Behavioral intelligence:
Behavioral intelligence refers to the ability to comprehend and respond appropriately to human behavior. Malignant narcissists usually have a poor grasp of how to behave properly, which translates to a low behavioral intelligence quotient. The first sign of a malignant narcissist is often their inappropriate or offensive behavior. For example, they may put down a waitress at a café, talk excessively about their “sexy” ex-girlfriend to their current partner every day, or speak poorly about your children while placing themselves on a pedestal. They might also talk loudly when quiet is needed.
People low in behavioral intelligence can be easy to spot in settings like a university library, where silence is expected so others can study, yet someone consistently ignores this rule and fails to understand that their behavior is disruptive. Behavioral intelligence also includes knowing how to be polite rather than rude, and understanding how to dress appropriately for different situations.
Linguistic intelligence:
Linguistic intelligence (which is similar to verbal intelligence) comprises four parts: speaking, writing, listening, and reading. Naturally, the more linguistically intelligent you are, the more adept you’ll be at these skills and at understanding others when they use them. It’s about comprehension and the ability to apply it in real life.
Some of the world’s best poets and authors certainly had very high linguistic intelligence quotients, and these are people I naturally put on a pedestal, since I believe there’s nothing better than someone who can speak beautifully, write beautifully, or otherwise express themselves with linguistic elegance.
One sociopathic stalker I encountered—who is extremely low on the linguistic intelligence scale, particularly in speaking and understanding the proper meaning and emotional resonance of words (which words carry a negative or positive vibration)—constantly disagreed with my belief that I have the right to only date men with a high Linguistic Intelligence Quotient. For me, this is about having a pleasing conversation with someone who is intelligent enough to grasp the meaning of certain words, phrases, and expressions, and who knows what to say and what not to say to another person.
Linguistic intelligence also relates to a part of the brain I consider important in dating. It is often linked to creativity. People who are linguistically intelligent are often creative with the written word, though some may express their creativity in speech instead.
Reading is another form of linguistic intelligence, and when a child is an avid reader at a young age, it usually indicates competence in at least one part of linguistic intelligence.
Musical intelligence:
There is both an active and a passive aspect to musical intelligence. Great musicians are naturally those with a high musical intelligence quotient. The active part involves being able to sing well or play an instrument skillfully. The passive part is the ability to discern what kind of music sounds good and what does not, as well as distinguishing between different tones and detecting even subtle pitch differences that others might miss.
In essence, musical intelligence is the comprehension of music and sound, combined with musical skill. I, for one, was truly bad at playing the piano—or at least, I disliked practicing and came up with all kinds of excuses to avoid it—which suggests I don’t have a particularly high level of active musical intelligence.
As for the passive side, I have sometimes been asked to listen to a song so that a singer could determine whether it was good and where it might be out of harmony or alignment. I always thought this was a strange habit, since he never told me why he did it, but I suspect he realized I could hear when a song was out of tune. It seemed he needed an outsider’s perspective. I’m not sure whether he himself couldn’t hear it, or if he had listened to the song so many times that he could no longer tell whether anything needed changing.
Either way, he made me his personal “assistant” without asking for my consent, simply because he thought I was good enough at it. Many people can probably do the same, but a person who is highly sensitive to tone and music may be more adept at it than someone who is not.
By the way, listening to classical music almost gives me a heart attack—which is why I’ve never enjoyed it, even though I know many people love it. This is because I have a very sensitive nervous system that becomes stressed when a sudden, loud tone is played at high speed out of nowhere. Not everyone has the same sensitivity to music, and while I consider myself fairly average in musical intelligence, I know there are people with exceptionally high musical intelligence quotients.
Logical-mathematical intelligence:
The IQ tests we take aren’t usually very comprehensive at all, since they focus on this kind of intelligence. A person may be completely lacking in all other kinds of intelligence but score high on the logical-mathematical intelligence scale, making them think they are smarter than they actually are.
In my opinion, whether a person is truly intelligent shows in real life—in the way they act and in the way they apply knowledge and intelligence. You don’t need to be someone who has earned a PhD, in my mind, to be considered highly intelligent. You can have no degree at all and still possess an overall high intelligence.
Some people may not fare very well on the common IQ test because it only tests for one kind of intelligence while leaving out all others. So, a person may be highly intelligent in certain areas and also show this in real life, but lacking in this one area. This could lead them to believe they aren’t as intelligent as they truly are—or lead others to believe so—especially if they have scored lower than some of their peers.
I tend to believe that mathematics is only one part of intelligence, and it often isn’t needed in real life. A little math can’t hurt, but if you’ve forgotten everything you once learned by the time you turned 30, it won’t matter much—provided you never need to apply it. If you own a business, this may certainly be different, but if you don’t, you may not need it that much in daily life.
When I attended high school in Linz, I was chosen to take part in the PISA study (participants are randomly selected by an algorithm). The PISA study focused only on the ability to solve math problems. As a test of general intelligence in which the abilities of pupils around the world are compared, I find it fascinating that they test only math — and not other forms of intelligence that would give a much broader picture of overall intelligence.
Logical-mathematical intelligence doesn’t only refer to mathematics, though it encompasses this area. It also refers to the ability to analyze problems logically and detect patterns. You may be more adept at detecting certain patterns if you have this kind of intelligence than other people who don’t.
I would say that being able to detect patterns is one part of logical-mathematical intelligence that is different from the others and can sometimes exist without the other kinds of intelligence being present. A person may be able to detect patterns but may not be able to solve complex math problems. Another person who has a high logical-mathematical intelligence quotient may be able to solve complex math problems but may not be able to analyze problems. Some people may be able to do all of these; others may only master one of the skills mentioned.
People who run large businesses often have a high logical-mathematical intelligence quotient, since this is often needed when owning a company. I have observed that both my ex-husband and my sons can remember phone numbers very easily, which may also indicate a high logical-mathematical intelligence quotient. I usually write numbers down on paper so I can remember them later, but I have noticed that my ex-husband can hear a number once on the phone and still remember it when he needs to call it later (at least if it’s only a few minutes after the call). My younger son also memorized my phone number very quickly—it only took me telling it to him twice. Not having such a high mathematical intelligence quotient myself, I find this remarkable to watch.
Natural intelligence:
Since we are all living in a world where Artificial Intelligence has made an entry into most people’s lives and many use it on a daily basis, I also have to mention natural intelligence here. Natural intelligence is, simply put, the intelligence of nature. This kind of intelligence encompasses an understanding of how things work naturally—how nature intended things to work—as can be observed when observing nature.
There is a natural balance when an act is done in a harmonious way that leads to the healthiest outcome for the person performing the act. This may mean that a person does tasks slowly, at her own pace, which would be the pace that is the healthiest for her. It may also mean that certain things have a certain natural timing inherent within them, and that this timing should not be rushed, or the finished product or task will be out of alignment with its best possible outcome.
So, if we imagine a dish needs to be baked for a certain amount of time and certain things take a certain amount of time to prepare, if you don’t have a good grasp of natural intelligence, it would mean you might rush the steps or leave steps out because you think they aren’t necessary. Usually, this would lead to a less-than-perfect outcome. If you take your time and finish all steps in the correct order, as well as in the correct time, the outcome may be much better.
Some people don’t show much natural intelligence at all when all they do all day long is rush everything, cut processes short, or do things in a way that isn’t aligned with nature, natural timing, and the natural progression of things. Natural intelligence is not just about being able to understand nature—such as plants, trees, and birds—but rather, about understanding that everything has an inherent timing and a most balanced way of being done to create the perfect outcome.
One book that describes this kind of intelligence is Wu Wei (The Art of Effortless Living). It is one of China’s most famous philosophical theories and encompasses the knowledge that no action should be taken that is not in accordance with the natural course of the universe. While this is certainly true, we can also translate it to mean that no action should be taken that is not in accordance with the natural course of how things naturally work and align.
So forcing a relationship between you and another person shouldn’t be done, because it is not in alignment with how human beings naturally form relationships, which should be formed on their own, with both people being willing to be in a relationship with each other. A stalker who harasses you endlessly and constantly pressures you into having contact with him would be a clear violation of this concept, where relationships form naturally and end naturally, for example, because a person has betrayed your trust in a severe manner. Relationships shouldn’t be forced, coerced, or otherwise manipulated into existence, which would also be out of alignment with nature.
The natural flow of things, when observed in nature, is often soft and not forced. A tree may shed its leaves all on its own when fall turns into winter, and snow may fall from the sky effortlessly at the right time—without us human beings having to jump out of an airplane with buckets of cold water to make snow fall from the sky.
Snow, if watched, usually also has its own inherent rhythm. When it doesn’t storm and no heavy winds are present, snow falls slowly, peacefully, and quietly from the sky. This is beautiful to watch, and shows that everything in nature has its own rhythm, its own pace, its own inherent intelligence—which can be studied and is inherent in all that exists, but certainly not in some human beings I have met.
Spatial intelligence:
Spatial intelligence is the ability to understand and remember the spatial relationships between objects and spaces. It includes being able to read a map, remember directions, or align objects and design buildings so that space is used in the most efficient way. All architects should possess this kind of intelligence to ensure that the buildings they design are functional and that space is utilized perfectly.
Some ancient Chinese architects who used Feng Shui principles to design spaces likely had high Spatial Intelligence Quotients, as do those who are good at giving and understanding directions or those who can easily locate where they need to go by car by discerning the sun’s position relative to the earth and figuring out which direction to take.
Spatial intelligence also means being able to estimate how big a bathroom should be in relation to the kitchen or living room, for example. I recently lived in an apartment with a tiny bathroom, where the shower was positioned right over a squat toilet, and the washbasin was located outside the washroom, partially blocking the path to the kitchen. I believe the architect could have designed the flat differently, and I have encountered many Chinese flats where the architect’s Spatial Intelligence Quotient didn’t seem very high.
China’s newest bullet trains, the silver-red Fuxinghao, certainly had a designer with a high Spatial Intelligence Quotient, as the space has been designed excellently. It is the most comfortable train I have ever been on, particularly in terms of spatial design. The toilet has ample space, and the seats aren’t as narrow as those on other trains. The design is truly perfect—not just in terms of color and materials used, but also regarding the efficient use of space.
Visual Intelligence:
This is the kind of intelligence designers and artists need. Visual intelligence is the ability to understand and differentiate colors, to see whether something looks great or not, and to apply this knowledge in real life. I have met people who call dark blue black, and who call beige orange—these aren’t usually people with strong visual intelligence. These are the people you might have to argue with for hours to convince them that black is black and blue is blue, and usually, they won’t agree, even if they aren’t color blind, simply because they can’t distinguish between dark blue and black.
I don’t mean this to insult anyone—we all have our strengths and weaknesses—but if you work at a shop where a dark blue coat is labeled black, and you mention this to your co-worker who then starts a 10-hour debate about how dark blue is actually black, well, you’ll know what I mean.
Whoever developed the final versions of Chinese characters, both simplified and traditional, also had high visual intelligence, in my opinion. The characters are simply beautiful, and creating a language in which characters resemble pictures that combine so much meaning within a single symbol is truly remarkable. If we had to compare which language has the most beautiful script, I believe Chinese would easily win—if judged from a neutral standpoint.
Another aspect of visual intelligence is understanding light and dark—whether in a physical space or in the clothes a person wears. For example, someone with light skin and a particular hair color may look better wearing certain colors than others; they might look better in lighter or darker tones, or in medium shades. Sometimes, a mix of light and dark looks great; other times, a person might simply look better in lighter colors.
Certainly, visual intelligence encompasses all areas of design, including the patterns and colors of a blanket you put on your sofa, as well as the colors you choose for the walls in your bedroom.
Intelligence with regards to energies:
Some people are so extreme at draining another person’s energy, and most of the time, they are certainly blind with regards to the energy they are putting out. They may be consistently hateful, jealous, greedy, and violent towards you, but then wonder why you want nothing to do with them. Well, they aren’t high on this quotient, because otherwise they would understand their own energy better and wouldn’t put this kind of energy out so others then have to soak it up with their bodies (if they are an empath).
I believe most empaths have this kind of intelligence, since they need to pay attention to the energy of other people because they get drained easily by the energy of other people — particularly if other people are putting out negative energy all day long.
Naturally, intelligence with regards to energies also means being able to understand which places feel better than others, which spaces feel better than others, but also how introversion feels in comparison to how extroversion feels. Some things can be discerned by feeling the energy of it. For example, a person who has been parentified can be discerned to have been parentified through the energy they are putting out (unconsciously). It is therefore easy for a person who has a high IQ in this particular area to discern what kind of abuse a person has been through, for example. You may be able to see a person has been through narcissistic abuse simply by looking at what they look like.
Yes! It’s true! If you don’t possess an IQ in this particular area, you may think I am crazy for saying so, but if you do, you’ll know exactly what I am talking about.
A cramped space may quite naturally also give off a different energy than a space where air flows freely, and the energy the people give off in one particular area of the world may be completely different from the energy people in another area of the world give off. Feel free to exchange “energy” for “vibe” here — sometimes, people can sense what kind of vibe a person or a place gives off, which is also in alignment with having a high energy intelligence quotient.
In which areas do you have high intelligence?