Is playing Civ 4 linked to higher intellignce?

bestbrian said:
Sociopaths with OCD would be very strong players.
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I don't have much experience with sociopaths, so I won't comment, but with OCD it obviously depends on the type and severity of the illness. Some will probably do well, and others will just get caught in the endless loop and micromanage themselves into frustration.
I don't think Schizophrenics would do very well at all.
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I made the silly joke before, but I can actually think of one who does. In R/L I'm a Psych nurse and the unit where I work houses most of the people who can't live in the outside world but aren't violent. Some of the patients have computers (no Internet though, I'm sure you can imagine why...) and they have filtered email and they can play games etc. One of our long term patients really loves puzzles and problem solving, so for his birthday, the unit staff got him Civ 4. He loves it and plays all of the time. It's taken him quite a while to get beyond Chieftan, and once he saw BTS on my laptop he gave me the money to go buy it for him. He's become my "Civ Buddy" and I try to help him out as much as I can because he's really taken to it.
Anyway, it's made him a little more functional socially, and that's a good thing.
As for intelligence, he's a pretty smart guy, just mentally ill. For the rest of us, I think you have to have the ability to think strategically to play this game. Whether that means you are really intelligent or not really doesn't matter. You can have a genius IQ and still lose. But as long as you can understand the concepts of the game you can play and enjoy. It doesn't matter what your IQ is.
 
As far as Civ 4 being "more complicated than chess", yes it is, but then again most computer games are far more complicated than chess. My pickings with Civ 4 is that it's actually more dumbed down! Even more so than Civ 3!
 
eewallace said:
Actually, I think playing civ is probably more linked to one's monomaniacal desires to rule the world than to one's IQ...
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Yes that is why I play it!..if not for Civ type games I'd be some sort of "Dr. Strangeglove" in an underground bunker stroking my persian . .. .. .. .. . scheming how to rule over humanity!
 
jahsoldier said:
actually crowqueen, I think I remember your name from the MTG forums :p gave up posting there a while ago, so many hostile little divs waiting to pounce on a noob. not that they were all bad... but there were a lot of em. The guy above's right, this forum's very nice n chilled, I've had a lovely welcome so far
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That's why I stopped, I got banned after a nasty flame war :(. A gang of trolls - masquerading as people who had been there a while and thought they owned the place - set upon a friend of mine and both of us got booted when he and I opened both barrels on them. Oh well.

Nice to see some cross-pollination :). One game must appeal to people who enjoy the other. Turn-based-strategy rules :).

Re: Medvedev and Georgia - it was tongue in cheek.

@LemonWhore - in your opinion is his subconscious or conscious mind impaired? Or is it something like schizophrenia or Asperger's Syndrome where perhaps the person functions differently to others in social situations? And why aren't they allowed to use the internet? The reason isn't clear to me, unless it's to make sure they don't hang around MySpace trying to get at little girls. Sorry - I have an interest in para-psychology and think I might understand what schizophrenia and other mental illnesses are and how they can be treated spiritually and am fascinated by what you've posted. Seems to me that the medical establishment doesn't treat its patients with the one thing that might help them - love and acceptance. I'm not trying to get at you but I have worked at a day-care centre this summer and seen some awful object lessons in over-prescription of drugs intended to treat conditions which are fundamentally not biological issues.
 
I think that Civilization does not nessary make you smarter but more smarter people enjoy strategy games. Civilization being strategy has a more intellegent audience. Also I think that Civilization allows you to appreciate or learn about history. I never knew that much about the Mongols before I wanted to learn about them after playing Civilization.
 
Crowqueen said:
@LemonWhore
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Best laugh I've had all day. Thanks Crow.

- in your opinion is his subconscious or conscious mind impaired? Or is it something like schizophrenia or Asperger's Syndrome where perhaps the person functions differently to others in social situations?
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He suffers from delusions and mistaken belief. Added to that, he has the typical emotional flattening (negative symptoms) of some schizophrenics. As a result, he is often apathetic, shows few emotions, and has difficulty functioning socially unless he's known you for quite a while. He's been with us about 10 years, and I've known him about 7. He's a very nice, quiet man, but he can never live outside the hospital because he simply can't take care of himself and has no family support. It's definitely not Asperger's because his symptoms started later in life, whereas victims of Asperger's generally start having problems in childhood.
And why aren't they allowed to use the internet? The reason isn't clear to me, unless it's to make sure they don't hang around MySpace trying to get at little girls.
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They are allowed filtered email. Their emails are screened and usually limited to family and friends (such as they have) addresses. They aren't allowed to surf freely because like you said, they would be trolling MySpace or harrassing other people on forum boards and that sort of thing. There is also the irrational fear that they might access porn. And you know the sky would fall in if that happened. (Sheesh!)

Seems to me that the medical establishment doesn't treat its patients with the one thing that might help them - love and acceptance.
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I'll give you that one, though we do try. Most of the patients on my unit have been with us for a number of years and sadly, their families have usually abandoned them. We do what we can. We celebrate their birthdays with them and we have a Christmas fund that we all donate to every paycheck so they get a present at Christmas. We take the ones that are able out shopping and things like that, but it isn't enough. All we can do is to try to make their lives a little better, but they still live in an institution.
I'm not trying to get at you but I have worked at a day-care centre this summer and seen some awful object lessons in over-prescription of drugs intended to treat conditions which are fundamentally not biological issues.
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Agree there too. The thinking used to be (seemed to, anyway) to medicate the patient until he/she wasn't a problem anymore. Basically, you'd have a bunch of near catatonic patients wandering around. They were quite docile, but it was sad to watch. With some of the new medications now, the patient can have many of the symptoms controlled, but still be able to function. In fact, many patients who have social interaction problems sometimes "come out of their shells" and begin to relate to you on a personal level.
That's what makes it all worthwhile.
-LM
 
As a Police Officer in NYC I can unfortunately corroborate what LemonMerchrant has to say. The mentally ill are among us and they're treated as a welfare problem or a criminal justice problem and not given the treatment/environment they need. It can be truly gruesome. Anyway, enough of that.... on to the fun stuff...
 
Lemon Merchant

I'M SORRY.

:blush: :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush:

There, that's better. On a side note, I think your sig says it all...we are all on a spectrum. Thanks for your post, and good luck :).
 
Crowqueen said:
Lemon Merchant

I'M SORRY.

:blush: :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush: :blush:

There, that's better. On a side note, I think your sig says it all...we are all on a spectrum. Thanks for your post, and good luck :).
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No need to be sorry Crowqueen. You didn't do anything wrong. It was very nice to talk to the other "Forum Woman" for a change.

Take care. :)
 
Accurax said:
Spend an hour or two reading some of the dumb posts on the forum then come back and ask again !
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Then spend the following hour or two reading some of the smart posts on the forum. CFC is the smartest gamer's forum I've read, so maybe it is somewhat true, the higher intelligence thing. It doesn't necessarily make you smarter just by playing Civ, but it has to appeal to a more intelligent crowd to begin with. It's speculation, but I'd say if you pitted the civvers from CFC against the haloers from Bungie, or the maddeneers from EA in an identical written test, CFC would win. I think the average civver is older, and most likely has a broader knowledge of things, making him/her more capable of answering a random question correctly.
 
EweezE said:
Then spend the following hour or two reading some of the smart posts on the forum. CFC is the smartest gamer's forum I've read, so maybe it is somewhat true, the higher intelligence thing. It doesn't necessarily make you smarter just by playing Civ, but it has to appeal to a more intelligent crowd to begin with. It's speculation, but I'd say if you pitted the civvers from CFC against the haloers from Bungie, or the maddeneers from EA in an identical written test, CFC would win. I think the average civver is older, and most likely has a broader knowledge of things, making him/her more capable of answering a random question correctly.
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Some of us frequent this forum but also madden and RTS forums ;).

I'd probably take the side of this forum, unless it were a trolling contest. If that were the case I'd just go duck and hide somewhere while anyone who dared to not do so would be crushed under a sea of arguments so illogical that it'd be impossible to compete.

Note: The best madden players in many cases make posts similar to the ones here. They are also extremely rare............
 
I found the Rollercoaster Tyoon 3 forums today and so far they seem about the same style as the Civ boards so far from what I have seen. It even seems to me that CFC is a little more lenient to trolls/spam than the RT3 boards are. I dont know what this has to do with intelligence, if anything but it does make for a more civilized board. (There is a good joke in there somewhere but I can't find it. :cry:)
 
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