IQ – short for intelligence quotient – is a standardized measure of a person’s mental ability.

Healthline reports that taking an IQ test helps you and medical professionals understand your reasoning ability, spatial visualization, memory capabilities and overall cognitive intelligence.

The tests can be flawed, as they do not measure creativity well, nor can they gain an accurate representation of a person’s critical thinking levels.

Therefore, it’s worth taking your test results with a pinch of salt.

According to a report by Human Rights Watch, the vast majority of United States residents have an IQ between 80 and 120. The average however is more around the 100 mark.

Those who hit between 80-89 are deemed to have a Low Average IQ classification while a 70-79 puts you in the ‘Well Below Average’ category.

If your IQ is below 70, you are considered to have an Extremely Low level of intelligence. Healthline states only a small fraction of people have an Extremely Low IQ level.

How has living with a ‘lower’ intelligence level affected the lives of others?

Over on Reddit, people with lower-than-average intelligence levels have been discussing how it has impacted their lives.

The conversation was started by a user, known as IronFires, who typed: “People with confirmed below-average intelligence, how has your intelligence affected your life experience, and what would you want the world to know about what it’s like to be you?

One Redditor has recalled the time they were asked to complete a school admission IQ test. “I knew it was a test and thought there must be some kind of secret bonus answers like the cube might fit in the triangle hole somehow since the sides of the cube are smaller than the long side of the triangle… I’m not smart.

“There’s quite a few times I miss what might seem like obvious details,” they continued. “Overall, I’ve done ok, though a lot of things have been more stressful that they should be because I’m constantly second-guessing myself.”

Another commented: “Not technically below average, but my Neurologist/Psychologist (not sure which) said I had the biggest disparity between cognitive functioning she had ever seen.

“I was in the 90th percentile for things like reasoning, and in the 10th percentile for speed. My entire life has been that feeling of after a conversation, you realize what you should have said.”

However, a third said that having a low intelligence level hasn’t held them back from achieving major career goals.

“So I was placed in learning disability programs from grade 1 to grade 7 because of my level of intelligence. I had to repeat a year of middle school as well. I am now a resident doctor at the top university program in Canada,” they gushed.

Meanwhile, another wanted readers to understand what it feels like to be snubbed for not ‘functioning relatively normally’.

“Talking slowly or, getting annoyed because I’ve asked you to repeat something, or pushing me out of the way when I don’t react fast enough…that’s just rubbing it in,” they confessed.

“I can’t change how well I process information — believe me, I’ve asked my doctor about it, and other people have tried before me. I’m stuck where I’m at in this regard, and it’s hard to ‘try harder’ when I’m already running at 110 [percent] just to keep up with the rest of the world.”

Can having a lower IQ level affect your overall happiness?

According to Dr Angela Hassiotis, of the University College London’s Mental Health Sciences Unit, those with lower IQs are likely to have lower happiness levels.

Her study, published in the journal Psychological Medicine, saw 6,870 participants answering honestly about their education, health, income and social life.

Their happiness levels were then measured ‘on a three-point scale and verbal IQ estimated using the National Adult Reading Test (NART).’

Results showed that people in the lower IQ range (70-89) were more likely to be ‘socially disadvantaged and less happy compared to people with higher IQ’

“When looking at the data we saw that people with a lower IQ were less likely to be happier because of higher levels of socio-economic disadvantage such as lower income,” added Dr Hassiotis.

“They are also less likely to be happy because they need more help with skills of daily living, have poorer health and report more symptoms of psychological distress.”

How to increase your IQ levels

According to Healthline, there are a multitude of ways you can boost your IQ level.

These include completing memory activities, including crossword puzzles and pages of sudoku.

Larry Mullen Jr has been speaking about his recent dyscalculia diagnosis, a medical condition that is often linked to dyslexia.

According to the British Dyslexia Association, dyscalculia is a ‘a specific and persistent difficulty in understanding numbers which can lead to a diverse range of difficulties with mathematics’.

Unlike dyslexia, the health condition can occur at any age, and is also not linked to any one ability. It’s also extremely rare; only about six percent of people suffer with the condition.

“I had to find ways of doing this, and counting bars is like climbing Everest. And when people watch me play sometimes, they say, ‘You look pained’. I am pained because I’m trying to count the bars.”

Mullen Jr has since written and produced Left Behind, a new movie that focuses on the topic of dyslexia.

Essentially, the film follows five mothers who are determined to establish a state-run school that is specifically for children with dyslexia.

The film, which is set to be released in 2025, will hopefully raise awareness for the condition over the coming months and years.

“Making the music through the eyes of my dyslexic son felt personal and visceral,” the U2 drummer said.

Research into dyscalculia remain at a premium, and is said to be around 30 years behind that of work looking into dyslexia.

The U2 drummer is raising awareness of the condition (Simon Russell/Getty Images for Left Behind Film)

The Dyslexia Association continues: “It is thought that the lack of number sense that is often common to people with dyscalculia is connected to the function of the left intraparietal sulcus which deals with numbers, and the front lobe, which deals with reasoning. It can therefore be hereditary but also connected to certain developmental conditions like Foetal Alcohol Syndrome.

“An estimated 25 percent of people have maths learning difficulties which can be caused either by other neurodiverse conditions such as dyslexia or external issues such as a traumatic learning experience related to maths or school absence etc.”

The website went on to state 60 percent of individuals with dyslexia will have some kind of difficulties with maths.

26-year-old Mangione is currently being held in his own maximum security cell at Huntingdon State Correctional Institution in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, as per CBS News.

The suspected shooter is awaiting extradition to New York, where he faces multiple charges related to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50.

Following a nationwide manhunt for the alleged killer, Mangione was arrested in connection to the fatal shooting, which took place in front of a hotel in New York City on December 4.

He was reprimanded at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania on December 9.

The suspect has since been denied bail and is currently fighting extradition to the Empire State.

As per Forbes and the official arrest warrant filed in New York state count, Magione faces five felony counts, including: a second-degree murder charge in connection to the father-of-two’s death; two counts criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree; criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree; and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree.

On Wednesday (December 11), NewsNation reporter Alex Caprariello was broadcasting live outside of the Huntingdon State Correctional Institution to discuss the latest on Mangione’s case.

During the segment, he and anchor Ashleigh Banfield began interacting with prison inmates through the fence. It appeared they were watching the live broadcast from inside the facility.

“Luigi’s conditions suck!,” commented another inmate in a video shown during the show.

This was followed up with the two-word sentiment: “Free Luigi!”

Later in the broadcast, Banfield read out Mangione’s alleged food menu for the day, including macaroni cheese for dinner and porcupine meatballs for lunch.

“I’m going to ask the guys if it was any good the dinner tonight,” she announced to NewsNation viewers.

In the background, the inmates could be heard shouting, with Caprariello quickly translating: “They’re saying ‘heck no’, they’re saying ‘BS’, they’re saying ‘terrible’. They’re saying that that’s not what they are eating.”

Since the broadcast was uploaded to YouTube on December 12, it has amassed over 200,000 views and has wracked up more than 1,800 comments from users.

One viewer typed: “Un. F****ng. Believable. One of the craziest things I’ve ever seen in my life. What a time to be alive. This broadcast will go down in history lol.”

The NewsNation reports have been praised by YouTube users (NewsNation)

“This is insane!!! This reporter on location, if he’s the one that thought of this, he deserves a raise. Seriously. Whoever thought of this… this is really outta the box,” said someone else.

A third remarked: “I’ve never seen NewsNation before but if this level of journalism is their norm, I’m in! This was engaging, fascinating and has the human element all of our mainstream media now lacks. Love to see it!”

O’Neal is best known from playing basketball for teams like the LA Lakers, Orlando Magic, and Miami Heat and has a net worth of around $500 million.

While he made some of his money from his sports career, he’s managed to keep the cash rolling in since his retirement in 2011 by investing in businesses.

O’Neal’s said to have invested in several different companies; from Apple and Papa John’s to Krispy Kreme and Five Guys.

Shaq O’Neal has invested in multiple companies over the years (Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images)

But it’s one of O’Neal’s earliest investments that he’s benefitted greatly from – and it all happened after a chance encounter.

Discussing why he started investing his money, O’Neal explained that he was inspired by Amazon creator Jeff Bezos.

“I went to a conference in ‘97 or ‘98 and I heard a beautiful bald-headed man by the name of Jeff Bezos say if you invest in things, it’s going to change people’s lives,” he said, as per TechCrunch.

And one of his best investments to date? Google.

O’Neal played for the LA Lakers for eight seasons (MICHEL GAGNE/AFP via Getty Images)

Explaining how he happened to learn of the then-start up, O’Neal said: “I was at Four Seasons, I was eating lunch and there were four distinguished gentleman sitting there playing with their kids and the kids recognize me and they’re playing with me.

“Basically, I’m doing a babysitting job and one gentleman says ‘I want to talk about this company called Google’ and just talking about search engines and ‘you’ll be able to type in anything,’ and I was like, ‘That sounds good.'”

The pair then set up a meeting and O’Neal decided to invest.

But it wasn’t until Google blew up that he remembered he’d put money into the firm.

The former basketball star was an early investor in Google (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)

“The newspaper told me how much I made and I couldn’t believe how much I made,” he said.

It’s thought that O’Neal put in £250,000 in 1999. Now, it’s not totally clear how much money he made from the decades-old investment, but had the retired sports star invested in Google in 2004 and contributed $10,000, that money was worth over $300,000 (in 2019), reported The Motley Fool.

As to how much he makes on a early basis, O’Neal reportedly rakes in $60 million a year from his business investments, as well as endorsements.

It’s thought that he earns more now than he did at the peak of his basketball career, says talkSPORT.

If you’ve ever wondered what the world looks like from a polar bear’s perspective, this incredible footage can give you a good insight.

Scientists said they were left ‘amazed’ after examining the 115 hours of video they captured while strapping cameras to the animals as they roamed around Canada.

As well as giving us a deeper understanding of what it’s like to move around on all fours, the clips also highlighted how clever these creatures really are.

The thing is, this species have been hit hard by the effects of climate change over the last few years and are now considered as ‘vulnerable’ by the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group.

Vast amounts of sea ice are melting due to global warming, which poses quite the problem to polar bears, as they use the frozen sheets as stepping stones to score some lunch.

Due to the fact the animals’ primary food source is seals, the lack of sea ice really throws a spanner in the works when it comes to their survival.

According to the WWF, polar bears also use sea ice to ‘rest, breed, and store energy for the summer and autumn, when food can be scarce’.

It’s now melting earlier in the spring and forming later in the autumn in the bears’ southern range, the organisation warned, in spots such as Hudson Bay and James Bay in Canada.

And the impact of this is worrying, to say the least.

The incredible footage gave us an insight into the life of a polar bear from their perspective (USGS/Washington State University)

“For every week earlier that the ice breaks up in Hudson Bay, bears come ashore roughly 22 pounds lighter and in poorer condition,” the WWF said.

Polar bears are being forced to spend more time on land as a result of the melting sea ice, but food high in calories is hard to come by for the animals – hence their dramatic weight loss.

So, to get to the bottom of how the polar bears were dealing with this life-and-death dilemma, scientists strapped cameras to 20 of them who were wandering around Hudson Bay.

The team scoured through more than 100 hours of footage captured over a three-year period, which showed the creatures eating, sleeping, hunting and having fun.

They were seen feeding on bird carcasses, chowing down on berries and grass, feasting on marine animals, as well as play-fighting with each other in the water and chewing on antlers.

Anthony Pagano, wildlife biologist at the US Geological Survey (USGS) and leader of the study, previously told Vox about the findings: “We were amazed by the video footage.

“The video footage really highlighted how intelligent these animals are by using different behaviour strategies to survive their time on land while without access to their primary prey.”

Before the study, scientists presumed that polar bears might be coping with prolonged periods on land by resting to save energy, or filling up on other prey such as plants and seabirds.

The animals are being forced to forage for food on land due to the melting sea ice (OLIVIER MORIN/AFP via Getty Images)

The footage and other data collected by boffins – such as the amount of energy burned and measurements of movement – suggests that the predators actually did both, with some heading out in search for food and others opting to have a little lie down instead.

Despite the split in approaches among the polar bears, sadly neither was successful – and all but one of the 20 subjects lost weight.

Alarmingly, one even lost nearly 80 pounds.

Scientists also found that polar bears were taking longer swims in search of food, which is ‘unexpected for this time of year’, according to polar expert at the University of Alberta Andrew Derocher.

Derocher further explained: “These are possibly acts of desperation. Hungry and skinny bears take more risks than fat bears.”

Essentially, eating berries and smaller prey isn’t enough to tide a polar bear over.

“This study really brings home the message that there’s no salvation from terrestrial feeding to help polar bears through the ice-free period,” Derocher added.

The polar bear population in this area is estimated to have fallen 30 percent since 1987, and this study appears to prove that global warming will continue to make it even harder for the species to survive.

Conan, who has been hosting the hilarious The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien on NBC for years is going through a heart break like no other.

Just days ago on Monday December 9, Dr Thomas O’Brien, 95, passed away after ‘his health had been failing’, as per The Boston Globe.

Then, on Thursday 12 December, his mother Ruth, 92, died ‘peacefully’ at home.

The Bell-O’Dea Funeral Home in Brookline, Mass wrote an obituary for Ruth, which read: “O’Brien, Ruth Reardon of Brookline passed away peacefully on December 12th, 2024, at age 92. Beloved wife of sixty-six years to Thomas Francis O’Brien, M.D., who passed away on December 9th, 2024.”

Thomas was a world-renowned microbiologist who campaigned for antimicrobial resistance strains of bacteria, long before it was widely known to the public.

Ruth served as the vice president of the student government and became the second woman to be a partner at the law firm Ropes & Gray.

She met Thomas in 1958 through her brothers, who were his classmates, and the rest was history.

O’Brien has been dealing with a heartbreaking time, and paid tribute to his dad in an interview with the Boston Globe, which was published on Thursday, saying: “Science has said there’s no such thing as perpetual motion, but my father was proof that that was wrong.

“My father was in constant motion. And he was interested in everything – absolutely everything … The loudest I’ve ever heard anybody laugh was sitting next to him in a theater watching Peter Sellers in a Pink Panther movie … He was often the funniest guy in the room. And when he would laugh, his whole body would convulse and he would almost hug himself.

Ruth was 92 (Family Handout)

“For the rest of my time on earth I will be hearing from people who want to talk with me about my dad. I’ve never met anyone like him, and he happens to be my father.

“If I met him randomly in a hotel lobby, I’d think: ‘Who the hell is this guy? He’s the most interesting person I’ve ever met’.”

As for his mother, he previously explained a hilarious memory he had of her at a Christmas party involving Jim Carrey.

Speaking to Ryan Tubridy on the Virgin Radio show earlier this year, he said: “Years and years ago I had a Christmas party at my house.

“This was at the height of Jim Carrey mania, you know, he was coming off of his fourth massive hit film, and it was like The Beatles … Everywhere Jim Carrey went there was a riot …

“Out of the corner of my eye, I see my mother having a long chat with Jim Carrey, and I got nervous. When the party was over, I said: ‘Mom, what were you talking to that man about? Jim?’

“And she said: ‘Oh … he told me that he’s a comedian, and I told him: ‘Well my son’s had his difficulties but he just keeps at it, and eventually made it. So if you just keep at it Jim, you’re gonna make it too’.

“And I said to her: ‘Mom, I want you to go home to Boston and tell everyone you told Jim Carrey to keep at it!”

Thomas and Ruth will have a shared funeral in Boston on December 18.