What having a genius IQ has done for CU student Radek Pileček ****************************************************************************************** * What having a genius IQ has done for CU student Radek Pileček ****************************************************************************************** He is a student at the Faculty of Science’s Department of Geography and is extremely intel the charts: an IQ of 160+. Radek Pileček. A young man known for having cast doubt on elect who came in second in the ‘Smartest Czech’ competition. When we met for our interview, Radek had a series of end of semester exams behind him and forward to five weeks off, walks in the woods, work in a summer camp together with his gir some time off in the Mediterranean. First tested by Mensa CR at the age of 15, Radek is no but also funny. Someone who measures his words thoughtfully and is quick to smile. What is it like to have such a high IQ? It’s fine. I don’t think I have any problems fitting in. I understand people and I don’t t me apart from anyone. Of course, I spend a lot of time at the university. The IQ… well som when I see the election results. I question how people can vote for some of the choices ou makes me think I really do live in a social bubble. At the same time, I wouldn’t want to l country. I was a member of our local commission counting votes so I saw up close that the legitimate and that the majority of Czech voters opted for what we have now. And whoever i the results can take part in protests.” Did you follow the recent European Parliament elections? “I didn’t really have a chance to see a lot of the pre-election debates and I have to admi interested in the Ice Hockey World Championship. Of course I analysed many of the polls. I of the voting commission at home in Bernartice and I enjoy doing that a lot. I enjoy in ta commission members as well as voters after. Voter turnout for EU Parliament is of course n during the two days I also had an opportunity to study.” What did you think of the results? “I was surprised that the two main factions in parliament lost so many voters – I didn’t e big shift. What was expected was further gains by populist parties and movements. At the s liberal democratic alliance did positively. I saw the Czech results as positive overall an is potential in the future for a different ruling coalition. I would be happy if that happ believe that change is possible. “But a lot of voters unfortunately go for quick fixes and immediate benefits: the minimum pension increases but are less interested in the state’s overall economic prosperity which impact on one’s life and standard of living. They want to be a tiny bit better off right a lot of better off, for example, in 15 years.” Have you ever thought you might get into politics yourself? Is there any party you might c representing? “I can’t rule it out completely. But I would want to enter politics from the ground up. Ge municipal elections and then in regional ones. After that, I’d see. But because of my stud time for politics now and of course I spend most of my time in Prague. “I would also be interested in teaching Election Geography at our faculty – it is a fascin field which is missing. I would like to pass on theoretical and methodological know-how as with students to analyse actual voting results in the Czech Republic from a geographical p Is having a high IQ ever a negative? “I wouldn’t say so but it’s true that a lot of people think that if you have a high IQ you thumbs or have miserable social skills. Maybe there is a certain connection. But there def connection proving that people with high IQs are incapable of having a normal life. Ok, su skills are a catastrophe, I certainly don’t have perfect pitch, and I am not a very good c I really want to learn how to do something, I can. That’s true even of cooking: when my gi studying for her exams, I took care of her and cooked, too.” What was the most recent meal you cooked? “Spaghetti Bolognese. Well ok, it was a premade sauce so I only warmed it up and forgot to otherwise she liked it well enough. I can improve. But it’s true that nobody at home ever much with my hands and I guess my strengths lie elsewhere.” Do you discuss your ideas with your girlfriend? “Yes, quite a bit. I have to admit she can be quite critical at times and we haven’t even a year! Sometimes, she helps me to clarify ideas so they come across better. I am happy I ideas, thoughts, and to consult studies together, plus we are both studying similar fields also.” Is it possible to improve one’s IQ? “You can train your brain so yes IQ is something that can be improved. But it’s not true t an average IQ could suddenly become a genius. And anyone spending every evening in the pub the opposite is true. They are burning brain cells.” What got you interested in geography? As a boy did you have maps on your bedsheets? “No. But I did love maps: whenever I was sick and cared for by my grandma we drew maps all the flags of different countries. I think she must have suffered a bit: I was always testi of capital cities, or of Czech rivers from longest to shortest. So yes, my obsession goes childhood and was apparent early on. It also helped that my mum worked at the Cadastral Of She took her work home with her? “No, but sometimes I would wait in her office and the walls were covered in maps. They wer I drew my first map at the age of seven, for my father who was heading to Turkey to work t year. The map was of all of the states he would be travelling through and I admit geograph and I found meaning in my studies.” Are there any new trends in your field that you find exciting? “Something known as the neighbourhood effect – the impact your neighbour has on how people been very interesting. Your neighbour can influence your decision of who you vote for far ideology and fewer and fewer people are reading party pledges or manifestos. “It is becoming apparent that candidates get more support in their district and neighbourh transfers to the overall movement or party. What I study is how much this is a factor in p across different municipalities in the Czech Republic and I look at which candidates are b mobilize their voting neighbours, so to speak. “I think that the information compiled can be useful for political parties, basically I am that for some of them now. They can use such information to optimise, for example, their c and so on. Because as it stands, the order is sometimes illogical now and they fail to cap neighbourhood phenomenon and therefore lose potential votes.” How do you explain that in the EU elections in May, some got mandates despite having poor reputations? “The neighbourhood effect can also be negative or an inverse: neighbours who know the cand that they will not vote for him or her precisely because they know them and because of who there are people who vote for someone only because they know them slightly and give them t also have very short memories.” What do you do when you want to relax? Do you do sports? “The last two years I have really gotten into golf. I have a handicap of 37 but I only sta in tournament last year so I hope it will improve. My home club is a golf club in Písek. M golf a lot in Bechyně. I don’t have a driver’s licence but I am planning on doing the test and golf is the reason. “Besides golf, I like walks in nature and visiting interesting natural areas. The last few gone on a lot of walks with my girlfriend and it has been great.” Radek Pileček [ URL "https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Radek_Pilecek"] – comes from the He is very patriotic about the region. After completing his Bachelor’s, he opted to contin "https://www.natur.cuni.cz/eng"] at Charles University. In his Bachelor’s thesis, he pinpo most in his element during election cycles. He doesn’t drink coffee and doesn’t drive (say How I Met Your Mother.