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By ucblockhead (Sun Dec 16, 2007 at 07:50:48 PM EST) (all tags)
IQ.


Discuss.
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Smart people | 10 comments (10 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback
Gladwell... by chuckles (2.00 / 0) #1 Sun Dec 16, 2007 at 10:06:33 PM EST
is a funny guy.

Skateboarding is a crime.




My IQ is too high by ucblockhead (4.00 / 4) #2 Sun Dec 16, 2007 at 11:03:53 PM EST
To click on a tinyurl.
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I'm not smrt by duxup (4.00 / 2) #3 Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 01:52:01 AM EST
However, I will say that I've always had an inherent distrust of intelligence or any such tests.  I just don't see a connection between questions asking me what is similar about a dog and a rabbit, and the broad conclusions drawn by the results that IMO often reflect the test examiner's personal beliefs.

I remember tests in elementary school that noted a bunch of my buddies were way smart and needed special attention.  They received special classes and instruction and etc.  One is now in jail for his drug habit, the other fairly successful but also an alcoholic IMO coping with his parents disappointment in him, several others would probably have an easier time working if their special classes hadn't so instilled in them a sense that they're oh so smart bound to be successful and thus have a hard time with the randomness, lack of constant praise, and general unfairness of everyday work.

I also remember an article a while back about tests used to determine success at university.  One of the people said the only test they knew of that was consistent and predicted success beyond a year or two at school was the question that asked what sex you were.  In general girls do better than boys in the U.S. over the long term.  That was it, their other tests weren't reliable enough to beat it.  Granted that's not an IQ test but man these people are supposed to be pros and they can't beat a simple demographic question....

For me the tests just don't pass the sniff tests and if we can't figure out how to handle the smart people then I'm not sure we know who they are or that much about human intelligence.
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Testing by ucblockhead (4.00 / 1) #9 Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 12:13:43 PM EST
I knew a guy in high school who was a "genius" according to IQ and many other measures. He got a 1570 on the SAT, aceing the math portion and missing only two questions on the verbal. IIRC, his IQ was 160+.

He went to the same university as I did and flamed out in his freshman year. No idea what happened to him after that.

I knew another guy in high school who I consider the only true genius I've ever known. He also aced the math portion, but got just over 200 on the verbal portion. (Probably in part because he was not a native English speaker.) He also went to the same university as I did. He graduated in three years with a double-major in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics. (He normally took a double load.)
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IQ tests by Merekat (4.00 / 1) #4 Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 04:20:30 AM EST
Whoever reckons these days that it is possible to design an abstract test evaluating intelligence and not to be influenced in the design of these tests by cultural factors wrt. values is an idiot.



When you say such a person is an idiot... by chuckles (2.00 / 0) #5 Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 04:25:09 AM EST
do you mean that person has an IQ below 20, or are you using some other definition of idiot?

Skateboarding is a crime.


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lol by Merekat (2.00 / 0) #6 Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 04:53:38 AM EST
I'm making bad jokes to reinforce my point:)

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Heh by hulver (4.00 / 2) #7 Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 07:15:45 AM EST
I saw an amusing IQ test once, where some of the questions relied on knowing what the value of a "Dime" and a "Nickel" were.
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I find most IQ tests . . . by slozo (2.00 / 0) #8 Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 09:12:41 AM EST
. . . based far too deeply in knowledge that is taught/learned; however, I do recognise the inherent difficulty in determining intelligence.

As much as it goes against one of the points of this article (we are getting smarter and smarter by generation), I find that the older generations are/were better at attacking a problem with which they have little familiarity with (taking away factors such as age/education). But to test this thinking outside of the box, dealing with something unfamiliar - it's near impossible. One would almost have to conduct a personal interview, and then conduct listening/reading comprehension tests about subjects the person knew very little about. 



"getting smarter" by ucblockhead (2.00 / 0) #10 Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 12:15:25 PM EST
Actually, the point of the article is that we *aren't* getting smarter by generation, and the generational increase in IQs shows that higher IQ != smarter in a direct sense. We are getting better are taking IQ tests over the generations but we are not getting smarter.
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Smart people | 10 comments (10 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback