IQ Tests relevant?

great topic!

most iq tests i've worked with test more than mathmatical logic; there is some degree of abstract logic, grouping, associations, etc. - but i definately agree with the point of evaluations against those of non-modern locale and upbringing...socially the tests are not in a presentable manner to adequately represent the questions intended to those target groups.

tests that have a strong emphasis on time, usually have results that are more 'bell-curvish'. only those that can read, comprehend, analyze, and respond in a short period of time do exceptionally well - which are all qualities related to intellegence but do not reflect well for someone who say is excellent at comprehending and analyzing, but 'slower' in the io portions (which some might even consider a physical property instead of a mental one).

last time i took one of them, i got like ~ a 30.

MENSA is boring, if you want to take the test, sure, but my impression has been that most events consist of "let's get all us smart folk together so we can feel good" and little else :p

IQ tests are a test to see how fast you can solve problems. They should be called speed problem solving tests. To be a true IQ test it would have to measure the capacity to learn and social capacity as well. These things are equaly important as appose to quickly solving anagrams and logic problems that are worded funny.

lol i was joking im not fat or ugly im alright

Most if not al IQ test are designed for what should be general knowledge and what is considered abstract thinking for the time that you are in. I suggest that say a test from 1920 USA taken today would be aced by most people because at the standards of that day general knowledge today would be an exception. Culture, language, customs all play a part at best it is a snap shot of people today. An abstract thought cannot be measure by any means because of the very nature of Abstract. All the smarts in he world do one little goos unless they can be applyed to humanity and to make life better. Smarts are giving back to your community and now days there is this space sort of that abstract 3-d space where hings are real, but they are not. :)

I don't think IQ tests are relevant either. I score around 160, and am only 14. I just don't think it means that much, because I'm not a straight A student, but then again I don't try that hard. Still, no genius here.

Hmmm, So if an IQ isnt a revelant way of gauging someones inteliigence it makes you think 2 things....

1. Then what is? IQ tests have been used for years to test intelligence

Quote:

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This test was developed by the Institute For Self Improvement
Quoted from here

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And second if IQ tests are pretty much bullshit then what about the so-called smartest people in the world, Stephen Hawking, Einstein, etc. Can you say that because their smartness is based on their IQ that they may not be smart?

(it was 1 AM when I wrote this, so excuse the spelling mistakes)

And how many so-called intelligent people would be able to take care of themselves and keep themselves fed if they had to survive in the woods by themselves for two weeks? Can you really call someone intelligent who doesn't even know how to feed themselves outside a McDonald's? What about musical, artistic, or athletic talent? What about social skills? Our IQ tests have some relevence, but they are far from all-encompassing.

i think there're kind of useless, just a tool to seperate the wheat from the chaff! just because someone lives in the rainforest, desert, or any other part of the world doesn't make them less intelligent then the citizens of the industrialize worlds... how many engineers would it take to contruct a bridge across a canyon without using tools... We are all kind of arrogent in this manner... it doesn't matter when or where we were raised when the spaniards came to mexico in the 1520's and laid eyes on mexico for the first time, or british and german scientist exploring egyptian civilizations...

I give mad respect to the ancient cultures of the world, thier tech is and was far superior to ours, our arrogants won't allow us to see that!

Well, in response to ac1d....

Indeed those people are intelligent and may or may not have scored high on iq tests. But what we are debating is whether the tests given are actually a valid measuring device. I myself think no because they usually do not cover enough area that we associate with intelligence.

Though people like Einstein and Hawking (and Xmadd) may score high, many other people get high scores that they may or may not deserve. One experience that I had at my current company is someone found some iq tests online and quite a few people started taking them and posting their scores.

It seems that I work with quite a few genius level people....far more than there probably should have been (about 50% were genius or above, the other 50% were pretty darn close). Now I know that I do work with some VERY smart people but with the scores we were getting you'd think I was working in an engineering division of NASA.

D'oh....and sort of related but not. To the guys who were having the physics convo in irc, here are the books I was talking about:

Chaos theory - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...966469-9860701

Mars Colonization and Materials Engineering - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...966469-9860701

And one other that is just good - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...966469-9860701