Oh. (Russ L has heard that The Bird Is The Word)

Stock Rant #7: IQ tests are one of the stupidest myths going

Posted in Modern Living, Stock Rants by Russ L on 14 June, 2007

I don’t care what your IQ is. If you think intelligence can be quantified then I question how much of it you have.

2 comments

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  1. china blue said, on 21 June, 2007 at 1:20 pm

    Ooh, I had to say something! I joined Mensa when I was very young and had no idea what intelligence actually was, but plenty of what it was supposed to be. The idea that it can be rounded up into a neat little box, given a number, and that’s it! is flawed – at best – when you think about it. It’s caused me more identity problems than solved them, but on a cold and lonely night I can comfort myself that at least Mensa would have me.

    Besides which, there are comparitively few Afro-Caribbean members in the UK, so it’s nice to represent.

  2. Russ L said, on 21 June, 2007 at 5:15 pm

    “The idea that it can be rounded up into a neat little box, given a number, and that’s it! is flawed – at best”

    That’s precisely it. “I am 30 more intelligent than you” deserves as much scorn as people can throw at it.

    “Besides which, there are comparitively few Afro-Caribbean members in the UK, so it’s nice to represent.”

    This may (or may not) lead into another problem I have IQ tests, but more of a procedural one about the sort of questions they use than a big philosophical question. Background and upbringing have an effect on the patterns and constructs of speech we use, and thus the form of linguistics we employ for thought. Since a third of an IQ test consists of word-based questions, this strikes me as being somewhat biased against anyone not brought up to talk (and/or think) with Received Pronunciation.

    This is, of course, on top of the fact that there’s no reason why specific facets of problem-solving should necessarily relate to ‘intelligence’.

    ***

    I don’t know a massive amount about MENSA, and so I’ll spare you my knee-jerk thoughts about elitism. They may well not apply. I don’t know.


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