Oh man, can't wait for the conversation about this one. So much of people's identity can be wrapped up in being intelligent, which makes sense when you are still in the phase of your life where what you _can_ do is more important than what you _have_ done. If you're concerned about your IQ very much over the age of about 12 years old, that's a sign that you probably aren't focusing on the right things in your life.
IQ is largely a pseudoscientific swindle (2019)
21–30 of 133 posts
Re: IQ is largely a pseudoscientific swindle (2019)
#22I can't even bring myself to read this. After perusing and seeing it gets so emotional (bringing up eugenics, morality, etc), I have a hard time believing it's going to be objective. "There is no significant statistical association between IQ and hard measures such as wealth." So... you're saying that people with an IQ of 60 are equally wealthy as those with an IQ of 110? I understand getting frustrated about misappl…
Even as someone who agreed in large part with the conclusion before coming to this article, I find this virtually unreadable. It's just so full of vindictiveness and pettiness that it loses sight of its argument, and the images and graphs it uses aren't particularly coherent in their framing.
> you're saying that people with an IQ of 60 are equally wealthy as those with an IQ of 110?
Actually, if I understand his point correctly, he's arguing that the test "correctly" identifies the low tail of intelligence (because they would fail at any task), but is pure noise for people of average or above-average intelligence.
Re: IQ is largely a pseudoscientific swindle (2019)
#23Flagged in 3, 2, 1...
Re: IQ is largely a pseudoscientific swindle (2019)
#24IQ is just a metric from taking a standardized test. I don't know why people have a hard time understanding that. It's like being mad about people's SAT scores. It's not like IQ is even used for anything important, people don't put it on their resumes or anything.
I've done a few "aptitude" tests for interviews, and so has people in my closest circle. It seems common across business sectors and taken as a major indicator of employee "success" https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4557354/
Re: IQ is largely a pseudoscientific swindle (2019)
#25I can't even bring myself to read this. After perusing and seeing it gets so emotional (bringing up eugenics, morality, etc), I have a hard time believing it's going to be objective. "There is no significant statistical association between IQ and hard measures such as wealth." So... you're saying that people with an IQ of 60 are equally wealthy as those with an IQ of 110? I understand getting frustrated about misappl…
> So... you're saying that people with an IQ of 60 are equally wealthy as those with an IQ of 110?
Literally the first paragraph states that it can discover extreme unintelligence.
Re: IQ is largely a pseudoscientific swindle (2019)
#26This article is written so polemically it's hard to take it seriously. Also Taleb seems to be constructing so many straw men I wouldn't even know where to start. IQ isn't a swindle, it's a very real thing. However, it is only one factor among many in determining most practical real-world outcomes, and it is well-known to be affected by environmental variables at population levels. But IQ isn't a "fraud" or "immoral".…
He has to make such moral claims because it is in keeping with his world view that individuals are replaceable cogs. If it is shown that modernity requires advanced problem solving skills and that IQ is a reasonable, but not perfect measure of such skills, then the idea that you can take a below average person and use them in these advanced spaces is destroyed. If he loses that, he loses many of the policies being pushed from an immigration and population control perspective.
Re: IQ is largely a pseudoscientific swindle (2019)
#27I think we all know what happened here: Nassim Taleb took an IQ test, it didn’t show him to be the great genius he knows himself to be, and so the entire concept of IQ must be invalid.
Re: IQ is largely a pseudoscientific swindle (2019)
#28I think the only valid interpretation of the IQ test is that you are good at solving some riddles and spotting patterns.
In no way, it can be used as a generic metric of who is better or worse.
I took the MENSA test last year just for fun, I did not get in :) The examiner before explained as well that the exam measures an only small part of what is considered an intelligence.
In short, it is a fun exam if you like riddles and no other value.
Re: IQ is largely a pseudoscientific swindle (2019)
#29I can't even bring myself to read this. After perusing and seeing it gets so emotional (bringing up eugenics, morality, etc), I have a hard time believing it's going to be objective. "There is no significant statistical association between IQ and hard measures such as wealth." So... you're saying that people with an IQ of 60 are equally wealthy as those with an IQ of 110? I understand getting frustrated about misappl…
I can't even bring myself to read your comment, getting so angry because someone brought up eugenics -> YOU'RE RACIST BITCH
Are you familiar with the Orwellian word 'newspeak'? The way you use the word racist turns it into non - euphemistic newspeak. Can't attack the argument? Attack the message. Label the person as an outsider and signal to everyone to do the same. It's intellectually dishonest and lazy.
Re: IQ is largely a pseudoscientific swindle (2019)
#30This is a fascinating case study on how a reasonable point—IQ is not a terribly useful psychometric in most cases—can be completely lost in the conversation due to your writing style.