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My IQ

blog.tanyakhovanova.com

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Re: My IQ

#41

Post by 46Bit »

protomyth wrote: post #30
46Bit wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a great deal of the population who spend their lives working in shops and so forth doing relatively menial work. Why they're doing it is not about intelligence at all, it's all about drive. A driven person who's terrified of Maths and Sciences is unlikely to become a leading Physicist, but they might well power through enough basic sums to successfully establish businesses. An intelligent person who's not dri…

There are plenty of people doing "menial" work who have plenty of drive. The work is to earn a paycheck and their life isn't about that. The drive is centered on something that doesn't earn them a living (e.g. family, bird watching). Not everything in life is about work and money.

Nicely put, very much agreed.

Re: My IQ

#42

Post by aidos »

Shenglong wrote: post #15

|Cow, hen, pig, sheep The standard answer is supposed to be hen, as it is the only bird. I believe the standard answer is a "hen" because it's the only one that is gender-specific. In fact, it is distinctly the odd-one out because it doesn't even refer to a specific genus (or even family) of animal. I'm all for creativity (I have the same complaint often) but there needs to be some sort of standardization in communic…

Cow is specifically female, so it's not that. There are definitely a few different ways of cutting it, I went for sheep. It's a silly "test" of anything if it has a "correct" answer.

Re: My IQ

#43

Post by freditup »

Another big downside to intelligence tests is they can make you think you are just that intelligent. (More commonly known as pride / arrogance. We all suffer from this, but I digress.) I've had conversations online with people who have scored extremely high on IQ tests. Now interestingly, this person assumed because of their high IQ scores that they were great at deducing patterns and reading people. They ended up coming to simply outrageous conclusions about myself that they were certain were correct no matter what I said.

So, I personally think IQ tests are worthless. I don't see any benefits that come from knowing what your IQ is. The only thing they give is arrogance, and as Albert Einstein (may have) said, "The only thing more Dangerous than Ignorance is Arrogance."

Re: My IQ

#44

Post by [deleted] »

paisawalla wrote: post #2

Great insight. Regarding Mensa itself, or any claims to intellectual superiority: one of the big lessons of my life has been that being intelligent has no intrinsic value. If you are unable to manifest your intelligence in a way that can substantially (disproportionate to your effort) improve your life or the lives of others, then your mind doesn't matter. It has no impact in the world, and I am not the first person…

[deleted]

Re: My IQ

#45

Post by UnoriginalGuy »

gbrindisi wrote: post #3

What are the benefits of being a member of Mensa?

They get a magazine and the chance to go to meetings to talk to other "smart" people. I know someone who was but quickly let it lapse.

I think it is mostly about bragging rights.

Re: My IQ

#46

Post by zerostar07 »

Shenglong wrote: post #15

|Cow, hen, pig, sheep The standard answer is supposed to be hen, as it is the only bird. I believe the standard answer is a "hen" because it's the only one that is gender-specific. In fact, it is distinctly the odd-one out because it doesn't even refer to a specific genus (or even family) of animal. I'm all for creativity (I have the same complaint often) but there needs to be some sort of standardization in communic…

For me the obvious answer is that it has 2 legs :) But if I cannot convince you I am right, my awesome intelligence is all in vain.

Re: My IQ

#47

Post by rmc »

nacker wrote: post #29

IQ tests share this property of undervaluing creativity and overvaluing conformity with academic work in general. Witness my favorite renegade intellectual, Robert Pirsig, from his Wikipedia page: 'While doing laboratory work in biochemistry, Pirsig became greatly troubled by the existence of more than one workable hypothesis to explain a given phenomenon, and, indeed, that the number of hypotheses appeared unlimited…

Science has several rules of thumb, Occams Razor says that the simpliest is usually the more likely, and the assumption that the universe operates according to universal, consistant mathematical rules means that you should favour theories that match every other part of observable reality, the rule of thumb that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence is like occam's razor and means, again, choose the simpliest explaination that matches your evidence.

Hence, you can sort theories, and then try to devise tests to falsify each one to differenciate between them.

Re: My IQ

#48

Post by dschiptsov »

For the hen question two answers must be accepted, and second one, based on the number of letters, must be rated higher.) At least if you want to catch a person with Asperger's.

Re: My IQ

#49

Post by rmc »

Shenglong wrote: post #15

|Cow, hen, pig, sheep The standard answer is supposed to be hen, as it is the only bird. I believe the standard answer is a "hen" because it's the only one that is gender-specific. In fact, it is distinctly the odd-one out because it doesn't even refer to a specific genus (or even family) of animal. I'm all for creativity (I have the same complaint often) but there needs to be some sort of standardization in communic…

I believe the standard answer is a "hen" because it's the only one that is gender-specific.

Silly city-dweller! Cows are females.

Re: My IQ

#50

Post by locci »

DanBC wrote: post #35
chiph wrote: post #22

> > Cow, hen, pig, sheep. > The standard answer is supposed to be hen, as it is the only bird. I thought "It's the only one that goes around on two legs." And then: "It's the only one that reproduces via eggs." Maybe not the right answer for the "right" reason, but works... But then, as I have gotten older, my IQ is probably half what it was when I was tested as a teen (not a candidate for Mensa, sorry) Probably beca…

Let's try to list all the "correct" answers. 1) Hen - only one with wings / only bird / only non mammal / only egg-reproducer / only creature using 2 legs 2) Sheep - only one with more than 3 letters in name / renewable wool provider (eggs and milk are renewing?) Only plural without an S (sheep vs cows, hens, pigs) 3) Pig - only animal without renewing product (no milk, no eggs, no wool); only male name (cow hen and…

I have always thought the point of this kind of questions is that as a candidate you are supposed to provide the right answer which you are expected to provide despite all the ambiguities. This, I guess, should measure some kind of broader intelligence which overthinkers might lack.
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