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IQ is largely a pseudoscientific swindle (2019)

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Re: IQ is largely a pseudoscientific swindle (2019)

#131

There are a lot of posts complaining about Taleb's tone. I find it refreshing. Too often are statistics and stupid measurements applied to give a veneer of quantitative rigor to stupid ideas or ineffective systems. If a manager ranked you based on a statistic of your lines of code produced per day, you would rightly be derisive. It turns out that such stupid quantification infects a great deal of society, especially…

> If a manager ranked you based on a statistic of your lines of code produced per day, you would rightly be derisive

Yes, but this wouldn't make "lines of code" metric "pseudoscience" or "swindle". The metric is real, even if its applications are not correct.

Re: IQ is largely a pseudoscientific swindle (2019)

#132
post #28

I 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 ri…

IQ is only good for solving riddles? Have you heard of g-factor by any chance?

Re: IQ is largely a pseudoscientific swindle (2019)

#133
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IQ is one of the few actually, and maybe THE most robust and measurable dimension in humans that psychology has come up with. Some people are smarter than others and they are expected to rise higher in a (necessarily imperfectly) meritocratic system. The big question is whether the bottom end should starve. I think they should not starve and should have certain minimal living standards met, but they are going to be l…

The solution to this is to teach clever kids from a young age to be compassionate towards the less clever. Right now our society does a terrible job of this; hating and mocking people for being stupid is far too common. Much of it may feel justified under reasoning like "Stupid people [bullied me|voted wrong|didn't follow instructions|did something wrong and broke things] and for that reason my negative feelings towa…

> The solution to this is to teach clever kids from a young age to be compassionate towards the less clever.

Given that high iq is highly correlated with depression and anxiety, maybe it should be the other way around.

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