IQ Test

**cheetah** · August 19th, 2002, 08:10 AM

Alright, so I took this free IQ test on Emode.com the other day. The good part for me was that I'm not as stupid as I had originally anticipated. Others may disagree of course. Consequently, it got me thinking (a rare occurrence in my case) as to what the true measure of an individual's level of intellect might be. Any thoughts on this???

**Gandalfe** · August 19th, 2002, 04:15 PM

Unfortunately, while we can measure SOME types of intelligence, there are no tests to measure, say, imagination, or physical intelligence (what in a basketball player would be called court sense), or many other kinds. Furthermore, most IQ test seem to test more for crystallized intelligence, that is, what you know, rather than potential intelligence, or what CAN you know.

Oh, yeah, and there are a couple of sites out there that seem to give everyone the exact same score.

**cheetah** · August 19th, 2002, 07:31 PM

The test we (my family and I) took gave each one of us a different score. I tend to think the test was accurate but I'm questioning whether or not you can gauge intelligence with the results. The real question should have been; are you more "book-smart" or "people-smart"??? I consider myself "people-smart". What does everyone else consider themselves???

**Munson** · August 20th, 2002, 02:31 AM

I consider myself to be pretty much a dumba*s...

I'm pretty good at reading people and seeing through their bullsh*t facade. I'm somewhat book smart, but damn, I can be such a moron sometimes... last time I took an IQ test was in high school... I forget the score, but I do remember that I supposedly had above average intelligence. The messed up thing is that if I took that same test now my score would probably be a lot lower. I don't think that I've actually gotten dumber, but it's been so long since I've taken classes or tests and my mind operates differently now.

**cliffwalk** · August 20th, 2002, 02:43 AM

IQ Tests: I've taken maybe 5 in my life. Each one has yielded approximately the same score which is 160ish (supposedly genius). So, it's safe to say that by IQ Testing standards I'm around a 160.

Well.

It doesn't at all fit my profile. I'm incapable of focusing on anything long enough to REALLY tell but I'm exceptionally average on all levels and in all domains of knowledge. (with maybe a very minor spike around technical things such as music theory, computer programming, etc)

So like I'm a genius, and you're not... and it just doesn't matter...

Had I NOT taken those IQ tests in early school days I probably would have been in special Ed dealing with my attention span problems. That's frankly where I belonged... somehow I BS'd my way through school but I never learned what I really needed to learn.

So .... IQ tests... When I have kids I don't want them taking them... they really have no use unless you're psychologically profiling a person (mentally/neurologically ill, pathological criminal, what not).

dave

**cheetah** · August 20th, 2002, 07:27 AM

I'm with you Munson, most of the time I feel like a dumba*s!!!

**cheetah** · August 20th, 2002, 07:40 AM

As for you Cliffwalk, I happen to think you're a very intellectual person regardless of what you say. You always have something insightful to say in your posts. Of course, I may not be the best at judging who's smart and who's not. I'm not exactly Albert Einstein as you can probably tell. :loco:

**intro** · August 20th, 2002, 09:08 AM

I won't toss around my IQ score, but teachers in my high school insisted upon testing me. And according to their little test, I'm a genius. But I don't really buy it. Sure, I may have a very high IQ, but it's being used on music and video games. Sometimes school. And I, like Cliffwalk, have a very difficult time concentrating on things. My mind is always racing way too fast to focus on any one thing. I don't know if it's ADD (hey Todd!) and I need to be on ritalin (DJ Ritalin to my friends, because I always change songs before they're finished), or if it's just that I think too damn much. Who knows.

But IQ tests are kinda vague in my opinion. I don't really know what they measure. They claim to measure potential intelligence, but they do that by asking you questions about things you know. Like those number patterns. Those things always annoy the crap out of me.

Just don't put too much stock in it. Do what you can. You know if you're smart or not. And just because you're smart in one area doesn't mean you're smart in another. I'm very booksmart, but I'm absolutely terrible when it comes to dealing with people. It sucks. Someone needs to start a synthgeek dating service, hehe. I'd sign up!

-Mark should be asleep right now
www.djintrovert.com

**cheetah** · August 20th, 2002, 04:04 PM

I don't know Mark, maybe having your attention focused on a bunch of different things at one time is not that bad. Don't women call that multi-tasking???

I wonder if the people in the world who have found a balance between being "booksmart" and "peoplesmart" are any happier than the rest of us???

**Bornslippy** · August 20th, 2002, 04:13 PM

I took the test but it booted me out therefore I'm gonna have to take it again.

**cheetah** · August 20th, 2002, 04:38 PM

You'll have to study harder for it the next time Bornslippy.

**(V)ythrandir** · August 21st, 2002, 03:06 AM

Well in my exp. i find that most IQ test don't really tell you how smart you are they really just test your common sense and how well you pick up on tricky worded things like "how many months have 28 days" most would say 1, feburary when if you think about it they all have 28 days. I'd have to go with the rest of you and say don't put any faith in what a IQ test tells you. There pointless wastes of time made by shrinks that get injoyment out of brainwashing the masses. And as for not being able to focus on one thing for long that's normal for most people. Only simple minded people can focus on one thing and onething only cause there not capible of doing any more then one thing at a time. And that's all i got's to say about that...

**cliffwalk** · August 21st, 2002, 03:27 AM

Some important points on this thread...

Remember.... any of us that are in our late twenties/early thirties:

We went to grade school during a period of time where it was "the thing to do" to break us kids up based on standardized tests.

Because of the results of an IQ test I was placed in a gifted program where I really didn't quite "THRIVE" in my opinion. Frankly, as I said, I think I had learning problems that went unaddressed so I had to figure them out later in life.

I'm glad my children wont be raised in an educational system that use such methods. That was NOT a wise period of time in our educational system. You should NEVER create a learning environment where children are basically told that they are significantly smarter than the other kids and destined for greatness.

I think back on the group of kids I was in that first gifted program with. Let's see how things turned out for them in High School (and a few I know college)

(a) None of them were even in the top 10 of their graduating class.
(b) 4 never finished high school
(c) 1 ended up in jail for armed robbery
(d) None attended extremely impressive colleges. I think the best school to my knowledge was Ohio State (I grew up in Ohio).

But, hey, what we all had in common was a little bit of displaced attitude about how great we were. A couple of us found comfort in that because we were geeks later in life. Others simply had the rest of the class catch up with them.

Bottom line... THAT is one thing about the 80s that we can keep in that decade. That WHOLE Gattacaesce approach to education is FUBAR.

That and RATT.

And Winger.

Dave

**cheetah** · August 21st, 2002, 05:21 AM

*LOL* Ah Dave, that's some funny sh*t!!! I remember my Jr. High School had the ELP (Extended Learning Program) group for the gifted students. The rest of us always thought they were weird. You're right, separating kids from their peers is not a healthy thing to do from what I've seen.

**mythuselah** · August 21st, 2002, 04:57 PM

Mensa group have a basic online test. I took it and I have to agree without really being basphimous about my score.

Iq test I guess are another social thing, and not being one to be social- ehh!

Really, I can't remeber who said it but mesuring potiential intelligence is kinda silly. I mean I can't spell, can't use punctuation properly. Have no concept of grammer or math on an algerbraic level.

So what is left.

I mean I suffered social from those peers groups. It kinda hindered my social warmth and even though I can compose an essay, define the whether using no linear equations , grasp conceptual curves for econmoic growth and know the infulence of the birth and death rate on family values. I find myself almost snobbish. And almost rebellious at focusing all this hard work at my intelligence to more creative arts.

I am really a people person from a served distance. I enjoy precieving the stupid things that people do in the normal of situations. YUP! that confirms it I am a snob.

I have no concentration, I babble about nothing and this thread proves it I lost my train of thought as you can tell after the first line

If I was rich I would be eccentric

Intelligence to me is the ability not to put your hand in the fire, not to eat and go swimming right after and know that respect is a given in any freindship.Then general application of lifes needs.

I have to agree with everyone here who said it in there own right intelligence can't truley be measured because everyone has strengths that enhance their overall education.

**cheetah** · August 21st, 2002, 06:20 PM

I would not consider you a snob Mythuselah. I too enjoy the observation of the intricacies of human behavior. For me, people-watching is almost as good interacting with others. It's interesting to hear everyone's perception of what intelligence is.

**(V)ythrandir** · August 21st, 2002, 07:57 PM

In reply to cliffwalk. I'd have to say that no one really has learning problems, it's just that everyone learns a diffrent way. Whether it be by watching someone do something, being told how to do it, or just doing it until you learn the concept on your own. So your problems so to speak aren't anything that's your fault it's just a lack of teaching effert on your teacher's part. Alot of teachers don't take the time to get to know there students and don't care to they just read out of a book and expect you to know what there talking about. But if that's not the way you comprehed things then your classified as having learning problems or disabilitys. I myself catch on to things really quickly by being shown how to do it.

**Avil** · August 21st, 2002, 09:31 PM

Haha, I don�t believe in those tests...
I�m a genious according to those..yeah right

**cheetah** · August 22nd, 2002, 03:05 AM

I knew you were a genius Avil. What else would you be???

**skylla** · August 22nd, 2002, 04:02 AM

Originally posted by (V)ythrandir
I'd have to say that no one really has learning problems, it's just that everyone learns a diffrent way.

i don't really think many people questions that there is a basic difference between different modes of learning. and i don't think most teachers (at least not in my experience) thinks of students having problems learning by reading as being dumb or so. the problem is however, that school mostly is for learning skills that hardly can be taught by showing, and thus the students who learn better by watching actually becomes kind of "disabled" (hate that word) within the confines of the "school world".

the interesting thing i think is that the iq-tests i've seen are very much focused on being able to find patterns in information... fx. colour patterns, patterns in numbers, associations of words and so forth... what i find interesting is, that to me much of this seems to favour learning by watching more than learning by reading... and to take it a step further... a subject like math is much closer to learning by watching than other typical school subjects (it's all about making an inner projection of the problem to be solved). If my hypothesis holds, then people who do good in iq-test will generally be naturals at math, but will probably not do too well in school because most other subjects typically must be learned much more by reading... and thus theese students will typically get tagged as having short attention spans (because they need to watch to get interested),

ehh... i think i kinda lost myself there, and i'm not sure it makes much sence even to me... anyway: intelligence is just a word, and is nothing other than what we define it to be. if the iq-test defines intelligence then intelligence is probably some mathematical/systematic ability to see order in complex patterns... if we define intelligence as getting good grades then intelligence is probably something about being a hardworking book-person with some political skills (gotta know what to say to the teacher and not)... and if we define intelligence as being able to get by in life then intelligence could be just about anything... so basicly i don't think iq-test does more than compare a person against a subjective perception of intelligence, and thus they have no practical purpose whatsoever...

damn i did it again... lost myself... now im not sure any of this makes sence, so i'll just post it...