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Do you think IQ tests are a fraud???
Yes. 27%  27%  [ 31 ]
I wouldn't go that far, but... 51%  51%  [ 59 ]
No, not at all. 15%  15%  [ 17 ]
Forget this question... show me the results! 8%  8%  [ 9 ]
Total votes : 116

pensieve
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08 Jan 2014, 6:30 am

IQ tests were basically invented to better diagnose those with mental retardation, to get them out of mainstream schools. Then it became a good tool to classify classes into groups of intelligence and not just ages. Then some psychologists pushed it onto the army which the officers thought was pretty silly and some 800,000 Americans did not get to serve in WW1.

The scary part IQ testers did for me was that they tried to weed out the 'highest order of the feeble minded' from everyday society and these could have been people with ADHD and Asperger's; the unlucky non-gifted ones. They could withhold jobs from these people, force sterilizations, lobotomize them and even deny them entry into the country.

Eugenics took over from simple intelligence testing and the amount of racist ignorance that came out when testing non-whites was astounding. They just assumed that African Americans would score low and would give them a simpler test.

Nowadays this test is still considered a true measure for intelligence except to those aware of its failings. If you look at the simple-mindedness of the test creators, especially that Galton chap who was naive to think poor intelligence could be bred out, you know these tests aren't a good measure of intelligence.

I had my full score withheld from me and through doing self-kit IQ tests I get a pretty average score yet people often mistake me as gifted.

Personally, I shudder at connection to eugenics the IQ test has and at the very primitive level psychology was at to get away with fooling the world that they actually measure our intelligence. I see most of society as still believing the higher your IQ is means the smarter you are.

I have a friend with an IQ of 130 yet she sits on Facebook and laughs at cat memes. She doesn't read and plays video games and complains very loudly about people. Now the people I know with 150+ IQs do seem smart but aren't doing much with it unless they truly are gifted like my niece. My niece doesn't know everything though. I've found myself having to correct her, and it's not about age difference. Only in the last couple of years have I been bale to build on my own knowledge.

I'd rather show my intelligence through my actions rather than a number on one test.


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NEtikiman
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08 Jan 2014, 6:37 am

There is very little difference between an IQ of 110 and 109, so (or 88 and 87, etc... you get it), but there is a profound difference between a 110 and a 56.

I think, in this sense, IQ tests are valid and important at distinguishing true differences in capability, but quibbling over a couple points is trivial.


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