I read it on the web so it must be true...

[denny]

Adults in England and Wales have an [average] IQ of 100.5, higher than Ireland and Scotland, both with 97. People living in London and the South East average 102.

Also, the Germans, Dutch, Polish, Swedish, Italians, Austrians and Swiss are all smarter than the British (which is actually the main point of the article).


Edit:
Dear Denny De La Haye,

Thank you for your interest in the test at IQTest.com.

Your general IQ score is: 143

Comments

[libellum.livejournal.com]

I don't believe in IQ scores. Firstly, they were originally designed to measure intelligence potential, sort of pre-education, and therefore the results are meaningless over the age of about 8; secondly, they only measure how good you are at doing IQ tests, which is by no means the only (or most useful/meaningful) kind of intelligence. Oh, and thirdly they frequently depend on cultural information rather than pure reasoning skills, so if you're lacking the cultural information you'll come out with a lower IQ than if you aren't.

For what it's worth, I've never taken one. My only clues are: my 11+ entrance exam was based on an IQ test and I came second out a few hundred applicants; working it out genetically, my mum is 140 and my dad is 150 and it averages down, so I'm probably about 140. However, I consider this to be absolutely meaningless.

The two measures of intelligence I value most are how many complex interactive concepts I can take into account simultaneously, particularly when some of them are meta-concepts, and how quickly I understand new ideas. Ability to have new ideas ranks close behind, especially if they are sophisticated ideas and follow quickly on the heels of new information.

The assessment provided by the education system in this country is fairly meaningless, as far as I'm concerned.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

Conversely, evidence of low intelligence: persistent overuse of hyperbolic words like "meaningless" :P

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

:-P

I've heard the arguments against the validity of IQ scores from various people over the last ten years, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone propose a working alternative... do you know of any?

I tend to regard the IQ score similarly to the BMI score - it's a useful first approximation, but you shouldn't get too excited about the fine granularity it appears to offer. Someone with an IQ of 120 is very likely (as far as I understand it) to be more intelligent than someone with an IQ of 80, in any problem-space that neither of them have an educational advantage in - although probably not exactly 150% as intelligent. On the other hand, the difference between 115 and 125 may well not be worth considering.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

I just took the IQ test above and got 135 on it. Which seems about right. Although it was very mathsy! *is bad at hard sums* Where were the phonological questions, that's what I want to know.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

No, I don't know of any, but I'm not sure I hold with this idea that intelligence is "measurable" in the first place. I think that very abstract reasoning-based IQ tests administered to under-7s are probably worthwhile as an indicator, but I have no idea how accurate they are. And most people would agree that's quite a limited measure of "intelligence". For a start, I firmly believe that thinking increases your intelligence, just as I believe it's possible to be taught how to think - so it's variable in the first place.

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

Personally I'd be more inclined to say that thinking increases your ability to use your innate intelligence. You could easily fail to live up to your potential if you didn't ever try, but I don't think you could exercise your brain beyond a certain built-in level of ability no matter how hard you tried.

I suspect that a more accurate assessment of intelligence would use multiple scales (as iqtest.com claims to do in the extra analysis they try to sell you), but I don't think combining these into one line as an overall score is an invalid approach... I have three fairly functional limbs and one weak one, but you can still get a reasonable picture of my overall strength by adding them all up and dividing by four.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

I don't think you could exercise your brain beyond a certain built-in level of ability

It's a plausible suggestion, but how would you ever know?

Also obviously IQ tests should be as wide-ranging as possible, but the decision about what constitutes "intelligence" is culturally dependent. The idea that it has to do with logic and reasoning is a Western one. What about cunning? What about rhetorical ability? What about the facility to think in original ways? What about the ability to make intuitive yet accurate connections without using logic? Or the ability to work out and understand what motivates people? Logic is not the only way the human brain makes connections; there are other forms of reasoning than being able to visualise and accurately describe shapes. I appreciate that the logic/reasoning method of arriving at conclusions is still a useful rough indicator, but I don't think it's very interesting. Then again, I am an arts student :) It's my job to think in emotionally-appealing bendy ways rather than straight lines.

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm, emotionally-appealing bendy ways.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

Miss you... *kisses* Sloppy lipstick marks for you!

Boo, now I am wistful.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, I love how our intellectual debate is so clearly just foreplay.

[fellcat.livejournal.com]

I propose a test that isn't so reading-based, for starters. There are people out there who are either dyslexic, have Irlan Syndrome (http://www.irlenuk.com/), or are just plain crap at digesting the written word. I've seen tests that involve pictures, and tests could be made that involved moving (virtual, if onscreen) objects around, like (for example), turn the following triangle upside down by only moving three disks, which, when implemented with pennies, for some reason foxed everyone else in my class at grammar school.

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