On IQ Tests

Let me just start this off by saying, I get that IQ is the best measurement we have for overall intelligence right now. I get that. But that doesn't make it good. IQ tests do not measure intelligence very well. I've known a few people that went and took IQ tests and did well. But that certainly didn't make them smart. I knew a guy that claimed to be a certified genuis according to IQ. He was not a genuis. This guy wasn't stupid per se, but he wasn't the brightest either. He was pretty book smart, I guess. Although he was an incredibly slow learner. The teacher could literally say 2+2=4 and this dude would STILL ask why. If he was TRULY smart, he would already know the answer through deductive and inductive reasoning. Sometimes, he'd have the teacher spend a good deal of class time explaining something pretty obvious to him. That doesn't really indicate a large intelligence. He was also extremely arrogant about his intelligence. Ever heard of the dunning Kruger effect? This guy defined it. Sure, that's only one case study. But it shows IQ tests are not always the best thing when determining intelligence. So what DO IQ tests determine? Pattern recognition. That's pretty much it. Tests like the LSAT are far more useful for determining somebody's intelligence as they test logical reasoning skills. Logic is probably the single best way to see if somebody is really intelligent or not. Do lots of logic puzzles kids. So what's the takeaway here? IQ tests are glorified pattern recognition exams and not something to be really proud of. Even if you do really well.

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