Thread:User talk:WaitingforGodot/IQ tests/reply (2)

Well, we do know what "intelligence" is, just that there's multiple definitions for it and ways of measuring it, and no one method that's actually reliable and capable of giving us this one reproducible answer. Your actual mind, the thing that displays intelligence (as an absolute, not as some higher end of the scale), has many different attributes all with different strengths. When these attributes are skewed or exaggerated in one direction or another we interpret it as something like mental illness (Aspergers, for example). It's not unlike building the stats of an RPG character - you only have a certain amount of EXP to spend and you can't max out everything.

The main problem with IQ tests is that, despite what people think, practicising does improve your score. Whereas if you wanted an actual objective test you'd want to get as consistent a score as possible regardless of how many times someone took that test or ones similar to it. There are only so many different types of problems you can give people before the recognise all the methods needed to successfully complete an IQ test and score highly - this is your spatial awareness one, this is the one where you convert dots and shapes to numbers, this is how you look for the "primer" to break a code, and so on. Its the same reason I can do those logic grids you get in Puzzler really quickly; I've done 3 or 4 by thinking, now I can regognise the procedure required, I haven't necessarily become more logical, though.

Certainly, I don't think you can simply do a test and prove that you're clever. That has to come from long-term interactions with others (should you actually care about what others think) who can assess you in multiple situations instinctively and spot what you're good at. As Stephen Hawking said; people who brag about their IQs are losers.