The Author, Séamas O'Reilly: IQ is a great indicator of intelligence, in that the second you see someone obsessing over it online, you can usually conclude they’re dumb as rocks. www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle-co...

IQ is a great indicator of intelligence, in that the second you see someone obsessing over it online, you can usually conclude they’re dumb as rocks. www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle-co...

Séamas O'Reilly: Yes, an obsession with IQ is 'astrology for racists'www.irishexaminer.com "There are several entirely useful applications for IQ tests... but fetishising their results only really provides comfort to the type of person who wishes to make themselves feel superior by genetic ...

IQ testing is an objective, balanced, culturally-neutral way to assign a numerical value to how likely someone is to pay mensa dues

My favourite insult is “you do come across ass the sort of person who’d believe in IQ”

Terrible fucking typo in that post. Bloody dyslexia

The typo only adds to the cogency.

Did you ever hear Jamie Loftus’s podcast about joining Mensa? One of the best things I’ve ever heard (and only 4x40’).

No. Downloaded now though. I love the story behind Mensa, it’s the crystallised experience of people who think the reason they struggle to make friends is that everyone’s dumber than them

IIRC, James Woods is a member of MENSA. Q.E.D.

I put IQ in with BMI.

The old ‘how do you know someone doesn’t have a TV/is vegan/etc…’ joke works absolutely flawlessly for ‘how do you know someone’s a member of Mensa?’

the number of arguments i’ve had with people about this. eventually i grew up and realised it was easier to just nod and say “yes that is a very impressive number, you must be a very special boy”.

Do you have a bet on about how bad you can make your mentions on Twitter?

Swear to God my next column will be about the weather.

Have you tried writing about JK Rowling? She doesn't get much attention these days.

"You said wot about rain?!!!!" 😡🤬🤬⛈️⛈️

Beware the climate change deniers.

Broke: Obsessing over IQ. Woke: Obsessing over QI.

i have a kid with part of his IQ score at 85 and another bit at 140 the ed pysch said an IQ number made no sense in his context! We at least we able to work out accommodations for him and appropriate help. He got to Cambridge for a SEND kid that is bloody miraculous. IQ is a joke.

I think the only useful application is to actually look at the areas where someone does well so as to suggest things they might put their effort in if they're struggling in other areas. That way they can get a bump in confidence.

proper testing rather than one number is nuanced. for my son it meant we could direct appropriate help - the raw IQ was a total waste of time. It meant that most teachers understood when he was struggling.

I think if somebody wants to science up their racist idea that white people are just plain smarter, then a culturally biased IQ test sure comes in handy. Also, it's really funny all the ads for IQ tests on the page!

I remember the BBC did a IQ test TV show, and I got a good score. “Yeah super-genius, I am!” Me trying to navigate the online holiday booking system my job has, which isn’t really complicated. “What is going on? Why is it doing this? Why does the universe hate me?” It’s a crock of shite.

I did a Mensa test as a teen. I was intelligent enough to join Mensa but not stupid enough to think it meant anything more than I could pass IQ tests.

They are definitely biased to a certain way of thinking, which does lead me to question their overall usefulness in defining such a nebulous term as intelligence.

They are rubbish. Like 11+ tests are rubbish. We need to be honest about what exams actually prove. University was a shock because I thought I would be surrounded by really bright people. Nope.

Tested as "gifted" at age 10. Tested and graded at 153 in my twenties. And yet still have never had, nor been offered employment in anything above manual trades or customer service. IQ is crap. And a big brain is useful mostly only for party tricks.

Agreed. They usually consist of learnable tricks and puzzles

I think the other aspect of this you didn’t touch on is that you have losers who are somewhat intelligent (or at least were told they were at a young age), clinging to their ability to do puzzles as proof that the squandered potential was there and to place blame on the world for their failed lives

there is also a silliness to the idea that your capacity to learn, process and recall information can be qualified in a fixed number our intelligence is very fluid on an individual person-by-person level

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