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Old 10-09-2004, 02:36 AM  
Libertine
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Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 17,860
IQ tests I've done have given me a number of different results between 144 and 172. Unfortunately, the whole concept of a measurable "intelligence quotient" is laughable.

IQ tests measure a person's ability to quickly solve relatively simple mathematical problems (even the linquistic parts of iq tests are in fact mathematical problems rather than linguistic problems, unless they are so strongly culturally biased that they shouldn't be taken seriously in the first place) in a completely rational way.
Meaningful intelligence, on the other hand, consists of the ability to solve extremely complex problems in large amounts of time, often using intuitive insight rather than rationality as a starting point.

What IQ tests measure is much like the processor on a computer. Important, and problematic when it's lacking, but simply not the only thing that counts.
I for one would strongly prefer a computer with a 2.4 Ghz processor, 2 gigs of ram, two 160 gig sata harddisks and win XP over a computer with a 3.6 Ghz processor, 256 mb ram, a single 10 gig 5400 rpm ide harddisk and win 98


Having said that, the IQs being posted here are ofcourse utterly ridiculous. The mean IQ is by definition 100 with a standard deviation of 15, and the average university student has an IQ of about 115. About 1 in 100 people have an IQ of over 135, and rarity increases exponentially as the results get further from 100. To be blunt, I simply don't believe GFY is one of the most intelligent communities on the face of the earth.


Oh, by the way, the "presidential IQ" thing is a hoax:
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/presiq.htm
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