Causality

Crosby_M (CrosbyM@po1.cpi.bls.gov)
Fri, 13 Dec 1996 13:09:46 -0500


On Thursday, December 12, 1996 2:38 PM, James Rogers wrote:
<I first took my SAT when I was 10 (my freshman year in high
school!)>

A high school freshman at age 10 - you really were a prodigy!

<Does anyone know how long the SATs have been given?>

Well, Lyle has said he took them back in the early 60s. However, I
looked back at my own high school transcript and found that there were
a number of other interesting tests that used to be used in (most?)
U.S. schools:
National
Date Grade Age Percentile Test

6911 9 14 98 ITED
7011 10 15 97 ITED
--------- psychedelic singularity! -----------
7110 11 16 88 PSAT
7111 11 16 87 ITED
7202 11 16 96 CTMM
7204 11 16 86 SAT
73?? 12 17 Skipped the tests?

ITED = Iowa Test of Educational Development
PSAT = Preliminary SAT
CTMM = Calif. Test of Mental Maturity (IQ?)

Anyway, the point of this is that focus and attitude can have alot to
do with how well you score on these tests. I dropped ten percentage
points after going through what I've labeled a 'psychedelic
singularity'. I think I began ignoring alot of my classwork
(transcript grades reflect this) to study things not on the
curriculum, such as _The Essential Works of Anarchism_, radical
psychology (and other hip topics of that time), letting my verbal and
mathematical skills slip.

At that time I wasn't planning to go to college right away - I wanted
to "camp out on the land and set my soul free" - and computers were
just something that Big Brother (supposedly) used to control the
'oppressed masses'.

Mark
"What a long strange trip it's been" - Greatful Dead