Re: Mensa, online IQ test

Elizabeth Childs (echilds@linex.com)
Wed, 11 Aug 1999 19:00:50 -0700

There was a discussion of iqtest.com a few months ago. You could check the archives. We concluded that they were intentionally fudging results up about 15 points, a full standard deviation. Which would still give you an IQ of 137, if that test actually measures IQ in the same way that other IQ tests do. 137 is still quite good.

I don't think iqtest.com is offering a test that would be recognized by most psychologists as a "real" IQ test. The standard, accepted tests have been widely tested over a long period and subject to intense peer review, which I don't think their tests have been.

All that said, I wouldn't take it too seriously. It's how you use it.

Some college degrees can be great for advancing your career, but the statistics show that getting a degree in the humanities won't help much if at all:
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/98/1228/6214104a.htm

As a successful college dropout, I agree that a degree or lack thereof is not proof or disproof of intelligence.

Elizabeth Childs
echilds@linex.com
True story: The Zen Center decided to have a fundraiser. They contacted one of the
most famous Zenmasters in the world, and flew him in from Korea to give a talk.
They invited hundreds of people, all of whom paid money to see him talk.

He went up to the podium, said "You are all going to die," and left.



From: Tracy Newby <tnewby@siara.com>
To: <extropians@extropy.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 1999 8:44 AM Subject: Re: Mensa, online IQ test

> I received a score of 156 from the cesnet site and 152 from iqtest.com. I
went
> ahead and paid for the comprehensive results from iqtest.com as I have
never
> taken an IQ test and I was wondering what various components of such a
test
> would entail or indicate.
>
> I must say that although it was a bit interesting, the whole experience
was
> rather uneventful and lacked the "test excitement" I had always enjoyed in
the
> past. At least now I have an idea what my IQ is and what potential I
missed out
> on by not finishing college. = (
>
> I can now live with the satisfaction that a college degree does NOT always
> engender intelligence in a person or prove that they are smatter than an
> individual who does not have a degree. All a degree says is a person
completed a
> curriculum of study from an accredited university and knows something
about a
> particular subject. I still plan on getting a degree eventually, just so I
can
> advance further in both my career and sallary expectations. Long live the
> almighty buck! $$
>
> Tracy
>
> Rik van Riel wrote:
>
> > On Wed, 11 Aug 1999, Bryan Moss wrote:
> > > Jason Cikaluk wrote:
> > >
> > > > http://cech.cesnet.cz/IQ/IQ-test-e.html
> > > >
> > > > Would love to know the scores of most of you, for those willing to
share
> > > > it on the list.
> > >
> > > I got 159 there and 162 at iqtest.com...
> >
> > 149 at the above URL and 147 at iqtest.com :( Then again, this
> > was after a couple of beers and with my mind on something else...
> > (I know, poor excuse)
> >
> > cheers,
> >
> > Rik
> > --
> > The Internet is not a network of computers. It is a network
> > of people. That is it's real strength.
> > --
> > work at: http://www.reseau.nl/
> > home at: http://www.nl.linux.org/~riel/
>
>