The worst part is, of course, when people act patronizingly or as though you’re stupid, when intelligence isn’t the issue at all. It’s all the other factors that people never consider.

Not knowing how to re-direct your comment to the other post, I have ‘cut and pasted’ it into the first part of my reply to you – as a comment on the ‘Astronomical Arrogance in Journalism’ post. However, if you are following this thread through ‘MyComments’, this reply will not show up there…

@ A Particular Mind
Thank you! The more of your words I read, the more I am surprised at how some of our ideas line up…

My ideas on itelligence are that it is highly subjective: and that each and every one of us – whether we admit it to our selves or not – needs to KNOW that OUR intelligence it the BEST. By this I mean that IF we STOP thinking this, we will develop an unhealthy dependancy on the person or religion or ‘whatever’ that we elevate above our own ability to reason. In essence, if we abdicate our reason and decision making in favour of ‘something’, we will become profoundly flawed in our psyche.

That does not mean that we cannot acknowledge that other people are smarter than us in SOME ways: but we usually also see them as somehow ‘flawed’ in other ways. For example, the ‘super-smart rocket scientist’ is ‘socialy inept’, etc… This, I think, is a defense mechanism.

Having said that, I think that each and every IQ test out there is designed by people who consider THEIR mind to be the BEST. And, the tests reflect this, 100%. That is why it is possible to take several different tests and get very different scores. The same goes for the ‘Aspergers’ tests’ that are out there.

I, too, have very carefully avoided IQ tests, and have never ever taken one. My excuse? I am an immigrant. Many questions are culture-based – and I could never possibly get an accurate score on them. Even IF I ‘filled in’ the holes I have in North American culture, no test would measure ‘extra’ points I ‘deserved’ for my native culture….. I don’t know if I buy into this argument myself, but it ALWAYS got me out of taking an IQ test. And no, I don’t think it can be accurately measured.

Also, I think that we can increase our IQ – and that our brains never loose the ability to that allows this. Years ago, it was thought that the brain stops growing at 25-ish – but it was shown that that is because at that point, most test subjects left school and stopped ‘forcing’ their brain to grow…

Marks at school reflect a particular TYPE of intelligence AND the ability to present it in the very narrow format of a test/essay. It does NOT measure ‘knowledge’ ‘wisdom’ or the ability to apply them in the real world. Typicaly, we test for ‘analysis’ – essential – but we forget to tests for ‘synthesis’ of the analyzed result into a larger frame….

Hope this answers your question…..

Thank you for your posts on Aspergers. I have no idea why, but every time I come across a post of yours on the topic I find myself riveted.

What are you views on testing and intelligence in general?
I have this suspicion that testing, across the board, is a somewhat useless endeavor in terms of equating ones intelligence. Yes, I feel that certain tests serve a purpose to measure memorization and the degree to which one can temporarily regurgitate and apply various concepts … but in terms of intelligence I highly doubt their ability to do justice to the matter.

I realize my opinion in this is highly biased. I have my own experiences and my limited observation of those around me – and not much more to go on. At least for me, receiving high test marks does not seem to validate my own sense of intellect. While I have never taken an IQ test (and refuse to do so) I don’t believe that I am necessarily smarter than someone who receives lower marks. I attribute my success more to effort, luck, and testing methods rather than to ‘smartness’.

A Professor of mine once told me that he considered me ‘extremely intelligent’. I thanked him and asked why he thought so. He seemed somewhat taken aback by my question and asked me what grades I receive. I told him A’s. He looked at me like his point was proven. I looked at him like he had yet to answer my question.

I’m also curious about the data you mentioned indicating that global warming isn’t occurring–can you produce a reliable source on that?