The other night, as being a guy with nothing to do and aimlessly browsing Reddit seem to go hand in hand, I stumbled across a link that claimed to be "An online IQ test that isn't fake bullshit". I started off clicking through to see what such an IQ test would look like, and after finishing the first 4-5 questions I decided to keep going. This despite it being 12:30AM and the test having a 40min timer. There were about three or four questions I didn't manage to figure out in time, but I ended up scoring 112, which is on the lower end of high intelligence.
This gave me two realizations: I never recognized just how much that low score I got as a teenager damaged and haunted me, and IQ tests (no matter how much "fake bullshit" they may or may not have) are all equally useless.
Self-confidence has never been a resource I've had in large quantities, and especially in those formative years as a young adult, that 90 IQ was a bit of a dent in the brain. It's like that older brother that would give you a firm punch in the shoulder that says, "Remember your place and don't get full of yourself." It makes you a bit twitchy after a while.
This became especially true when I was working on my Bachelor's, surrounded by classmates that I was seeing every day and essentially competing against. My mentality quickly became "Well, I'm not smart enough and I don't have the raw talent... So I'll just have to hustle and work hard to make up the distance." That's kinda become my mantra over the years, and I think it's served me well. Even then it's a little bit scary, because anyone can learn to work longer, but you can't increase your intelligence or core inclination. I'm occupying a spot that anyone with the drive can muscle in on and unseat me.
My have a really intelligent family, and I think there was always this subconscious pressure to be smart too. And I always felt like I landed a bit short. So when I got that 112... To be honest, it was like a sigh of relief. Like I could say, "Whew, yeah, I guess I can be smart too, I guess." Like maybe in every other conversation I have I don't need to tell myself "Listen to them, they're probably right. You know you're not that smart." Kinda gets degrading after a while.
But all that being said... IQ tests are garbage. I don't think you can judge all humans based on a single metric like that. You can't seriously tell me that Picasso would've scored just as well on an IQ test as Einstein, and that therefore the prior is clearly inferior and has not accomplished as much. It's like comparing apples and freakin' waterfalls. Both have had their own impact on society and culture, and one didn't have any less potential than the other.
One of the comments from the Reddit post states that "IQ tests are designed to test the fundamental building block of human intelligence, pattern recognition / basic logic." And you know what, maybe that's true, but... Maybe human intelligence simply doesn't matter as much, especially depending on how "success" or "productive member of society" can be defined. Hell, just how limiting can a lower IQ be if George Bush can become El Presidante?
Even looking at the test I did last night, I recognize it as a very, very visual test. Being a designer, that's my language and the channel that I probably learn through best. But what about people who are more verbal? Tactile? Kinetic? Even if an IQ test was some definitive golden measurement, there's no way that all humans can be equally evaluated via one way of administrating the test itself.
So, yes, maybe I have an IQ of 112, but I don't think that should really change anything. I'm still gonna hustle and I'm still gonna work hard.
-Cril
Sometimes late
When things are real
And the people share the gift of gab
Between themselves
Some are quick
To take the bait
And the catch the perfect prize
That waits among the shells
But Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man
That he didn't, didn't already have
And Cause never was the reason for the evening
Or the tropic of Sir Galahad
Jericho Ronsales - Tin Man
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