Comments on: The politics of intelligence http://americasfuture.org/conventionalfolly/2009/03/30/the-politics-of-intelligence/ Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:17:16 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Gabriel Austin http://americasfuture.org/conventionalfolly/2009/03/30/the-politics-of-intelligence/comment-page-1/#comment-1925 Gabriel Austin Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:12:52 +0000 http://www.americasfuture.org/conventionalfolly/?p=4368#comment-1925 I realize that IQ is said to be a measurement of intelligence. I believe it is rather a measurement of the finagle co-efficient: How good are you at giving the answers the examiners are looking for? Surely a kid living in a slum is savvier than a kid coddled in a suburb. I realize that IQ is said to be a measurement of intelligence. I believe it is rather a measurement of the finagle co-efficient: How good are you at giving the answers the examiners are looking for?

Surely a kid living in a slum is savvier than a kid coddled in a suburb.

]]> By: JayDickB http://americasfuture.org/conventionalfolly/2009/03/30/the-politics-of-intelligence/comment-page-1/#comment-1924 JayDickB Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:35:47 +0000 http://www.americasfuture.org/conventionalfolly/?p=4368#comment-1924 Many years ago, a very wise professor told me: "It's nature times nurture, not nature versus nurture" I believe that to be true. A good upbringing can overcome deficiencies in native intelligence, and vice versa. Many people don't understand that there are different kinds of intelligence. I have met people who could hardly speak in complete sentences, but could diagnose and fix a computer problem quicker and better than others who speak perfectly but can't do anything but talk. IQ tests don't directly measure any real skills except for test taking. High IQ scores may correlate well with other abilities, but there are enough exceptions to degrade their importance. Remember, necessity is the mother of invention. To get the best out of anyone, you must give them big, continuous, incentives to produce. That's how ability is really discovered and measured, not by IQ tests. Providing government payments in return for nothing greatly reduces incentive. Many years ago, a very wise professor told me: “It’s nature times nurture, not nature versus nurture”

I believe that to be true. A good upbringing can overcome deficiencies in native intelligence, and vice versa.

Many people don’t understand that there are different kinds of intelligence. I have met people who could hardly speak in complete sentences, but could diagnose and fix a computer problem quicker and better than others who speak perfectly but can’t do anything but talk.

IQ tests don’t directly measure any real skills except for test taking. High IQ scores may correlate well with other abilities, but there are enough exceptions to degrade their importance.

Remember, necessity is the mother of invention. To get the best out of anyone, you must give them big, continuous, incentives to produce. That’s how ability is really discovered and measured, not by IQ tests. Providing government payments in return for nothing greatly reduces incentive.

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