When I was in 6th grade (over half a century ago) they administered the IQ test. Some time afterwords my teacher pulled me aside and informed me that I had an IQ of 150+. I since earned a Ph.D, wrote many books, taught on the college level, and had many adventures afound the world. But I’m still poor as a church mouse so it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.
Jayne Mansfield reportedly had an IQ of 149. I guess it’s what you do with it that’s important.
Mensa’s requirement for membership is a score at or above the 98th percentile on certain standardized IQ or other approved intelligence tests, such as the Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales. The minimum accepted score on the Stanford–Binet is 132, while for the Cattell it is 148.
I was a failure like our younger son and younger grandson, we scored in the 92 to 95th percentile.
My wife, oldest son and our oldest grand kid scored in the 98th and up percentile. They were asked to join local Mensas early in about the 6th grade.
The oldest son went to one meeting and dropped out. He was/is a hunter, fisher, and wrestler as well has played top Sax in his high school band. He is very conservative and has been since grade school. He describes the others in his Mensa group as nerds and liberals.
My wife and grand daughter are two of the smartest people I have ever known including a lot of NSG’s, some ASA’s and some NSA’s. They read at about 1200 words a minute and have basically total recall for months or forever. Both made 2 b’s in high school and the rest are A’s and were graduated magna cum laude from their high schools.
A sister in law nicknamed my wife and grand daughter as the two 3 B’s. Beautiful/Brainy/Babes. They both went to one Mensa meeting and said no thank you. My wife is very social, and she said the meeting was like being with cloistered nuns. The grand daughter had the same problem 60 miles away. She is a little shy and so were the other girls. They basically just looked at each other with minimal interchange. She developed long term relation ships with the gals on the same sport teams and academic teams.
I’m retired now but was a guidance counselor in several elementary schools and was trained to give several types of Intelligence scales. The Wechsler scale is long in the tooth at this point and may have, especially now, more cultural bias than in the past (all intelligence tests do) - but it can give some very good information. Just don’t make it, or any other test, the end all be all. It is one and only one source of information. The Wechsler scale is divided up into two main parts; a verbal section and what’s called a performance section. The verbal part basically tests for abstract verbal reasoning skills closely associated with success in our culture. The performance part tests for other areas of intelligence that we know exist and are important but may not correlate as highly with success in our culture. In the hands of a skilled examiner, it can yield some important information about a person. Again, just don’t make it the “gospel” - that’s where people can get into trouble.
I had a psychologist friend give it to my two sons when they were in jr. high. Both came out about where I had thought they were functioning - but there were a few surprises or “greater depth” of understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. My oldest, my wife and I knew, was a hands on type kid. He was fixing things back in 1st and 2nd grade. We knew college would be “an experiment” when we sent him. He eventually dropped out and became a jeweler, then went to watch makers school in St. Paul. He now works for Honeywell in Clearwater, FL, in their precision instruments division. My youngest son, scored a little higher and more so in the abstract verbal part of the test. No surprise there. He was the kid who leaned on his shovel and told us stories and jokes while my oldest and I dug the holes or repaired “whatever”. When our kids were in the primary grades we were very poor. In the summer time our kids would go to all the Vacation Bible Schools in the neighborhood. My youngest knew all the stories so well from our teaching at home and also from going to all these churches that the teachers just let him tell the stories.
One subtest of the Wechsler on the verbal side, tests auditory memory. You give the client digits forward and then they have to give the sequence back to you. The number of digits increases that they must remember. But then, you give a certain number of digits and they have to give the order reversed. That number also increases as well. My youngest, scored the top score on that subtest. What that means in practical terms is that we did not know how much higher he could have gone but… listening was definitely an area of strength. He became a biblical studies major. He is fluent in 3 languages (English of course, Spanish, and Hebrew and also knows a good bit of German). He is in Israel right now working on a masters degree and takes his classes in Hebrew at Hebrew Univ. He’s also had a couple years of Koine Greek but is not fluent in it - yet! His Greek teacher teaches it as a conversational language. While I know it sounds like I’m bragging about my sons - I am of course - I just wanted to show how the Wechsler scale can kind of confirm what a parent or individual might intuitively know or believe. It often gives more in-depth information than you would have had otherwise and may also confirm or deny some of your previous musings. Not all intelligence scales are created equal. Many shorter scales or tests are often weighted more heavily in the verbal areas. If an examiner doesn’t have the time to give the entire Weschsler Scale yet still wants a ball park figure, they will just give the vocabulary section of the test. I know this is a friend and not a child you’re discussing but I hope this helps a little.
I don’t know anything about IQ or those tests or any of that stuff - or even what it measures. But... that being said... it would be interesting to know how many Freepers are past/current members.
It is one measurement of possible potential.
One isn’t going to be a physicist if the IQ is 80
I wouldn’t recommend it to boost one’s sense of self worth. Best way to do that is to help someone else that needs it
IQ is the X Factor in the X-Y-Z package that it takes to be a genius.
I know a very lot about IQ and testing. Here are some sum ups of my opinions thereon:
1. The tests work better on children, get more of an accurate picture because less brain function then comes from learned info. The goals of these tests are or should be to assess a child’s educational potential and help direct his growth.
2. Both the nonverbal and verbal portions of the test have meaning. There are many kinds of brain damage or dysfunction that can be alternately discovered or considered after results. The young brain is plastic and there are surgeries that can help. Thereafter (surgery, therapies) one might see a different result on the tests. If only one can be given, say to a nonverbal child, the results give you less info.
3. If a child is found to have a very high IQ, over 140, they will benefit from a special education program developed for the highly gifted, for two reasons. They will want to go deeper into each subject of research than their lower IQ peers. The other reason, just as important in my opinion, is to allow these kids to have peers that understand them. Real friends.
4. Lots of children have special needs that are holding them back from learning. Some of these children score pretty darn high on IQ tests. It’s good to know this. To adjust their educational programs accordingly. Maybe just a few aids or therapies will allow these kids to get closer to their potential intellectual achievement.
5. Some kids appear pretty neurotypical in average schools, low income environments. But their grades are bad, maybe their behaviors too. An IQ test might shine a light onto the fact that this child is borderline intellectually impaired and in all ways would benefit from special ed to him at his level. This can save a child: he can look forward to doable goals and jobs, rather than fall into criminality after years of being “the bad kid” in the class.
6. For adults in the middle of the IQ spectrum, from low normal to high normal, rating them by their IQs is almost worthless. It’s useful for organizing very large groups, like the military. You take a certain IQ level to program sniper drones, etc. But in a regular work setting, personality, kindness, morals, and work ethic all turn out to be more important to the company.
Here is the thing about IQ, I’m fairly intelligent, not a genius but above average. Years ago I figured out I was rarely the smartest guy in the room, however I found most people just aren’t very motivated, including geniuses. I found I could out perform the smartest guy in the room if I showed up early, paid attention and tried to improve my performance every day.
An IQ test isn’t going to cheer your friend, finding something to invest himself in might.
I’m too smart to fall for that...
Do you hate your friend that much?
I’ve known Mensa members. Not very impressed. IQ is overrated. Yes, I qualify. Never bothered, because...
Something I’ve figured out is that smart is as smart does. I may be ‘smart’, but I haven’t always been ‘SMART’.
I think my life would have been easier if I’d been more average and had to work harder at things. Seriously.
But enough about me :P
As to your friend, two things:
One: Jesus (duh). For believers, the rock and foundation of our sense of self-worth should be Christ’s sacrifice for us. That’s one part of the Gospel that’s often forgotten in the world of feel-good health & wealth ‘gospel’ peddlers. Your value as a human being doesn’t depend on your circumstances in life, success as the world defines it, etc. It’s not about what you have, it’s about what God has given for you.
Two: As people, (speaking for myself, but I suspect it’s universal), if you want morale booster, achievement and accomplishment works wonders. I’m not talking about buying a new car or finding twooo wuv or anything like that, it can be something as simple as cleaning a room in your house, learning a new skill, doing something. Something achievable. (Start small)
Because the surest way to remain miserable is to sit there in your puddle of self-pity and do nothing. Heck, even walking 20 minutes a day is better than watching 0prah.
Aside from that ... sometimes the best thing you can give someone you care about is your time. Time is the most precious thing we have, and sharing it with someone else who ... understands this can be one of the most precious gifts of all.
Anyway, that’s about all I’ve got for today. Hopefully some of it might help.
I’ve been a member of Mensa for 41 years and the folks are among the nicest, kindest, and smartest people I know. Each chapter has its own flavor (here in Colorado Springs we tend toward the conservative side). Our local membership ranges from astrophysicists to high school dropouts. Almost all of our activities are social gatherings, dinners, games, movies, and so forth, and the social strata from which you come matters not a whit. What I cherish about my Mensa friends is you seldom say something, say a particularly complex play on words, that they don’t get and can usually zing one back at you. Witty people! It’s also refreshing that conversations don’t start and end with, “How ‘bout them Broncos?”
IQ tests are only valid if properly crafted for an individual's environment - a test that tested a farmer's smarts/knowledge about the whole of the agricultural arena and maintaining the equipment would be worthless for a inner city person.
IMO, the IQ figure is just a prediction of a person’s potential for learning.
IQ doesn’t consider other factors that may limit or enhance that potential, such as family and locale, quality of available public schools, income levels that may limit opportunities, etc.
I was tested in elementary school and scored high. Made all A’s through 7th grade and began classic piano lessons at 6, won National and International medals by age 12.
Then, 8th grade, I discovered girls! Quit piano lessons. Flunked courses in grades 9, 10 and 11, and had to attend Summer school to make them up (where I made A’s).
After Navy duty, I started night classes at Jr. College 8 years after HS. Got my AAS 4 years later and transferred to a University where I got my BBA 2 years later (with 59 hours in last 12 months. Six years later I began work on a 48 hour MBA and earned that at age 40, and had no student debt.
That overly long summary explains my first sentence about potential. I didn’t flunk courses because I was dumb in school. I flunked because I was bored or distracted.
I’m somewhat embarrassed that I just wrote all of that, but it explains “potential”.
I am a member of Mensa, and also of INTERTEL, which is similar, but only accepts the TOP HALF of Mensa. Then, there is the society for the DUMBEST people in the world - it is called DENSA.
I have to say, I am quite impressed with the number of FReepers who claim to be Mensa members or eligible. This kind of blows away the utterly false accusation of DUmmies who characterize us as “mouth-breathing knuckle-draggers.”
I hope some of them are lurking :)