In the old days (and maybe still) the Army gave an IQ test to inductees. It was used as a guide for entrance into Officers Candidate School. Midway through the test there was a fiendishly difficult run of six or seven questions that dealt with a railroad timetable. The questions were put there to see who was stupid enough to spend precious time trying to figure out the answers. However, one of the smartest men I ever met (and who had worked for the Southern Pacific RR) was up to the challenge and was resolved to answer the questions. He claims that he got them right. He persevered, but in doing so was unable to finish the test. So, would he have made a good officer?
I’ve heard it said that an attribute of a good officer is the ability to make quick decisions. If they happen to be right, that’s even better.
It was probably a good test for officer material : did he have enough sense to recognize questions that would take a long time to answer, skip over them, and come back if time permits?
For years I questioned myself about why I did not just skip over until I got to solvable problems. I think that you are right about the purpose of it.
I scored pretty high on those tests, but it always annoyed me about that one portion.