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From: edhall@randvax.UUCP (Ed Hall)
Newsgroups: net.singles,net.social
Subject: Re: Intelligence
Message-ID: <2545@randvax.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 11-Jun-85 11:49:24 EDT
Article-I.D.: randvax.2545
Posted: Tue Jun 11 11:49:24 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 17-Jun-85 04:27:19 EDT
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Reply-To: edhall@rand-unix.UUCP (Ed Hall)
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Organization: Rand Corp., Santa Monica
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Keywords: intelligence dating
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Summary: More than brains

It's been pointed out before, but it bears re-stating: what an IQ test
measures is but a tiny fraction of a person's intellectual ability--
and sometimes isn't measuring intellect at all, but rather cultural
awareness (white middle-class culture, of course).  Read Steven Jay
Gould's *The Mis-measure Of Man* for a good treatment of this and
other attempts to find a simple quantifier for intelligence.

It's interesting that measured intelligence correlates only moderately
with future success, and that for IQ's above about 120, the correlation
vanishes.  There are people who measure under 75 on IQ tests who live
normal lives, are articulate and independent, and really don't seem all
that ``stupid'' to those around them.

I'm certain that there are many different kinds of intelligence.  Some of
the most brilliant people I've known are in the social sciences or other
such fields and are simply ``all thumbs'' where it comes to computers or
other technology.  No, it isn't just an emotional reaction--I've worked
with these people, and their minds simply do not function very well in
this area, despite their enormous abilities in other modes of thought.
And, of course, I've met folks who were the opposite of this.  And some of
the most brilliantly creative people I've known seemed kinda average in
areas we'd probably call ``intelligence''.

So think about it: do you really want to limit yourself to a group of
people just because they scored high on some test?  ``Smarts'' come
in lots of different shapes, and show themselves in lots of different
ways.  Granted, IQ tests *do* measure *something*, and a lot of the
folks who do well on them seem ``smart'' to us.  But I know from
experience that this doesn't form an exclusive group--there are
some things far more valuable than the ability to do well on a bunch
of word- and sight-puzzles.

		-Ed Hall
		decvax!randvax!edhall