Do You Think IQ Is Like Money?

[Keith Maitland]

But Keith, you talked about IQ which is a very narrow way of defining intelligence.

Funny how the public has accepted the Implicit Association Test as a valid measure of racial bias while believing that IQ testing is spurious. It's almost like the public faith in a psychological test is inversely correlated with its scientific validity.

[Steve H]

I saw this comment by Carl Bereiter.


IQ is like money. Publicly you proclaim that those individuals who have a lot are no better than those who have a little.... But privately you wish you had a lot.


Agree?

I missed this thread when it first appeared a year ago. That quotation is illogical. Of course people with a lot of money and intelligence are no better than other people, if by "better" he means "morally better", which I think is the meaning most people would understand by it; in fact the very rich are likely to be morally worse - greedy, acquisitive and ruthless in their acquisition. IQ is morally neutral, but it's perfectly reasonable to wish you were brainier than you are, and (within reason) to wish you were richer than you are. That has nothing to do with your estimation of the moral worth of the rich or clever.

[Steve H]

Yes.

Very intelligent people, like very beautiful people, know that they are. Intelligence is a very good thing and stupidity (or at very best average middling mediocrity, which functionally amounts to the same thing) a very bad thing.

That should be quick, clear, easy and simple. The only reason it isn't is that we live in a dumbed-down, stupid-worshipping

"stupidity-worshipping". "Stupid" is an adjective, not a noun.

degenerate culture where there is a cult of the stupid (Jade Goody becomes a massively wealthy reality TV star; people become celebrities because of how they bake cakes, etc.) and excellence in any field is waved away as posh, arrogant elitism.

Why isn't excellence in baking admirable?

[Robbie]

You're flogging a dead horse SteveH, Shaker has left us.