There are some smart people here on Al Gore's Intarwebz. Not "Smart", but smart. People like Aretae and Foseti, and while I haven't met them, I'm told that they leave SmartPrints when they walk across your carpet.But sometimes, they get caught up in Smart, not smart. Like with a discussion about IQ over at Aretae's place. Now I doubt very much that I run in the same league with Aretae and Foseti, smarts-wise (my older brother almost certainly does, so I'm pretty familiar with smart). And you will learn a ton from a daily dose of Aretae, at least if you're like me. He's a bit Aquinas-like - hard going in the important places - but you'll literally add 5 IQ points by reading him for a year.
But. When I read his post about IQ - not stupid, even a little bit - my first thought was this is not right. I even left a comment struggling towards this, although it was pretty weak beer. I needed something stronger.
I needed Country Music, which knows smart when it sees it.
I see you rolling your eyes at me, and just stop it right now. Here's the problem I have with the standard IQ test: it measures a form of intelligence. That form is certainly intelligent.
But that form is not exclusively intelligent. And Country Music can prove it.
Here's the fundamental problem with IQ: you may know the rational thing to do by using traditional high-IQ analysis techniques. That doesn't mean that you know the right thing to do. Your Volgi nailed this in a post that I've quoted 3 or 4 times:
Plus, the kids who come in are often times high on themselves and their SAT scores and have increasingly not been exposed to alternative moral systems, like traditional religion, in which they'd hear, "Yeah, you're smart, but so what? Are you good?" Or have pointed out to them that not a few brilliant men have gone on to do profound evil.Rousseau was high IQ. Kerrie Pickler is probably not. She didn't know that a piccolo was in the woodwind family, even when the fifth graders did:
Dumb, huh? Must be low IQ, eh? And yet she wrote this song:
She wrote this. Maybe not your cup of tea - it has her thick southern drawl after all. But what's dumb? This may not be high IQ, but that says something's missing from IQ, not from Miss Pickler.
Or how about SheDaisy? Three sisters from Utah who write their own Country songs are not likely to make the Cambridge A-List IQ invitation list. But that doesn't mean that they're not smart. I've posted on them before, but sadly they don't seem to have a video for this astonishing song:
Out Of My Mind (songwriters: Kristyn Osborn, John Shanks)
I live on caffeine, CamusThis may not be your cup of tea, but it's another one of those Aquinas-like tough nuts to crack. It may not be high IQ, but that's my point.
Eagles and Airplanes
I decorate my lies with butterflies
That glimmer in the shimmering rain
They say you can't lose 'em all
But I'll give it a shot
I want more than enough
Yeah, I want more
I want more than enough
When love is all I got
The truth is so unkind
But I'm good when I'm out of sight
Best when I'm out of my mind
And don't know what you'll find
But I'm good when I'm out of sight
Best when I'm outta my mind
I'm afraid of fallin' upward
I'm afraid of my own age
I'm a paragon with an apron on
And I'm beautiful on an empty page
There layin' in the dresser drawer
Is a rusted ravished heart
And the piercing regrets
Yeah, they pierce me
All the piercing regrets
And false starts
The truth is so unkind
But I'm good when I'm out of sight
Best when I'm out of my mind
And don't know what you'll find
But I'm good when I'm out of sight
Best when I'm out of my mind
I can be as strong as Morphine
I can lay my head down where I kneel
Sometimes I need a broken bone
To remind me how to feel
The truth is so unkind
But I'm good when I'm out of sight
Best when I'm out of my mind
And don't know what you'll find
But I'm good when I'm out of sight
Best when I'm out of my mind
IQ identifies intelligence. Some intelligence, not all intelligence. The problem is that a lot of what's not identified is perhaps even more important. Blog friend and shooting buddy Lissa - a smart person, to be sure - gets this:
I’m usually the one to fill awkward silences and invite quiet group members to speak. A lot of folks assume that, therefore, I’m a very intelligent person.Verbal acuity will score high on IQ tests. Is Lissa high IQ? I have no idea (although if I had to guess, I'd put my money down on "yes"). Is she a smart? Damn right. And a good shot - someone I'd want at my back in a TEOTWAWKI situation.Verbal acuity and actual knowledge/intelligence are NOT the same thing.
So what does this all mean, other than there are many ways to be human? Spend some time - Aquinas-wise - to understand the difference between "smart" and "Smart", and between "good" and "Good". The Examined Life has many facets, as does the Unexamined Life. What IQ measures, and what it misses.
UPDATE 21 July 2010 17:47: Foseti leaves a comment that is well worth your while. I don't agree with all of it, and will put up a post on this, but it's information-rich and to the point.
UPDATE2 21 July 2010 17:55: Oops, I forgot to point out that Midwest Chick not only left a comment that is very smart indeed, but she elaborated on the subject in a post at her place.
UPDATE3 21 July 2010 18:00: Aretae, as is his wont, brings the smart.
6 comments:
The entire post and comments on Aretae's site is based on a mistake. I can't comment there because I haven't got a Blogger ID, but I can comment here, so I will.
Borepatch, you wrote: IQ identifies intelligence. Some intelligence, not all intelligence.
It doesn't even do that. The Stanford-Binet IQ test was never meant to measure intelligence, and any use of it for that purpose is simply wrong. The IQ test was designed to measure relative knowledge and mental acuity. Relative to what, you ask? Relative to what it should be at a certain age and level of education. A child who scores 100 on an IQ test is demonstrating intelligence and knowledge typical of his age and grade level. A lower IQ score indicates a child who is lagging in some areas and requires additional attention; a higher IQ score indicates a child who is progressing faster than his or her peers. It provides no useful indication of why the child is above or below average; it simply shows that he/she is.
So take this a bit further, if you will. You have a bunch of kids who are told they are Smart and are in the exclusive schools and have the grades and the Mensa memberships, which 'proves' they are Smart.
However, they are fishbowl Smart. By that I mean that they are familiar with everything in that fishbowl--they are fed but don't know from where the food comes. They have shiny objects to play with and other fish who are usually just like them or are of similar temperament in order to share that particular fishbowl so their experience is limited to what's in that fishbowl.
The thing they are lacking is perspective. Kellie Pickler, in order to write those songs, has perspective. Lissa, because she's informed and from her comments, empathetic, has perspective. Many bloggers have perspective because they seek to break out of their fishbowl and visit with other fish.
In order to be truly smart, one has to question and to know what questions to ask and to know how to bring all of those things together--that takes perspective, which you cannot gain by being content in your fishbowl. It just makes you a Smart fish in a small bowl.
There are a lot of ideas bouncing around here (and thanks for the kind words).
First, of course IQ exists. The easiest way to see this is to look at the extremes. Einstein had a high IQ. People with Downs Syndrome have a low IQ. Or, compare Singapore to Botswana.
Second, much of the confusion here seems to be coming from a misunderstanding of statistics. The vast majority of people are in the fat part of the bell curve and the differences in that part are relatively minimal.
Third, IQ is useful because it's consistently measurable.
Fourth, it's difficult to consistently remember that IQ measure intellectual ability - not actual intelligence.
"Verbal acuity and actual knowledge/intelligence are NOT the same thing."
I agree. However, you are not going to find people with incredible verbal acuity who also have an IQ of 75.
You all seem to be saying that IQ does not measure something more philosophical (I might suggest "wisdom"). I don't think anyone disagrees.
I also don't disagree that people have other skills. Kelly Pickler, for example, seems to be an incredible salesman.
Most of my discussions with respect to IQ relate to IQ and governance. Surely, you'll admit that high levels of average IQ and stable governance seem to be incredibly highly correlated?
It's definitely possible to over-state the importance of IQ. However, be careful not to understate it. If you want to make Equatorial Guinea a better place, you're going to have to grapple with the fact that the average IQ there is around 60. Like it or not, that's going to be a problem if you're trying to turn it into Sweden.
Borepatch,
I left a response over at my blog. Addresses your point and Foseti's. Roughly, I agree with you on importance and on not single-factoredness...but I think the science is a lot stronger/bigger than you're suggesting.
As Foseti says, Wisdom is the term I use for it.
And don't go comparing folks to Aquinas. That was the smartest dude in a millenium. I'll have a fat head for a month.
If I'm so smart, why ain't I rich? ;)
*blushes*
I got your back anytime, Borepatch, and honored to do so ;-)
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