Scientists with low IQs

Tesla569

Smart is as smart does.I want to discuss photoelecetric gels. any help?

Art

IQ tests measure people's itellectual potential and makes no pretension to predict if that potential will ever be realised. It's a little like measuring the size of an engine in a car. A 2 litre engine has the potential to power a car to go faster than a car with a 1.1 litre engine but there are a lot of other factors that determine the speed of the car and so a well-tuned 1.1 litre engine might well outperform a badly-tuned 2 litre engine. On the other hand if all else is equal then the 2 litre engine will always outperform the 1.1 litre engine. As they say in boxing parlance 'a good big 'un will always beat a good little 'un'.

Think of it in terms of the law of constraints. People with high IQs are not constrained by their ability to grasp complex problems as people with lower IQ's may be but other physchological attributes may well be constraining issues which prevent those with high IQs from ever achieving their potential. To return to my analogy, if the car has no wheels then it doesn't matter how big the engine is, the car is not going anywhere. In the real world lack of application or motivation are 2 common and obvious examples of constraints.

Schrodinger's Dog

try this iq test:

1) how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? assume angels have feet of area 1/100000 sq in, and a pin had area .1 inch. also assume angels like a small amount of elbow room.

A: Depends are they black angels cause those cats need more than elbow room to do their thang, where as white angels just sort of stumble around looking embarrassed so elbow room is fine. Too stereotypical ?

2) are women smarter tham men?

I don't understand the question? What does tham mean, in context if you mean than "than", there is no scientific evidence to prove they are, such as it is, I mean intelligence is a pretty hazy field. However there are areas of intelligence men excel at and areas of intelligence women excel at so it's not an easy question to answer except in general terms...

3) if you smoke pot, and drink and drive, and do no exercise, and watch tv all evening, what grade will you get in abstract algebra in grade 14?

Impossible to say. Are you someone famous who did just that and then went on to win the fields medal?

4) what percentage of american republican voters still think saddam hussein had wmd's?

Too many.

5) how much does it help to be wealthy if the air is polluted in the entire country?

Not at all exactly, however if you are rich you will no doubt spend less hours in areas that are highly polluted. You don't suggest their is no gradient of pollution.

6) what is .9999...... = ?

.9999...... Unless you mean .999... Which equals one, although you may be using unconventional maths terminology, in which case it equals 1

7) can you whistle dixie and walk at the same time?

Yep I can. But if you mean you in the sense of everyone then maybe not some people can't whistle, and it may be against the law in some states, who knows?

8) is a french wine worth $900 a bottle if robert parker gives it a score of 98?

No wine is worth that much, unless it's to be collected and never appreciated which is criminal.

9) can you remember your class schedule for fall 2007?

What? I don't have one, fall 2007 is my time off.

10) do you floss regularly?

no.

11) is every (p,p) cohomology class on a complex algebraic manifold algebraic?

How on Earth would I know? I'm going to guess no

12) did j.b. ramsey commit suicide?

Without googling I have no idea who he is. So I'm going to say the case is still open.

13) which of the following do not belong with the others? a bottle of beefeaters gin; an 18 ounce pool cue signed by minnesota fats; a first edition of "michael strogoff" illustrated by jules verne; a rejection letter from the newschool for social research in florida; a scratched dvd of a jackie chan movie; a 12 ounce bag of cafarrel gianduia?


Isn't Minnesota Fats a fictional character from the Hustler?(fantastic movie btw) Must be him then as I presume the others actually exist.

14) what do women want?

It varies from any given moment and any given day.
^
Disclaimer: the above may be changed at any time without notice.


If I score badly the test is not a very good test and is culturally biased, and had loads of grammatical errors. If I score ok then it's a great test well done there Mathwonk

jostpuur

I have a better intelligent test. It is this: If you have got a Nobel prize in theoretical physics, or a Fields medal, you are intelligent. If you have not got either of them, you are not intelligent. Possible scores in the test are 0 and 1.

Manchot

Does John Bardeen get a 2, then? Or does the transistor not count as theoretical physics?

Moridin

Does an IQ test measure your intelligence, or your ability to complete IQ tests?

Kurdt

High IQ is not a requirement to becoming a scientist. The most important aspect is dedication and hard work. You can have the highest IQ in the world but if you do not apply yourself then you will never achieve anything. On the other hand you could have an average IQ and try very hard and produce some fantastic research or win the Nobel prize. What would you rather do.

scientiavore

I stopped caring about my IQ results when they started giving me lower results...
That proved me I was not a genius after all, so I simply don't give a **** about it now. :P

I pretty much suck at chess for example, I am damn slow processing future possibles moves.

But I don't know, when proving math theorems for example, does the IQ thing really matters? Is it logic what we use?
I think we don't even think about it on a conscious level, it is kind of like you stare at the problem for a long while, you get frustrated with yourself because you can't solve it, you give up, you're taking a shower and then suddenly, out of the blue, a thought runs through your head with the solution.

mjolnir80

quoted for truth

Danger

Mr. Dog, I agree with you if only for the flawless camouflage job in your post.
Everyone seems to forget the Q part of IQ. As MIH, Hypatia, Moonbear, and several other less beautiful people know, the IQ scale is meant to determine the capacity for knowledge, rather than the knowledge itself. 35 years ago, when I was tested, I ended up somewhere between 100 and 200. That doesn't mean that I'm smarter than my friend who scored 95, or dumber than my other friend who scored 195.
Work with what you've got, screw the nay-sayers, and make a good life for yourself.

WarPhalange

My IQ is 470, making me a Level 12 Genius. I get +5 to arrogance and -10 to my "Chance to get laid" roll. I also get special abilities such as "Flaunt Superiority" and "Fix Microwave".

If you need any proof that IQ means squat when it comes to intelligence, look at this man:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Michael_Langan

maze

If IQ really measures some "intrinsic ability", then, at the absolute minimum, the scores you get on a test should stay relatively constant over time. Your score shouldn't increase as you learn new things. This is not the case with actual tests.

For example, if you work in 3d modeling and texturing/skinning for a few months (drawing and applying 2d images onto a 3d model), then those questions about how a cube or dodecahedron folds up are trivially easy to visualize, because you've gotten used to visualizing much harder stuff.

Howers

To be a scientist who regurgitates other people's work? No. As long as you can recite information you can do anything you want to. But to produce fantastic research? I really think a high IQ is a requirement. This is cruel and unfair, but I believe it is reality. Look at virtually all Nobel winners and the quality of their work... pretty much all of them score above 120 and are closer to 140. In fact, having skimmed through the thread I have yet to see a low IQ name pop up. Granted, a lot of the great scientists were not around to have their IQs tested (including Einstein), and so estimates can be taken with a grain of salt. But history tells us they too were top of their class and in many cases prodigies.

Obivously hard work and dedication is the other half. But this is a learned habit, ANYONE can do it. But not everyone is capable of genius insight. Just as someone tall and someone short can both learn to play basket ball, the nature of the sport favours the tall individual. Thats why when a rare exception comes to mind, ie. Spud Webb, we hear all about it.

Whether or not you choose to accept IQ as an accurate measure of intelligence (I define intelligence as a capacity to aquire knowledge and think in novel ways), is up to you. I believe it is a good measure, although far from perfect. But if you are denying that some people are just naturally more talented, I am afraid you are living in denial.

They are constant. Have you tried this 3d experiment or are you just making it up? Online tests are not constant because are not correct the first time. A professional assessment gives a far more accurate measure. And IQ declines with age. That should be common sense. Is it not harder to learn a new language when you are 30 rather than when you were 7?

maze

There has been considerable research done on "the expert mind" in the last 20 years, investigating chess grandmasters, athletes, scientists, concert musicians, and so forth. The overwhelming evidence indicates that geniuses are made, not born. Ericsson is one of the leading researchers in the field, you may want to use his journal articles as a starting point if you wish to investigate the subject further.

I scored 10 points higher on a legitimate administered test after working intensely on 3D modeling as a hobby for 2 years during highschool. The test questions were similar and administered by the same people. I scored basically the same on all portions of the test except the spatial questions which I improved on.

This is a hotly debated issue in cognitive science, and is not clear-cut. People who learn a language through immersion apparently learn pretty quickly.

Defennder

Sometimes I wonder if those doing research into cognitive intelligence are themselves as intelligent as the human subjects they study.

maze

In this case the researchers would definitely be less intelligent than the people being studied - that's the point. Regardless, so long as the research is done carefully and repeatably, and the conclusion is supported by data, it doesn't really matter.

neu

People who quote their IQ scores (where do people get tested?) always come across to me as just plain dull.

Even if you accept the premise that an IQ score is directly repesentative of cognitive ability then there's no achievement is scoring high is there?

Remeber IQ tests are timed. If you answer a question quickly you get a better score. Therefore who's to say a person with reasonable cognitive ability will not be able to answer all the questions answered by someone with a very strong and fast cognitive abilities, albeit with some more time and thought.

From what I've heard there's a much larger scope for disorders and depression for those with an incredibly high IQ than there is for success relative to those of just above average IQ. It's a very woolly and vague thing to say but it's just an impression I get.