tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11516215.post4452457083872980797..comments2024-03-28T15:31:02.860-07:00Comments on Metacrock's Blog: g Whiz, I Used to be SmartJoseph Hinman (Metacrock)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06957529748541493998noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11516215.post-244918745798611532017-03-15T06:46:06.596-07:002017-03-15T06:46:06.596-07:00that was a point I made imn my essay, Math biases...that was a point I made imn my essay, Math biases the test unfairly because those who make the test are good in math. Your story illustrates that beautifully, thanks for your comment.Joseph Hinman (Metacrock)https://www.blogger.com/profile/06957529748541493998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11516215.post-8542031838302542002017-03-15T04:34:15.569-07:002017-03-15T04:34:15.569-07:00Many years ago, my husband and I took one of those...Many years ago, my husband and I took one of those tests you used to see in magazines (pre-internet) called something like, "Would you qualify for Mensa?" Now my husband had already been told in school that he had a very high IQ He'd actually taken two different tests during high school and they differed but both were above 160. He grew up in an upper middle class neighborhood and attended very good schools. His had his degree in math. I, on the other hand, grew up in a working class or lower home. The only people I knew with college degrees were teachers. My father only went to 8th grade although he was not without intelligence or cultural literacy. He had quit school to support his mother when his father died. My mom had a high school degree, had won a partial scholarship to college which her parents discouraged her from making use of and it was during the Depression so she didn't even try.. But she was a great reader, especially of literature and history - something she passed onto me. I myself was a high school drop out at one time (long story). I eventually got a GED and became a nurse. I didn't become a nurse because of my love for science but rather because I wanted a job where I helped others. The only post-9th grade math I had for many years was a nursing math class. I could always study and do well in math but have never liked it. Anyway, that is a long introduction, but here's the thing. We each took the test. The test had a timing factor - you had to finish it in a certain amount of time and if you finished it 20 or 30 minutes sooner, you added a bonus to your score. Well, my husband finished it more quickly than I did and got the bonus. This is probably partly due to the facts that 1)he reads really quickly due to speed reading courses. I am not a slow reader, but neither am I as fast as him, and 2)more importantly, he'd studied math so much math. . I recall that one problem I spent a lot of time on was one in which there is series of numbers and you must decide what comes next (or in the middle). I played with that thing for quite a bit before the time was up and actually solved and got the answer correct by trial and error of all sorts of things. But because he got it more quickly, his IQ was supposedly larger (although we both supposedly would qualify for Mensa, lol, which we really had no desire to join). When we discussed it afterwards, I mentioned the problem I had taken so long to solve. He explained that he had known it right away because of his knowledge of a math principle I'd never studied. Now you tell me - does he have more innate intelligence than me because he'd had years of advanced mathematics or is it possible that I showed more intelligence than he was required to because I basically had to work out a math equation that I'd never learned? Actually, we don' worry about who is smarter - we are both intelligent in different was and in different areas. He's a math/science person. I'm a history/sociology/philosophy person. But it kind of soured me on intelligence tests.<br />I think the idea that what is being measured by these things is cultural literacy is a very good explanation.<br /><br />Innate intelligence exists, of course, and it can be vary useful. I say "can be" because I'm not sure one can really completely separate intelligence from other things like hard work, self control or moral excellence. In other words, intelligence isn't wisdom and wisdom is what is really needed.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10291362800043553434noreply@blogger.com