Transcript
[00:00:00] Hi everybody on the road NeuroRebel here and today I wanted to talk a little bit about some of the problems with IQ.
[00:00:41] Uh, so one of the first problems with IQ is that it is really only measuring one type of intelligence and how well you score on the IQ test. Very specifically. There are many, many, many different types of things.
[00:00:59] Intelligence [00:01:00] and they are all valid and important. And having a very high score or a very low score in one particular type of intelligence doesn’t necessarily, um, predict success or failure in life. Uh, and so there’s a misconception that having a high IQ, um, will be a good thing.
[00:01:24] However, a lot of people with high IQ argue that having a high IQ kind of sets them up for failure because people expect so much of them because they have this high IQ. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they have less difficulty with executive functioning or other basic self care tasks. So IQ doesn’t mean that you’re going to be able to get the best job or necessarily be successful in life.
[00:01:53] And the other problem with IQ is some people are just brilliant in their own way. They just don’t [00:02:00] score well on an IQ test, or some people may not be good test takers. And so, you know, the test is very limited. It really is only a test of one type of intelligence. And so, you know, people who have a lower IQ score, they may actually do better in life than some people with a high IQ score.
[00:02:25] I just wanted to point out like this – this is a really – not a great tool to measure competence and intelligence.
[00:02:33] Um, and some people invest too much in it. Like, Oh, my IQ score is this. Uh, it doesn’t necessarily mean like someone with high IQ is better with someone with a lower score. You don’t, all of that. That’s supremacy stuff. It’s just kind of gross.
[00:02:47] It’s not a competition. We all have different strengths, gifts and weaknesses. And IQ is just one number that is, in my opinion, highly limited.
[00:02:57] Alrighty guys, thank you so much for [00:03:00] hanging out this week. I will talk to you next time. Bye!
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Thank you for this! Ask someone who scores way higher than average on IQ tests, I have been opposed to this culture’s reliance on them since even before I knew I’m Autistic. I grew up in a family that was very proud of out “superior intelligence” and learned very early on how easy it is to use high IQ as a way not to have to be concerned about a person’s life challenges. I’d had this beginning to feel in my mind for a while, but there was a particular conversation with my mother that sharpened the focus: we were talking about my sister, who we were trying to convince to leave an abusive relationship. At one point my mother seemed to be getting tired of the conversation, then said “Well, she’s an intelligent woman. I’m sure she’ll be fine.” And that, in a nutshell is pretty good representation of our culture’s attitude, as well.