re: #83 Simply Sarah

The major problem with “IQ tests” are that people focus on one value: IQ. The type of testing that gives an IQ as a result can be very helpful in locating and diagnosing strengths and weaknesses of the test taker in certain areas of cognitive ability. The results can help find the root of why someone is struggling in school or the like. For that sort of thing this type of testing can be fantastically useful.

What it isn’t useful for is to determine “how smart” someone is. Sadly, since IQ is a nice little number, people like using it as if it really meant something. It’s not entirely meaningless, but it means relatively little compared to specific results in each area.

There was an idiot who used to post here, who bragged constantly about having a 167 IQ.