Comment by freetobesmart | Hacker News Reader

Comment by freetobesmart | Hacker News Reader

Im curious what people will get out of determining measurable IQ. What are their end goals.

1) You dont get smarter. Its not like knowing you are 120 vs 100 IQ changes anything about your ability to solve a problem

2) IQ is more of a speed of learning not an ability to understand. With enough time you can learn anything (challenge placed) the biggest barrier is discipline and desire.

3) IQ is abstract and is very useless within any context. If you want to know if someone is good at math give them a math test. If they are a good writer look at their portfolio. IQ is like determining someone is good at being a chef by only asking them questions. IQ is very far from any specific field of knowledge.

IQ is like space knowledge. Its only important/useful subject for a select few people.

IQ was important to determine the effect of lead exposure on cognitive function. Without it we probably wouldn't have nearly as stringent laws banning it (eg. in paint, and gasoline), and would still be suffering from endemic lead poisoning.

It's not particularly important to know your own IQ as an individual (you probably already have an idea of your abilities) but it's very useful for that sort of public health purpose. If there are other neurotoxins floating around which we don't know about, IQ will be important to identify and justify banning them.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8162884

1. You may want to choose a less intellectually rigorous career if your IQ is low. Or you might get an early warning to work on factors you can control - for example the ability to focus, getting enough sleep, etc.

2. "With enough time..." is a totally irrelevant argument made by people who don't understand competition and how it applies to the real world, as in for scholarships, promotions, etc. Time is everything - and its a luxury. It also cuts into your free time heavily.

3. This is true. Except, when you read some code or a complex math concept, have fun if your working memory is sub-par and you can't even remember what the inputs to a function are.

"Its only important/useful subject for a select few people."

It's the exact opposite of that - it is applied to learning any field fast.

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