# What's your IQ?



## Rehydration (Jun 25, 2013)

Just something random.
Mine is somewhere around 130, maybe 135.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

I've never done a real IQ test, so I couldn't tell for sure.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Never had mine formally tested. I have tried out some of the online ones and never score above 70 or so. I simply don't get IQ questions at all, not even when I see the answers.


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## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

It's a fair question, but I haven't had mine tested formally either.

Also, I don't like giving out my email, address, bank details, and probably my soul too, to an unknown internet site simply to have a single number giving a semi-arbitrary account of my 'intelligence'.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

IQ tests prove that you're good at IQ tests.

In mid-twentieth-century Britain, they usually formed part of the grammar-school eleven plus testing system, along with maths & English. We trained for them regularly, at home and at school. Don't ask me to do them now, though.

A *wise* person doesn't join in 'who-has-the-biggest' contests about IQ! :lol: 
I'll stick with wise....


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

73842762407462874991746152639491746166472900404772861784864514354748962546254892651734784991664891790404076763684878901893746726571638487998108897476627474676187494736726289397493892738 and a half

No kidding


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## Garlic (May 3, 2013)

IQ is total nonsense.

I took an IQ test when I was about 10 - can't remember the exact numbers but it was above average for verbal and dead on average for non-verbal/numerical. Which isn't great for an aspiring physicist.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

*points to brain* _This_ is my hard drive and it only makes sense to put in things that are useful. _Really_ useful. Ordinary people fill their brains with all kinds of rubbish and that makes it hard to get to the stuff that matters, do you see?


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Garlic said:


> IQ is total nonsense.
> 
> I took an IQ test when I was about 10 - can't remember the exact numbers but it was above average for verbal and dead on average for non-verbal/numerical. Which isn't great for an aspiring physicist.


The IQ of Richard Feynman, one of the greatest physicists of the 20th century, was tested several times. It quite consistently came out at 125, which is above average but hardly what you would expect of a Nobel prize winning physicist. Imagine that: Feynman would not be allowed to join Mensa!

So there's hope for you yet...


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Ingenue said:


> IQ tests prove that you're good at IQ tests.
> 
> In mid-twentieth-century Britain, they usually formed part of the grammar-school eleven plus testing system, along with maths & English. We trained for them regularly, at home and at school. Don't ask me to do them now, though.
> 
> ...


and they have tremendous western cultural bias, as well.

My IQ test result plus the fare get me on the bus


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> *points to brain* _This_ is my hard drive and it only makes sense to put in things that are useful. _Really_ useful. Ordinary people fill their brains with all kinds of rubbish and that makes it hard to get to the stuff that matters, do you see?


CoAg, this is precisely Sherlock Holmes' approach to stocking the brain: can this be a coincidence? 

(I don't agree, though; re learning things, 'more is more'. It exercises the little grey cells and who knows when it may come in useful to know a medieval drinking toast? :cheers: Passilodeon!)


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Ingenue said:


> CoAg, this is precisely Sherlock Holmes' approach to stocking the brain: can this be a coincidence?
> 
> (I don't agree, though; re learning things, 'more is more'. It exercises the little grey cells and who knows when it may come in useful to know a medieval drinking toast? :cheers: Passilodeon!)


I've read all the short stories and the first two novels. Quote taken from season 1 episode 3 of Sherlock


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> *points to brain* _This_ is my hard drive and it only makes sense to put in things that are useful. _Really_ useful. Ordinary people fill their brains with all kinds of rubbish and that makes it hard to get to the stuff that matters, do you see?


I'm a little bit like this in a way, I don't know very much outside of music. If Watson were to compile a list of what I know and what I don't know it might look something like this.....

Politics: knows a little, but not much apart from leftism. 
History: very general knowledge. 
Geography: not much apart from where countries and some major cities are located
Botany: nil
Cooking: knows nothing normal, but creates many fabulous new dishes through improvisation
Astronomy: knows the names of the planets in this solar system and about 12 constellations 
Physics: very general knowledge, but still probably less than the average person
Biology: nothing whatsoever apart from a few things about the brain and the digestive and reproductive systems (I gotta multiply one day ya know? )
Chemistry: knows a fair bit about various elements, understands a number of chemical reactions, likes to mix francium with water just for fun. 
Computer sciences: Talk Classical and YouTube
Psychology: knows a little, likes to do psychoanalysis on fictional characters in books, found that Romeo Montague has obsessive love disorder. Also likes dream interpretation. 
Philosophy: I only know that I know nothing 
Astrology: Broad knowledge on the western zodiac signs, knows a fair bit about palmistry and a little about numerology
Maths: very basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and indices. Nothing whatsoever about algebra
Language: English, can read various Cyrillic scripts, knows a little French, Italian and Swedish
Art: terrible artist but has a broad knowledge of many styles and techniques 
Music: can play several instruments, has won numerous awards for composition in this country, knows a lot about music history, development of various instruments, historically informed performance, *Sibelius* fan, knows a lot about functional harmony but prefers dysfunctional harmony by far, is proficient at counterpoint, excellent orchestrator, understands musicality and how to interpret many styles of music, *Sibelius* fan, joined TC out of love of classical music. 

Also I have no common sense at all


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> 73842762407462874991746152639491746166472900404772861784864514354748962546254892651734784991664891790404076763684878901893746726571638487998108897476627474676187494736726289397493892738 and a half
> 
> No kidding


It's that "half" that matters. Mine was measured and I was thrilled with the result:

.5

Couldn't be bettered! :tiphat:


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## Ryan (Dec 29, 2012)

It's the same as my reading age, 12.


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## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

Thought it was a car? I voted 50 - 70 couldn't see what I'd do with all them?








Sorry but I can't take these seriously


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## Rehydration (Jun 25, 2013)

I thought maybe I'd get a decent score on a formal test (online) - turns out online IQ tests can't be trusted, because I got different results for each one I took.
So an IQ is also a type of car, huh? Yeah, can't see what you'd do with 50-70. :lol:


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I'm a little bit like this in a way, I don't know very much outside of music. If Watson were to compile a list of what I know and what I don't know it might look something like this.....
> 
> ...
> 
> Also I have no common sense at all


The list would, of course, be subject to amendment whenever a post required you to have specialised knowledge of something or other. Much as Holmes - described as having a "feeble knowledge" of politics immediately recognises Count von Kramm as Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Feldstein and hereditary King of Bohemia.


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

Taggart said:


> The list would, of course, be subject to amendment whenever a post required you to have specialised knowledge of something or other. Much as Holmes - described as having a "feeble knowledge" of politics immediately recognises Count von Kramm as Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Feldstein and hereditary King of Bohemia.


A feeble knowledge of politics, sure, but a healthy collection of _*Hello *_magazines...


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Kieran said:


> A feeble knowledge of politics, sure, but a healthy collection of _*Hello *_magazines...


You are your mother's son, Kieran! I shall be chuckling all night... :lol:


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## Geo Dude (May 22, 2013)

I took a 'real' IQ test that resulted in 111, which is roughly what I expected: Above average but nothing special. What struck me as funny was that I struck exactly average on the math section and the test results indicated that I should have scored higher on that based on my scores in other areas. Perhaps I would have had a higher score if my math education had been better...


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Don't know if undead intelligence counts- so voted 50-70


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Mine goes up after the first cup of coffee. I don't want it to get too high, so one more cup and that's it for the day.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

I've never taken a real IQ test; I am curious though 

But in my experience, people's "internet IQ" is always higher. I read that only around 2% of the population has an IQ over 130, yet, when I see internet polls, that's usually more than half of the people... hmm...it reminds me of Lake Wobegon where "all the children are above average".


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Without actual intellectual achievements, IQ is just a meaningless number. I'm more interested in actual facts. I find amusing those kids who think they are special because they have some high IQ: hot air...
As for myself?... I don't have a clue about my IQ, I never took a test... 
...but at the second year as an undergraduate in physics I already had a graduate-level knowledge of differential geometry, for example...


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## lll (Oct 7, 2012)

Rehydration said:


> Mine is somewhere around 130, maybe 135.


I'm so sorry.............


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

I was cognitively tested a while ago as a young teen. I did pretty well in certain areas, but pretty deficiently in others. And then I took the score to heart, both the good and the bad(ultimately), for a long time. I'm not convinced IQ is a good thing since it can so easily be misunderstood.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

clavichorder said:


> I'm not convinced IQ is a good thing since it can so easily be misunderstood.


Quick story: When I started high school many years ago, all incoming students took an IQ test. Based on this test (and nothing else), each was assigned to one of three groups: "X", "Y", and "Z". "X" students were college prep, "Y" were the average ones, and "Z" students were tracked into metal shop and so forth.

To make things even "fairer," the difficulties of the classes each group took were taken into account. In their final transcripts, "X" students had all their grades bumped up one letter, "Z" students had them all bumped down. What could be fairer than that? I don't think they do this any more...


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Ingenue said:


> IQ tests prove that you're good at IQ tests.
> 
> ....


Well that's what I think but more importantly what experts in the field think. There's many types of intelligences, and tests to measure them, and theories backing them up and so on. I am kind of wary of IQ, the whole thing. I have known people of high IQ but whose communication and ability to empathise with others (eg. work in a team which is crucial in all workplaces today) to be hugely lacking. So I don't care for it, I think that its kind of outdated concept and overrated (and I rarely use that word!).


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

KenOC said:


> Quick story: When I started high school many years ago, all incoming students took an IQ test. Based on this test (and nothing else), each was assigned to one of three groups: "X", "Y", and "Z". "X" students were college prep, "Y" were the average ones, and "Z" students were tracked into metal shop and so forth.
> 
> To make things even "fairer," the difficulties of the classes each group took were taken into account. In their final transcripts, "X" students had all their grades bumped up one letter, "Z" students had them all bumped down. What could be fairer than that? I don't think they do this any more...


There was a similar "pathways" solution for GCSE students at my old secondary school, I was put on a "vocational" path because my poor grades made them think I was not mentally fit for the standard academic path, despite having proven that I could turn in college level work (i.e.: way above anyone else in my year) if I found the subject interesting. The vocational path was supposed to feature a different manner of teaching and more "hands on" work, but the only difference I could see was that the teachers just acted more patronising than usual and I was excluded from getting higher than a B on my tests.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I only have one IQ album. It's just okay. More than a bit derivative.


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## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

I wasn't sure, so I took this test.

Final result: 136.

Can't say that I'm very surprised. I know that I'm one or maybe two standard deviations above the mean for the normal distribution of IQ, but not close to being a genius (the 0.15% of the population who have an IQ of over 145, or at least three standard deviations above the mean).

Fine with me.


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## Guest (Jul 8, 2013)

*What's your IQ?*


Rehydration said:


> Just something random.
> Mine is somewhere around 130, maybe 135.


What's IQ ??..........


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

In Britain, IQ testing was connected with the researches of Cyril Burt. After his death, it was discovered that he'd skewed a lot of his tests, and on the say-so of this flawed research, a whole generation of children had been subjected to IQ tests as a means of grading them for secondary education...


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## jani (Jun 15, 2012)

Ingenue said:


> In Britain, IQ testing was connected with the researches of Cyril Burt. After his death, it was discovered that he'd skewed a lot of his tests, and on the say-so of this flawed research, a whole generation of children had been subjected to IQ tests as a means of grading them for secondary education...


Yeah, i remember seeing documentaries about this subject.
Its flawed because the test don't test all areas of human intelligence like Emotional,creativity or social intelligence.
Also i remember seeing a video about a guy with worlds highest iq and he still worked as a bouncer.
Even Warren Buffet says " you don't very high IQ to do what i do", i know that his IQ must be better than average persons but i also that there are loads of people with way higher IQ and have been way less succesful than him.
so what's the conclusion on my short rant?

It's good to have a high IQ But its not the deterning factor of how succesful carreer you are gonna have or the only way to messure how smart a person is.

I have never done a "proper" IQ test but i once did one onnline and i scored 115.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Air said:


> I wasn't sure, so I took this test.
> 
> Final result: 136.
> 
> ...


I used so long time on that one. You should have warned about it costing money!!! waste of time


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

Ravndal said:


> I used so long time on that one. You should have warned about it costing money!!! waste of time


It doesn't, they send you your score in an email (may be identified as spam), the stuff they're asking you to pay for is surplus and optional.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Woops. Nevermind my rant from before. It was in my spam folder.

Thanks crud.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Air said:


> I wasn't sure, so I took this test.
> 
> Final result: 136.
> 
> ...


I took the test too but they wont take my undead status credit card
Your Complete Personal Intelligence Profile has been generated and can be accessed immediately for only $9.95.


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## Guest (Jul 8, 2013)

IQ tests are still widely used in UK schools - though the preferred terms are 'verbal/non-verbal/maths reasoning tests'.

IQ was once thought to be a fixed quotient. More recent research has cast doubt on this, giving hope to all those who think that their IQ really ought to be higher.

I've not formally taken an IQ test since I was 11 and gained access to a grammar school as a result. My work with children over the years since confirms that it's not the quantity, but what you do with 'it' that counts.

My 'it' is in scare quotes because a single measure of intelligence is a wholly misleading way of assessing our talents and abilities which are not as readily amenable to pencil and paper measures as the IQ enthusiasts would have you believe.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> I took the test too but they wont take my undead status credit card
> Your Complete Personal Intelligence Profile has been generated and can be accessed immediately for only $9.95.


Since you are undead, your profile can only be grave!


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## apricissimus (May 15, 2013)

In case anyone cares:

Those free (or not free!) online IQ tests are truly meaningless since IQ is a standardized score that ranks you according to your placement in your testing cohort. That is, it compares you against people who have taken the same test that you did. Online test can't use the same sorts of controls that real IQ tests do.

Of course real IQ scores have limited usefulness too, as many here have pointed out.

I suspect that the online test are intentionally inflated in order to flatter the test taker and make him more likely to spend money on something, or look at paid advertising.


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## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> I took the test too but they wont take my undead status credit card
> Your Complete Personal Intelligence Profile has been generated and can be accessed immediately for only $9.95.


That's for your _complete_ profile. Check your inbox and your spam. They sent you your score. It's free!


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

We should probably be worried...a lot. I understand that almost half the students in US schools now have IQs that are below average.


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## presto (Jun 17, 2011)

I suspect I wouldn't fair very well with an IQ test.
As I wasn't very good at school, I don’t pick things up particularly quickly and get confused with too much info put in front of me. 
I don’t know if being dyslexic pulls your IQ down but I am creative, artistic, practical and a hard worker. 
I value those attributes far more than being academically brainy.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I remember when I was at uni, being given a talk by the medical officer, who said that statistics showed that it wasn't those with the best A-level results and/or IQs who got the best degrees. Apparently, it was Scottish Presbyterians! - I can't remember what reason he came up with for that. Presumably some quality of drive & determination, unless he meant divine intervention...


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Air said:


> That's for your _complete_ profile. Check your inbox and your spam. They sent you your score. It's free!


Oh, I guess I'd better take off a few IQ points, loved the spam thou.......


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

KenOC said:


> We should probably be worried...a lot. I understand that almost half the students in US schools now have IQs that are below average.


Not really. Just shows that we are including a lot more people in main stream education. Since IQ follows a bell shaped curve, the average and the median tend to be the same so about 50% of people will be above the average and 50% below.

There are lies, d*mned lies and statistics. Since IQ is basically a statistical construct .......


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Taggart said:


> Not really.


I knew I should have stuck a smiley in there...


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## Kopachris (May 31, 2010)

Air said:


> I wasn't sure, so I took this test.
> 
> Final result: 136.
> 
> ...


Took the same test. Got 138. How accurate that test is, I dunno.


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

Woohoo, I took that test and alternated true and false on each question and came out really high - what a load of ......


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## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

Bix said:


> Woohoo, I took that test and alternated true and false on each question and came out really high - what a load of ......


Well, I personally worked out each question. Maybe you got extra points for working really quickly? Or maybe your extremely high intelligence makes you a great educated guesser.


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

Air said:


> Well, I personally worked out each question. Maybe you got extra points for working really quickly? Or maybe your extremely high intelligence makes you a great educated guesser.


Probably points for quickness, it took less than a minute.


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## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

Bix said:


> Probably points for quickness, it took less than a minute.


Well, that's one way to rig it.


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

Tristan said:


> I've never taken a real IQ test; I am curious though
> 
> But in my experience, people's "internet IQ" is always higher. I read that only around 2% of the population has an IQ over 130, yet, when I see internet polls, that's usually more than half of the people... hmm...it reminds me of Lake Wobegon where "all the children are above average".


I calculated the odds of coming across a group of 22* people who exhibit the IQ characteristics reported in this poll, using the normal distribution probabilities to which the measure is meant to conform.

Needless to say, a person has a higher probability to win the American Powerball Lottery 5 times in a row, with only a single ticket each time, than to encounter so many very high IQ people all in one place.

* Since the people claiming 50-70 are just witty firebrands, I dropped them from the calculation.

I'd be happy to show the proofs.


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## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

Novelette said:


> Needless to say, a person has a higher probability to win the American Powerball Lottery 5 times in a row, with only a single ticket each time, than to encounter so many very high IQ people all in one place.


Yeah, I was going to say...



Novelette said:


> I'd be happy to show the proofs.


Oh, please, no more statistics for me. It's one of those subjects that I told myself that I would never think about ever again.


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

Air said:


> Yeah, I was going to say...
> 
> Oh, please, no more statistics for me. It's one of those subjects that I told myself that I would never think about ever again.


Statistics are fun!

Well, okay. Fair enough.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Novelette said:


> I calculated the odds of coming across a group of 22* people who exhibit the IQ characteristics reported in this poll, using the normal distribution probabilities to which the measure is meant to conform.
> Needless to say, a person has a higher probability to win the American Powerball Lottery 5 times in a row, with only a single ticket each time, than to encounter so many very high IQ people all in one place.


Or perhaps it's the Mozart effect in action. Hey, this is a message board for lovers of classical music. Surely you did not expect a bunch of stupid people? 



> * Since the people claiming 50-70 are just witty firebrands, I dropped them from the calculation.


On those online IQ tests, I routinely score around 70 or so. Don't get those kind of problems at all, not even when shown the solution.


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

brianvds said:


> Or perhaps it's the Mozart effect in action. Hey, this is a message board for lovers of classical music. Surely you did not expect a bunch of stupid people?
> 
> On those online IQ tests, I routinely score around 70 or so. Don't get those kind of problems at all, not even when shown the solution.


Those tests are silly. And the idea of you, of all people, scoring a 70 is preposterous. Testimony enough against the reliability of an online test!


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