Richard Feynman on the uncertainty of knowledge - video

[tonyfoale]

Oh dear, that means that if I get ill it is likely that my doctor will be low down the scale.
Actually we have to be careful interpreting IQ and similar tests. We all have different talents and different tests will favour different people with different talents. IQ tests tend to favour those of us who have a natural inclination towards science and engineering, but give me a test that favours musicians and artists and I'll hover near the bottom of the scale.

[jdurand]

The IQ test is also biased for language and such.

Of course I looked at an English final exam that our sponsor Nadia uses, she's a top English teacher in Russia. I couldn't get past the first few questions mostly because it's British English and we all know those guys can't speak properly!

[tonyfoale]

The IQ test is also biased for language and such.

Yes that is very true. It also requires a good command of the language grammar to understand the questions and lamentably that seems to have been left out of modern english speaking education.

[Philip Davies]

Surprised to see I am up there, almost at the level of mathematicians!
To give a personal response to these posts would require an essay. Would you like one?
Briefly, however, 2 books I read last year, 1, “Superintelligence” byNick Bostrom, about artificial intelligence, and 2 “The Big Questions” by Steven Landsburg both refer to the theory that the universe is artificial, created by superintelligence. This is not an idea which can be tested, I think. I wonder what Feynman would have made of that?
Do I detect a degree of contempt in these post for those who have studied the humanities?
Personally, I do not regard a high IQ as the most important human attribute.
I would have liked to have studied music, but when I was 9, I was told I was not clever enough to learn the violin. Music theory is rather difficult, I agree.

[mklotz]

Yes that is very true. It also requires a good command of the language grammar to understand the questions and lamentably that seems to have been left out of modern english speaking education.

The ability to read, interpret and write the language is in itself a mark of intelligence. (Note that I'm assuming we're talking about exams couched in the exam taker's native language.)

You're quite correct, Tony, about the death of language education in today's schools.

I've studied (informally) the language usage on many of the forums I've frequented. As a result, I've concocted the following conjecture...

Conjecture: The typical native English-speaking forum contributor is incapable of writing an original composition of 200 or more words without making a major grammar error.

And, before someone raises the "it's informal writing" argument, let me say that "informal" is not a synonym for "incorrect".

[Philip Davies]

The IQ test is also biased for language and such.

Of course I looked at an English final exam that our sponsor Nadia uses, she's a top English teacher in Russia. I couldn't get past the first few questions mostly because it's British English and we all know those guys can't speak properly!

You are correct to state that many British people are unable to use their language correctly. I tried, and failed in many cases, to help them assume their birthright, for over 25 years, but now all I can do is complain to the BBC about their frequent infelicities.
There are, I know, many gifted craftsmen, including ones who have gained many awards on this forum, who left school feeling that they were failures, because of dyslexia.

[Jon]

Prevailing cultural attitudes aren't just infecting language, or the educational tilt towards social criticism. Here's a gem: Dismantling Racism in Mathematics Instruction

This is NOT a parody or joke of some sort. The basic tenets of mathematics instruction, like objectivity, showing your work, and how skills are built upon each other, are all cast as white supremacy. Here are a few picks:







More: Dismantling Racism in Mathematics Instruction

[rgsparber]

Just look at this graph. Does it makes sense that all high IQ people go into the hard sciences?

I went to https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/...t19_318.30.asp and saw no mention of IQ.

Do your really think that Health Professionals all have low IQs and Physicists all have high IQs? The next time you need a doctor, you better hope this isn't true.

Rick

[Jon]

I think a good answer is that that chart (which is only one chart) displays averages, and not the IQs of all people in a specific field. The ambiguity of "Health Professions" is a good criticism. I believe that specific chart focuses on students in their last year of undergraduate studies, which means that it doesn't really display med school students. If you look up other analyses of IQ by profession, you'll see doctors coming up around 10 points higher; this suggests to me that Olson is lumping in pre-med students with other "health professionals" who are probably more numerous and less intelligent on average. Olson provides more data on his blog.

[tonyfoale]

You're quite correct, Tony, about the death of language education in today's schools.

My wife was educated in the UK, she has no knowledge of grammar. She has no idea of what a verb, noun or adjective is. On the other hand my kids all have a good knowledge of English grammar. They learnt English as a second language in a Spanish school, of course they had to have been taught the grammar of their first language, Spanish, before being expected to understand that of their second.

My experience has been that it is the native English speaking countries which have declined the most in the teaching of their own language. I often ask how can this trend be reversed, because there will be no teachers capable.