Kottke links to a New York Times piece that suggests that people adopted by higher income families will end up with a higher IQ.
If IQ indicates intelligence, as the name suggests, then this is interesting as part of the nature vs nurture debate.
On the other hand, if IQ tests are fundamentally flawed and merely represent education, then all this result says is that rich people tend to get a better education.
What is more likely? That IQ tests are accurate but that the real world is messed up or that, according to Occams Razor, nature is governed by simple laws but there is a flaw in the measurement?
One of the things that is absolutely obvious about an IQ test, is that it doesn’t really test intelligence because it asks all sorts of questions that require such things as a large vocabulary in the language of the test.
So how could this be? Clearly there are all sorts of aspects of IQ tests that test pure logic etc., these seem fairly objective tests.
The problem is that if the tests included are solely logic tests, then they would be perceived to have a scientific bias. To suggest that only scientific ability is a measure of intelligence, would have half of acedemia in uproar, so IQ tests put in things to test areas represented by other disciplines such as languages and the arts.
IQ tests try to balance different academic skills as a political compromise rather than a comprehensive measure.
To measure skills in qualitative disciplines, such as the arts, by quantitative measures is like saying that a painter and decorator is better than Vermeer because he can cover a larger area, more quickly.
The point is that a comprehensive IQ test is nowhere near there yet, and people wouldn’t be happy with a SQ or Science Quotient.
So, in the mean time, you have people getting all embarassed because ethnic minorities sometimes get lower scores in IQ tests. Instead of saying ‘OF COURSE THEY FUCKING WELL DO’ because 1. ethnic minorities often did not have the same rights as the majority and as a result are poorer on average, 2. poorer people tend to get a worse education and have to start work earlier in life.
Perhaps people who really believe in IQ tests, like the subset of people that on getting a high score, decide to join the club of mental mediocrity – MENSA, probably aren’t particularly intelligent.
The part of an IQ test that tests logic and spacial awareness is a pretty good test for an aeronautical engineer, but IQ tests do not measure IQ. QED.