Idiot Brain

Idiot Brain Read Free

Book: Idiot Brain Read Free
Author: Dean Burnett
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you have someone of extremely high intelligence; it just becomes much harder to measure. These scientific IQ tests measure things such as spatial awareness with pattern completion tests, comprehension speeds with dedicated questions, verbal fluency by getting the subject to list words from certain categories, and stuff like that; allreasonable things to look into but not something that is likely to tax a super genius to the extent where it would be possible to spot the very limits of his or her intelligence. It’s a bit like using bathroom scales to weigh elephants; they can be useful for a standard range of weights, but at this level they’ll give no useful data, just a load of broken plastic and springs.
    Another concern is that intelligence tests claim to measure intelligence, and we know what intelligence is because intelligence tests tell us. You can see why some of the more cynical scientist types wouldn’t be happy with this situation. In truth, the more common tests have been revised repeatedly and assessed for reliability often, but some still feel that this is just ignoring the underlying problem.
    Many like to point out that performance on intelligence tests is actually more indicative of social upbringing, general health, aptitude to testing, education level, and so on. Things that aren’t intelligence, in other words. So the tests may be useful, but not for what they’re intended.
    It’s not all doom and gloom. Scientists aren’t ignorant of these criticisms and are a resourceful bunch. Today, intelligence tests are more useful—they provide a wide range of assessments (spatial awareness, arithmetic etc.), rather than one general assessment, and this gives us a more robust and thorough demonstration of ability. Studies have shown that performance on intelligence tests also seems to remain fairly stable over a person’s lifetime despite all the changes or learning they experience, so they must be detecting some inherent quality rather than just random circumstance. 1
    So, now you know what we know, or what we think we know. One of the generally accepted signs of intelligence is an awareness and acceptance of what you don’t know. Good job.
    Where are your trousers, professor?
    (How intelligent people end up doing stupid things)
    The stereotype of an academic is a white-haired white-coated chap (it’s almost always a man) in late middle age, talking quickly and often about his field of study while being utterly clueless about the world around him, effortlessly describing the fruit fly genome while absent-mindedly buttering his tie. Social norms and day-to-day tasks are completely alien and baffling to him; he knows everything there is to know about his subject, but little to nothing beyond that.
    Being intelligent isn’t like being strong; a strong person is strong in every context. However, someone brilliant in one context can seem like a shuddering dunce in another.
    This is because intelligence, unlike physical strength, is a product of the never uncomplicated brain. So what are the brain processes that underpin intelligence, and why is it so variable? Firstly, there is ongoing debate in psychology about whether or not humans use a single intelligence, or several different types. Current data suggests it is probably a combination of things.
    A dominant view is that there is a single property that underpins our intelligence, which can be expressed in varying ways. This is often known as “Spearman’s g,” or just g . Named after Charles Spearman, a scientist who did a great service for intelligence research and science in general in the 1920s by developing factor analysis. The previous section revealed how IQ tests are commonly used despite certain reservations; factor analysis is something that makes them (and other tests) useful.
    Factor analysis is a mathematically dense process but what you need to know is that it is a form of statistical

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