Granted, they did mention the word median in there at least once. It got so vapid i had to stop reading, but use of the word “average” like this drives me nutso.
I, in all modesty, actually -am- above average. In the top 5% for intelligence, as it happens. Tested.
This turns out to not be the great advantage one would think.
Self-enhancement is preferable to its ugly stepsister: malignant tribalism. I’d rather someone have a healthy, even exaggerated, opinion of themselves rather than turning to the more vicious trait of using group affiliation to delude themselves about their superiority. In my experience – school days, belonging to an somewhat militant union (forced membership), hanging out in a “rough” bar and even team sports- those who are the least confident overcompensate by being aggressive to the point of becoming unhinged.
So close and yet so far, eh, Phantom? As a member of the top 1%, I can assure you it changes everything.
I am a member of the bottom 1%, and that too changes everything…
“Most people believe that they are above average”
– yeah, and then again, most people think government functions for their benefit, not for its own self interested continuity – they probably are the same naive zombies who believed in the tooth fairy past puberty.
There is an enormous profit potential here. If I can figure out a way to buy people for what they are actually worth and then sell them for what they think they are worth, the sky is the limit.
A whole lot of people will be smelling burnt toast(having a stroke) realizing they are not truly great and magnificent as they think they are if they actually read the article. However, most truly arrogant people will just be willfully ignorant as the truth will hurt too much!
Just goes to show the general lack of knowledge and “book learnin” that occurs with the self-annointed intelligentsia that comes out of schools and into journalism these days. I think the term I learned in high school (when computers were in their infancy) was GIGO.
“I am special, I am special, look at me! look at me!”
Sung like the tune ‘Frere Jacques’
Apparently it’s what they teach kids in kindergarten these days. Ugh…
Kate, out of curiousity what is the IQ cut-off for the top 1%.
I have an old friend who’s totally obsessed with IQ. I believe he was a victim of child abuse in being told at too early an age that his was high.
I have another friend who claims 140 but had to “restructure” $180,00 of multiple credit card debt as a retired liquor store employee.
I had an old friend in college who allegedly had 150 but he gassed himself in his car surrounded by all his worldly possessions about 5 years ago.
I’ve always likened high IQ to Ferrari ownership.
Some owners are highly skilled drivers.
Some poor drivers.
Some don’t drive them at all but have them as garage queens.
I’m more interested in character and accomplishment than raw IQ.
I,on the other hand, am a dull-witted brute,easily swayed by rhetoric and image.
In the recent BC election,I was all set to vote NDP,then Christy Clark showed up at a meeting here,wearing a tight-fitting blouse.
I voted Liberal.
We were tested for IQ at my high school,mine was more than twice my shoe size,so I’m content with that.
A high IQ and two dollars will get you a coffee.
Most people believe that their children are gifted.
But 100% of those who believe they are above average believe their children are Gifted.
Intelligence is never black and white, but multiple shades of gray. One of my in-laws is a Psychiatrist and when take away from his field of expertise is actually dumb as a stick, although he still perceives himself to be brilliant. He lacks both logic and common sense and it can be painful to have a conversation with him over mundane events. His peers seem to admire him and I have had the misfortune of being invited to their social gatherings. About a hour into the various conversations and death starts to look like a easy and welcome way out. They admired Jack Layton and are strong NDP supporters. One fawned over Liz May. I bit my tongue so often it hurt for a week. I told my brother in law I will take my own vehicle to the next invitation I am invited to. He couldn’t understand why and I did not offer a explanation. Family harmony is important to me. I take “above average” with a grain of salt.
I did the average calculation in my head and came up with 8.25. The calculator widget came up with 8…I ar stoopid…
I was told by my school counselor that I had the highest I.Q. in the school, and then she asked why am I failing most of my classes? I wound up dropping out of high school and going to work. Being from a farm, I always worked my hardest and tried to learn my job to the best of my abilities. I always rose to foreman and supervisory positions. Later I went to University, not feeling like I really belonged, I gave it my best effort and graduated on the honor rolls. Eventually I started a business and hired other University graduates to work for me. Thinking they were my equals or better I gave them trusted positions. To my utter amazement, the average educated employee could not make correct change from a twenty. They could not do any other basic math in their heads, or knew anything beyond what they had learned in school. The work ethic was extremely weak and yet the positions I gave them were very diverse and allowed for a lot of growth and variety. I thought our mission in life was about perpetually learning and developing new skills and abilities. Taking on new challenges and exploring your full potential seemed to me the best way to embrace life. I learned to play a bunch of musical instruments, became a mechanic, a computer programmer, a school teacher, spoke three languages, worked as a plumber and electrician, became a landlord and investment adviser. In retrospect, I think I finally understood my counselor, but the question she should have originally asked is why are you here?
Ugh. Mojo no understand big words.
33/4 = 8.25, guess the calculator rounded down.
The lowest I have ever scored on an IQ test is 138, the highest 142 when I was in grade 8. Intelligence is not the be all and end all. I know a lot of people who always come to me with questions “Al, you must know what this means/this does/how to fix/what’s wrong/what to do….” who are actually happier and wiser than I am and can easily do things that I struggle at such as playing musical instruments.
An old Persian saying, let’s see if I can remember it correctly.
He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, he is a fool; shun him.
He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, he is unlearned, teach him.
He who knows, and knows not that he knows, he is asleep, wake him.
He who knows, and knows that he knows, he is wise, learn from him.
Back when I was broke and renting a room paycheck to paycheck the house provided internet was my main entertainment. One weekend I took all the IQ tests I could find online. My average was about 20 points higher when graded by someone who wanted to sell me something.
IQ appears to check how good someone is at thinking on their feet on a particular topic. Tests tend to involve a lot of pattern recognition. I disagreed with the “official” answer on some. Here’s an example: “Which of these is the least like the others? Beef, Pork, Salmon, Chicken, Liver.” I’m interested to hear what folks here think, and why.
Lot of difference between being intelligent and being wise.
The intelligent are mostly just better at outsmarting themselves. Taking the long way around, I call it…
I like that quote. I also have scored in the same range as you on IQ tests and agree it isn’t the be all and end all. I dropped out of school the day I turned 16, bored with school and excited about taking the world on. It’s been a ride ever since and like Dr Bob above, I’ve approached life as a learning opportunity. The last line of your quote sums up the folks I’ve sought out, that’s how I found SDA…
Oh, and C_Miner, A case can be made for Salmon or Liver…
Thanks syncro, I forgot to mention that my answer was liver because each of the others is the flesh of a single type of animal, and liver is an organ common to all of the animals. I got it “wrong”.
The “right” answer was salmon because everything else comes from a warm blooded source.
“So close and yet so far, eh, Phantom? As a member of the top 1%, I can assure you it changes everything.”
Kate on May 24, 2013 11:41 AM
All that glitters is not gold.
I sure to god hope that AT LEAST 94% of professors do work above average.
The 6% who feel they do not must have doctoral degrees in something that doesn’t require any knowledge of math.
The guy who wrote that is a doctoral candidate. Scary.
There’s more than one way to skin a salmon..;-)
Kate said: “As a member of the top 1%, I can assure you it changes everything.”
Evidently. Your blog -is- better than mine. 🙂
Liver:
the others are (typically) muscle tissue, vs. an organ.
Niall from Winnipeg
PS: cooked whole liver makes me physically ill; liver pate will cause me to murder you to possess your stash of this sublime foodstuff !
C_Miner
Pork…..only one spelled using exactly one vowel and the only one from which we get the bacon food group. A two-fer.
“When you consider how stupid the average person is, it’s scary to know that half are even more stupid than that”.
George Carlin
I would have chosen ‘Liver’ also C Miner, for the same reason. The ‘right’ answer is not correct because ‘liver’ is not warm blooded, liver is not a creature; it is an internal organ dependent on a living creature for existence. A ‘liver’ cannot live without a host and it cannot reproduce.
Interesting comment.
Soooooo, our Kate has an I.Q. of 135 sbs or better. With some of her “lines” and “titles” that is not surprising:-)))
Phantom, do not dispare, your I.Q. can vary as much as 15 points, depending on how you feel and at what time you take the test. Monday mornings usually garner a higher score than TGIF:-))))
and yes, IQ is not a end all or be all, as there are, in my own personal estimation, 7 different and definable types of IQ. And rare is the beast that is a universal intellect
When I read that most consider themselves above average, I went and measured my taliwacker, subsequently realized I needed to stick the damn measuring stick in my ear to measure my brain, butt my hearing aid got in the road!!!
and yuppers, my IQ is above the “average” range of 85-115.
At a 90% IQ . I do all right mostly.
What’s the average of
1,5,5,5,5,5,5,5
“When you consider how stupid the average person is, it’s scary to know that half are even more stupid than that”.
George Carlin
Yeah well, he’s just as dead as the stupid ones, isn’t he?
The average of 1,5,5,5,5,5,5,5=36/8=
4.5
Well I have an idiot on the phone with a Masters degree telling me that his bull is loose in the grain field.
Solve.
Shoot the bull…
The Glengarrian. Does that have anything to do with Masons helping to drive up the price of grain?
shoot the idiot, and burn the masters degree
Wasn’t an IQ test. I scored in the top five percent on the MCAT exam. That’s the medical school entrance exam. It’s designed to test problem solving ability and intelligence more than medical knowledge.
buy grain
Heh, I guess part of being intelligent is making sure others know about it…
When I took my LSAT, my score was such that I could have gotten into some of the lowest regarded law schools in the country. Yet when I joined the Forces, my IQ score was high enough the recruiter said they would have offered me pilot…if I didn’t have modified coke bottles for glasses.
Sign him up with e-heifery?
Blah Blah Blah. Hate to be say it but being the smartest person in the room doesn’t make one right. The true sign of intelligence is when you know how stupid us humans really are. The evidence is right before are eyes and yet we look right through it like it wasn’t there.
But go ahead and pat yourself on your back like it matters.
Problem: Bull on the loose
Conclusion: Just like wetting the bed might of seemed like a good idea at the time wearing a Montreal Canadien hockey sweater to round up a bull isn’t the thing to do.
As tempting as it was to tell the fella just go out in the field and flap your arms around yelling Torro! and when Mr. Bull starts to charge make a bee-line into the barn…he should be right behind ya by then..I didn’t 🙁
When you can’t out-run or out-muscle something the only option is out-smart it…and the lure of some grain eventually had the wayward bovine corralled.
Blame crash, the problem is not when you’re wrong. It’s when you’re -right-. You’re sitting in a meeting, convened to solve a problem, and you solve it in two seconds. Consistently. Time after time. Whenever anybody has a question, problem, issue, you solve it on the spot. Because the problems are always so simple it makes you want to cry.
My point is, one would think that’s a career enhancement, right? Nuh uh.
You want to know what -really- happens? First they fire you. Then they implement your solutions. To the letter, usually. After twenty years of that kinda crap in three completely different industries, I’m self employed.
You’ll notice Kate is self employed. This is a major reason. Maybe not the biggest, but its in the top three.
Freeman Dyson has the best quote on this subject. Somebody asked him how it felt to be so intelligent. He replied that it didn’t feel to him like he was intelligent. It felt like everyone else was stupid.
Must be nice to be smarter than a bull. (Unless it’s a Hereford)
Yup, carrot on a stick works with people too. Even the, supposedly, intelligent…go around cutting the tail (that’s the the carrot) off the snake. Not wise enough to know cutting the head off kills the snake. Even nature gives you all the answers if you listen. The animals know when a tsunami is coming…why don’t the ‘intelligent’?
Sooo intelligent, but all your words don’t change a damn thing. The world is going the way it is because it’s supposed to go this way. It’s a test, and intelligence won’t save you. Only having wisdom will save you. That only comes from one place…
So, go ahead, keep following that carrot…it’s the oldest scam in the book, and people still haven’t caught on.
Kate said: “As a member of the top 1%, I can assure you it changes everything.”
If you stop paying your $60 per year, are you still a member?
Granted, they did mention the word median in there at least once. It got so vapid i had to stop reading, but use of the word “average” like this drives me nutso.
I, in all modesty, actually -am- above average. In the top 5% for intelligence, as it happens. Tested.
This turns out to not be the great advantage one would think.
Self-enhancement is preferable to its ugly stepsister: malignant tribalism. I’d rather someone have a healthy, even exaggerated, opinion of themselves rather than turning to the more vicious trait of using group affiliation to delude themselves about their superiority. In my experience – school days, belonging to an somewhat militant union (forced membership), hanging out in a “rough” bar and even team sports- those who are the least confident overcompensate by being aggressive to the point of becoming unhinged.
So close and yet so far, eh, Phantom? As a member of the top 1%, I can assure you it changes everything.
I am a member of the bottom 1%, and that too changes everything…
“Most people believe that they are above average”
– yeah, and then again, most people think government functions for their benefit, not for its own self interested continuity – they probably are the same naive zombies who believed in the tooth fairy past puberty.
There is an enormous profit potential here. If I can figure out a way to buy people for what they are actually worth and then sell them for what they think they are worth, the sky is the limit.
A whole lot of people will be smelling burnt toast(having a stroke) realizing they are not truly great and magnificent as they think they are if they actually read the article. However, most truly arrogant people will just be willfully ignorant as the truth will hurt too much!
Just goes to show the general lack of knowledge and “book learnin” that occurs with the self-annointed intelligentsia that comes out of schools and into journalism these days. I think the term I learned in high school (when computers were in their infancy) was GIGO.
“I am special, I am special, look at me! look at me!”
Sung like the tune ‘Frere Jacques’
Apparently it’s what they teach kids in kindergarten these days. Ugh…
Kate, out of curiousity what is the IQ cut-off for the top 1%.
I have an old friend who’s totally obsessed with IQ. I believe he was a victim of child abuse in being told at too early an age that his was high.
I have another friend who claims 140 but had to “restructure” $180,00 of multiple credit card debt as a retired liquor store employee.
I had an old friend in college who allegedly had 150 but he gassed himself in his car surrounded by all his worldly possessions about 5 years ago.
I’ve always likened high IQ to Ferrari ownership.
Some owners are highly skilled drivers.
Some poor drivers.
Some don’t drive them at all but have them as garage queens.
I’m more interested in character and accomplishment than raw IQ.
I,on the other hand, am a dull-witted brute,easily swayed by rhetoric and image.
In the recent BC election,I was all set to vote NDP,then Christy Clark showed up at a meeting here,wearing a tight-fitting blouse.
I voted Liberal.
We were tested for IQ at my high school,mine was more than twice my shoe size,so I’m content with that.
A high IQ and two dollars will get you a coffee.
Most people believe that their children are gifted.
But 100% of those who believe they are above average believe their children are Gifted.
Intelligence is never black and white, but multiple shades of gray. One of my in-laws is a Psychiatrist and when take away from his field of expertise is actually dumb as a stick, although he still perceives himself to be brilliant. He lacks both logic and common sense and it can be painful to have a conversation with him over mundane events. His peers seem to admire him and I have had the misfortune of being invited to their social gatherings. About a hour into the various conversations and death starts to look like a easy and welcome way out. They admired Jack Layton and are strong NDP supporters. One fawned over Liz May. I bit my tongue so often it hurt for a week. I told my brother in law I will take my own vehicle to the next invitation I am invited to. He couldn’t understand why and I did not offer a explanation. Family harmony is important to me. I take “above average” with a grain of salt.
I did the average calculation in my head and came up with 8.25. The calculator widget came up with 8…I ar stoopid…
I was told by my school counselor that I had the highest I.Q. in the school, and then she asked why am I failing most of my classes? I wound up dropping out of high school and going to work. Being from a farm, I always worked my hardest and tried to learn my job to the best of my abilities. I always rose to foreman and supervisory positions. Later I went to University, not feeling like I really belonged, I gave it my best effort and graduated on the honor rolls. Eventually I started a business and hired other University graduates to work for me. Thinking they were my equals or better I gave them trusted positions. To my utter amazement, the average educated employee could not make correct change from a twenty. They could not do any other basic math in their heads, or knew anything beyond what they had learned in school. The work ethic was extremely weak and yet the positions I gave them were very diverse and allowed for a lot of growth and variety. I thought our mission in life was about perpetually learning and developing new skills and abilities. Taking on new challenges and exploring your full potential seemed to me the best way to embrace life. I learned to play a bunch of musical instruments, became a mechanic, a computer programmer, a school teacher, spoke three languages, worked as a plumber and electrician, became a landlord and investment adviser. In retrospect, I think I finally understood my counselor, but the question she should have originally asked is why are you here?
Ugh. Mojo no understand big words.
33/4 = 8.25, guess the calculator rounded down.
The lowest I have ever scored on an IQ test is 138, the highest 142 when I was in grade 8. Intelligence is not the be all and end all. I know a lot of people who always come to me with questions “Al, you must know what this means/this does/how to fix/what’s wrong/what to do….” who are actually happier and wiser than I am and can easily do things that I struggle at such as playing musical instruments.
An old Persian saying, let’s see if I can remember it correctly.
He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, he is a fool; shun him.
He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, he is unlearned, teach him.
He who knows, and knows not that he knows, he is asleep, wake him.
He who knows, and knows that he knows, he is wise, learn from him.
Back when I was broke and renting a room paycheck to paycheck the house provided internet was my main entertainment. One weekend I took all the IQ tests I could find online. My average was about 20 points higher when graded by someone who wanted to sell me something.
IQ appears to check how good someone is at thinking on their feet on a particular topic. Tests tend to involve a lot of pattern recognition. I disagreed with the “official” answer on some. Here’s an example: “Which of these is the least like the others? Beef, Pork, Salmon, Chicken, Liver.” I’m interested to hear what folks here think, and why.
Lot of difference between being intelligent and being wise.
The intelligent are mostly just better at outsmarting themselves. Taking the long way around, I call it…
I like that quote. I also have scored in the same range as you on IQ tests and agree it isn’t the be all and end all. I dropped out of school the day I turned 16, bored with school and excited about taking the world on. It’s been a ride ever since and like Dr Bob above, I’ve approached life as a learning opportunity. The last line of your quote sums up the folks I’ve sought out, that’s how I found SDA…
Oh, and C_Miner, A case can be made for Salmon or Liver…
Thanks syncro, I forgot to mention that my answer was liver because each of the others is the flesh of a single type of animal, and liver is an organ common to all of the animals. I got it “wrong”.
The “right” answer was salmon because everything else comes from a warm blooded source.
“So close and yet so far, eh, Phantom? As a member of the top 1%, I can assure you it changes everything.”
Kate on May 24, 2013 11:41 AM
All that glitters is not gold.
I sure to god hope that AT LEAST 94% of professors do work above average.
The 6% who feel they do not must have doctoral degrees in something that doesn’t require any knowledge of math.
The guy who wrote that is a doctoral candidate. Scary.
There’s more than one way to skin a salmon..;-)
Kate said: “As a member of the top 1%, I can assure you it changes everything.”
Evidently. Your blog -is- better than mine. 🙂
Liver:
the others are (typically) muscle tissue, vs. an organ.
Niall from Winnipeg
PS: cooked whole liver makes me physically ill; liver pate will cause me to murder you to possess your stash of this sublime foodstuff !
C_Miner
Pork…..only one spelled using exactly one vowel and the only one from which we get the bacon food group. A two-fer.
“When you consider how stupid the average person is, it’s scary to know that half are even more stupid than that”.
George Carlin
I would have chosen ‘Liver’ also C Miner, for the same reason. The ‘right’ answer is not correct because ‘liver’ is not warm blooded, liver is not a creature; it is an internal organ dependent on a living creature for existence. A ‘liver’ cannot live without a host and it cannot reproduce.
Interesting comment.
Soooooo, our Kate has an I.Q. of 135 sbs or better. With some of her “lines” and “titles” that is not surprising:-)))
Phantom, do not dispare, your I.Q. can vary as much as 15 points, depending on how you feel and at what time you take the test. Monday mornings usually garner a higher score than TGIF:-))))
and yes, IQ is not a end all or be all, as there are, in my own personal estimation, 7 different and definable types of IQ. And rare is the beast that is a universal intellect
When I read that most consider themselves above average, I went and measured my taliwacker, subsequently realized I needed to stick the damn measuring stick in my ear to measure my brain, butt my hearing aid got in the road!!!
and yuppers, my IQ is above the “average” range of 85-115.
At a 90% IQ . I do all right mostly.
What’s the average of
1,5,5,5,5,5,5,5
“When you consider how stupid the average person is, it’s scary to know that half are even more stupid than that”.
George Carlin
Yeah well, he’s just as dead as the stupid ones, isn’t he?
The average of 1,5,5,5,5,5,5,5=36/8=
4.5
Well I have an idiot on the phone with a Masters degree telling me that his bull is loose in the grain field.
Solve.
Shoot the bull…
The Glengarrian. Does that have anything to do with Masons helping to drive up the price of grain?
shoot the idiot, and burn the masters degree
Wasn’t an IQ test. I scored in the top five percent on the MCAT exam. That’s the medical school entrance exam. It’s designed to test problem solving ability and intelligence more than medical knowledge.
buy grain
Heh, I guess part of being intelligent is making sure others know about it…
When I took my LSAT, my score was such that I could have gotten into some of the lowest regarded law schools in the country. Yet when I joined the Forces, my IQ score was high enough the recruiter said they would have offered me pilot…if I didn’t have modified coke bottles for glasses.
Sign him up with e-heifery?
Blah Blah Blah. Hate to be say it but being the smartest person in the room doesn’t make one right. The true sign of intelligence is when you know how stupid us humans really are. The evidence is right before are eyes and yet we look right through it like it wasn’t there.
But go ahead and pat yourself on your back like it matters.
Problem: Bull on the loose
Conclusion: Just like wetting the bed might of seemed like a good idea at the time wearing a Montreal Canadien hockey sweater to round up a bull isn’t the thing to do.
As tempting as it was to tell the fella just go out in the field and flap your arms around yelling Torro! and when Mr. Bull starts to charge make a bee-line into the barn…he should be right behind ya by then..I didn’t 🙁
When you can’t out-run or out-muscle something the only option is out-smart it…and the lure of some grain eventually had the wayward bovine corralled.
Blame crash, the problem is not when you’re wrong. It’s when you’re -right-. You’re sitting in a meeting, convened to solve a problem, and you solve it in two seconds. Consistently. Time after time. Whenever anybody has a question, problem, issue, you solve it on the spot. Because the problems are always so simple it makes you want to cry.
My point is, one would think that’s a career enhancement, right? Nuh uh.
You want to know what -really- happens? First they fire you. Then they implement your solutions. To the letter, usually. After twenty years of that kinda crap in three completely different industries, I’m self employed.
You’ll notice Kate is self employed. This is a major reason. Maybe not the biggest, but its in the top three.
Freeman Dyson has the best quote on this subject. Somebody asked him how it felt to be so intelligent. He replied that it didn’t feel to him like he was intelligent. It felt like everyone else was stupid.
Must be nice to be smarter than a bull. (Unless it’s a Hereford)
Yup, carrot on a stick works with people too. Even the, supposedly, intelligent…go around cutting the tail (that’s the the carrot) off the snake. Not wise enough to know cutting the head off kills the snake. Even nature gives you all the answers if you listen. The animals know when a tsunami is coming…why don’t the ‘intelligent’?
Sooo intelligent, but all your words don’t change a damn thing. The world is going the way it is because it’s supposed to go this way. It’s a test, and intelligence won’t save you. Only having wisdom will save you. That only comes from one place…
So, go ahead, keep following that carrot…it’s the oldest scam in the book, and people still haven’t caught on.
Kate said: “As a member of the top 1%, I can assure you it changes everything.”
If you stop paying your $60 per year, are you still a member?