Can you increase IQ?
- Thread starter Zoot Allures
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All things equal, we have no way of increasing it long term. It's important to study... I'd love to be able to make myself smarter.
The Chinese don't care about political correctness and are in labs right now testing all kinds of way to increase IQ. They will be the first to create super geniuses.
Westerners are too afraid of the IQ to bother researching it more.
The Chinese don't care about political correctness and are in labs right now testing all kinds of way to increase IQ. They will be the first to create super geniuses.
Westerners are too afraid of the IQ to bother researching it more.
I'm not sure if you can increase IQ, but you can definitely decrease it by listening to Jordan Peterson.
I had a feeling about that. If you actually did wigglee, I'm sorry for your loss.
Thanks for the warning.
You can definitely improve your score on the test by practising the types of questions. I doubt that it would have any impact on your intrinsic intelligence though.
Agreed.
I've taken all kinds of IQ tests on the internet for fun. All of them are very similar and I always score a pretty similar score.
But looking at it, who cares?
There is no benefit to scoring great at number sequences, black and white coloured shape analysis and logic questions like..... Sally is Todd's brother. Bob is Todd's godfather, and Peter is the family's fat ass plumber. What is the relation between Todd's bowl of chips compared to Sally's vibrator?
It turns out that the abstract thinking required to solve the shape analysis and logic questions you mentioned is highly correlated with being an Elon Musk versus an average joe.
I was reading about the nature vs nurture argument.
Studies have found that twins seperated at birth, generally have the same IQ later in life, have careers in the same field, similar looking partners and even similar type pets.
I guess our future is set at birth. We're going to turn out the way we're going to turn out.
Studies have found that twins seperated at birth, generally have the same IQ later in life, have careers in the same field, similar looking partners and even similar type pets.
I guess our future is set at birth. We're going to turn out the way we're going to turn out.
A better way to phrase the question: "Can you increase your consciousness?", not get better at IQ tests. A lot of those people who brag about extraordinary high IQs simple practice IQ tests then get better at them.
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For sure.
IQ tests are all very similar. The first time anyone takes one, it will be a slew of odd types of questions they ask. You don't get these kinds of questions in any school exam.
After you're done and scored, you then check out the types of solutions that are required. From there, you learn about mathematical number sequences (x , /, exponential etc...) and shape/colour alternatives to look for (clockwise/counterclockwise).
There is no doubt in my mind someone taking IQ tests will score better over time and then plateau to a certain number.
IQ tests skew to people who live in where school is standard. Lots of IQ questions are math based, so if someone never learned to have great math skills, they'll likely score lousy on them.
On the other hand, these same people who may have been brought up on a farm and never got formal education would score high on practical questions or hands on tests how to milk a cow, ride a horse or how to grow crops.
While someone brought up in a rich country would likely score absolutely zero on these kinds of things.
It's important not to confuse specific knowledge with abstract thinking ability. IQ tests were initially administered to the very people that you described - the farmers and their kids - to identify those with untapped intellectual ability (i.e. the "gifted"). A high IQ person relegated to a farm is limited whereas that same person can be put into school and become anything he or she wants.
IQ is not merely math based. In fact, it's highly correlated with reaction time which has no obvious mathematical or literary component. An incredible discovery.
All of the points of contention that you raise are very good but they have been thoroughly tested and explained over the past century of IQ research. The tests have been administered all over the world and in rural as well as urban, rich, and poor demographics to account for the intuitive points you raised.
In 1919, the US army incorporated IQ testing to help them create a superior fighting force from grunt all the way up to leadership roles. Today, the US army doesn't enroll anyone with an IQ below 83. It's been determined that the negatives outweigh the positives. This is an institution that would want as many bodies as possible yet they know that there comes a point of diminishing returns. Even the legal system deems individuals below a certain IQ threshold as incapable of being responsible for their crimes.
At the end of the day, a society can only function at a high level if it involves people who have above average IQs - these are your doctors, lawyers, scientists, academics, journalists, dentists, technicians, managers, economists. It's important for a society that prides itself on egalitarian ideals to acknowledge this and to try to help those who are less capable of helping themselves.
Haha well it's not quite that deterministic. Our future is not set at birth, even if our innate IQ is more or less set and we don't all start with the same "blank slate". Environment, opportunity, personality, culture, all shape us and our future. But IQ does have the most explanatory and predictive power of any social science measurement that we know, and those twin studies really are eye-opening. The fact that IQ is correlated with reaction time suggests that it is in some way measuring the information processing speed of the brain at a most fundamental biological level. Well worth continuing to investigate IMO.
Yes you can increase IQ because it is a test. Much like the SAT you can practice and get better at it.
Does it mean you are actually smarter? Depends on what value you place on the IQ test in the first place.
Furthermore, as someone pointed out there is an environmental piece which can be changed.
Does it mean you are actually smarter? Depends on what value you place on the IQ test in the first place.
Furthermore, as someone pointed out there is an environmental piece which can be changed.
