16 March 2006

I'm not sure I accept a test that says I'm less intelligent..

..than Devils Kitchen.

Your IQ Is 120

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average

Your Verbal Intelligence is Exceptional

Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius

Your General Knowledge is Above Average


I don't think I got any of my answers wrong. It would be interesting to know whether those who set the test, have got their answers wrong. I think the accuracy of the test is very questionable (especially as everyone seems to get 'below average' for logic, but it's a bit of a laugh I suppose.

20 comments:

  1. The test doesn't work properly. I looked at it a few months back. Having done "proper" IQ tests I regularly get 130 - 140 depending on the test. This one I was low. So I went through, checking my answers and changing them made little difference to the overall score. I think there was a flaw in the general knowledge IIRC.

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  2. I'm prepared to believe the Devil is cleverer than you. Why aren't you?

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  3. Rejecting IQ tests is a good predictor of intelligence, but tests like this are a bit of a joke, and I have serious doubts about at least two of the questions.

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  4. I am not taking part in something trivial which insults my intelligence ;)

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  5. Question 3 is the logical one:

    "If Jody doesn't pay her ticket, she will go to jail." Which other statement must be true?
    (a) If Jody pays her ticket, she won't go to jail.
    (b) If Jody goes to jail, she didn't pay her ticket.
    (c) If Jody doesn't go to jail, she paid her ticket.

    Methinks they don't know what a logical falacy is. None of the solutions are logically true.

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  6. It isn't so much size that's important, it's what you do with it that counts.

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  7. Yep, (3) is totally bogus, but I suspect (2) is throwing most people, and that one can't be answered entirely using logic.

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  8. moai: I suppose I walked into that. The trouble with IQ tests (any of them, not just this flawed one) is that they don;t acoount for an open mind. An open mind is worth more than a thousand books read and a good memory.

    Maybe on that score DK is more intelligent than me, I'm sure Enoch Powell was as well, with his knowledge of several languages. But intelligence goes deeper than education, memory, wit and being good at IQ tests, in my opinion.

    Marcuse: The answer to 3 must be c.

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  9. Ah, but what if someone else paid Jody's ticket? Then none of them is correct. Oh, sorry, that's lateral thinking...

    If you change the answers around, you will still get below average on logical intelligence - so the test is flawed. Take it with a bucket full of salt.

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  10. There is also a difference between intelligence and common sense. When you look at the antics of some of the leading people in Mensa, past and present, Sir Clive Sinclair's love life, Norris McWhirter's dodgy politics, you do wonder!

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  11. As an ex-driving instructor, I can relate to that. I taught plenty of intelligent people who would never make good drivers and plenty of supposedly less intelligent ones who would make excellent drivers.

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  12. Longrider, you are right, I never thought of that, maybe that's why anyone who takes the test gets 'below average' for logic, because the truly logical thing to do is to realise the test is rubbish half way through and not even bother finding out your score.

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  13. Paul, you are spot on, people with 'intelligence' measured by IQ tests don't necessarily have much sense.

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  14. Neil; I is smarter than you too;-)

    I do however, agree with the consensus that high-IQ isn't always something to be proud of; I'm (very) good at some things, especially verbal reasoning, but ask me to fix a car, do something mechanical, etc? Completely clueless.

    Industrialised economies rely on specialisation of labour; why do we try to categorise everyone on one smart/stupid scale? Absolutely daft...

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  15. Question 3 is the logical one:

    "If Jody doesn't pay her ticket, she will go to jail." Which other statement must be true?

    (a) If Jody pays her ticket, she won't go to jail.
    (b) If Jody goes to jail, she didn't pay her ticket.
    (c) If Jody doesn't go to jail, she paid her ticket.

    Methinks they don't know what a logical falacy is. None of the solutions are logically true.


    No, this one makes perfect sense. To show that proposition (c) follows from the axiom, writing => for implication, we can just apply the following identity

    X=>Y <=> ¬X+Y

    and De Morgan's theorem. We have propositions A and B

    A Jody doesn't pay her ticket
    B Jody will go to jail

    we want to show that

    P = A=>B => ¬B=>¬A

    is a tautology. We have

    P = ¬A+B => B+¬A
    P = ¬(¬A+B) + B+ ¬A
    P = A.¬B + B + ¬A
    P = A.¬B + A.B + ¬A.¬B + ¬A.B

    QED

    Of course you should be able to get this one by inspection anyway.

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  16. Longrider: Yeah c is the right answer afterall, because it specifically mentions Jody having to pay the ticket, so somebody else can't pay it for her.

    eben: Thanks for the maths, not a clue what it means.

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  17. Yes; I was being deliberately contentious - the test was not that nuanced. When I completed the question, I selected "c" yet still got below average on logical intelligence. The test, therefore, is flawed.

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  18. I don't think I got any of my answers wrong.

    Isn't that the point of a test?

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  19. Ken: Yes, it's another 'colemanballs' from me!

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  20. The Devils Kitchen has won and has the news report to prove it...

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