03 September 2006

Can intelligence be learnt?

Browsing through one of those test yourself-pages, I found an IQ test I though I might try. (Had I known it was 100 questions I might not have bothered, but once I'd started, I couldn't quit, right?)

It turns out I'm such a brilliant girl I'll have Mensa come knocking on my door any moment now. The arrow's fallen out of the image but I'm right where the distribution curve ends. Amazing, right? Or not so...


You see, I've been taking these kinds of test before. My mum had a book full of them, in the end we were so great at it it's a miracle we're not heading Mensa international, or at least the Scandinavian branch... But I still never know if "Train A starting at 10 and driving 10 m/h and train B starting at 10:30 driving 15 m/h but heading south..." ever meet.

I've really just learnt a method of thinking, haven't I? Does that mean I'm extremely intelligent? (I'd like to say yes, of course, but...) So if someone who's never seen a test like this before, or had a chance to learn maths, fails horribly, does this mean he / she is stupid? I can't really see how that would connect - with anything..

So I think this one's at least as important (if even less accurate - it's only a few questions):

Your EQ is 140

50 or less: Thanks for answering honestly. Now get yourself a shrink, quick!
51-70: When it comes to understanding human emotions, you'd have better luck understanding Chinese.
71-90: You've got more emotional intelligence than the average frat boy. Barely.
91-110: You're average. It's easy to predict how you'll react to things. But anyone could have guessed that.
111-130: You usually have it going on emotionally, but roadblocks tend to land you on your butt.
131-150: You are remarkable when it comes to relating with others. Only the biggest losers get under your skin.
150+: Two possibilities - you've either out "Dr. Phil-ed" Dr. Phil... or you're a dirty liar.

And no, I've got no idea how I actually found the time to complete either...

3 comments:

Violet said...

I reckon you're right about getting good at IQ tests with practice. But that's because I'm really bad at those IQ tests which are bases on solving puzzles. How long is the EQ test? I'm not doing it if it's 100 questions long.

Just D said...

I too can learn how to take a test without learning the actual material... it's a gift! BTW, I got the same score as you on the EQ...cool!

kimananda said...

The EQ test was fun...but the answers seemed pretty obvious to me somehow. I'm impressed that you did the more 'traditional' IQ test...11 pages of test-taking shows that you have a high PQ (patience quotient) as well!