Who else with Average IQ sucks at Chess ( lol ) ?

showoffy little bastards!

Dear Andy,

May I say, with regard to your previous comment in this forum about IQ tests (see below):  I hope and pray it was an example of your well-known "jocularity." (tsk, tsk...)

AndyClifton :

  "They measure your ability to stack blocks.  That's about it."

Alas!!  I'm driven Once Again to "explain" IQ tests:  

1)  They are All arbitrary.

2)  The "traditional" ones, like the WISC, are made up of "subtests" which Do actually include "arranging blocks in patterns."  (NOT "Stacking Them," you silly boy!)

3)  Among its 10 subtests, the WISC measures:  commonsense reasoning, abstract reasoning, vocabulary, social intuition (as measured by putting cartoon panels in order!), clerical skills, ability to do mental arithmetic, short-term auditory memory, assembling 2-dimensional puzzles, store of cultural information, etc. 

4)  Using This traditional system, average "IQ" is 100.  The scores have a "standard deviation" --- (Yes, Andy It's a Real statistical term! --- so No Giggling about "deviations" or "deviates," and, omg, seriously, how old Are you?! )  --- Anyway, one "standard deviation" is 16.  Thus, an IQ above 132 makes one, well, technically .... oh, well .... let's just say "Really, Really Smart!"  But note: That's Only according to those Old 'IQ Test' Inventors, like Binet and Wechsler.

I do hope that clears up Everything! !

Your Continuing Source for Accurate Psychological Information,

MIL 

So...you seem to be saying that they are in fact kinda stupid and arbitrary...which is why we should pay attention to them.

Exactly!  And so, at last, you begin to learn, Grasshopper....  ....

Hey, I haven't been a grasshopper for a while (although I still continue to grow lettuce). 

motherinlaw  

WOMAN HITLER IS HERE!!!

Well I must say this takes the Cake, that is to say I've seen some goofy posts on this site before. I mean we have a thread here about IQ and Chess and we are on a Chess site and we get this stupidity ? Goofy, truly Goofy !!!

How sad!  Especially sad because it's not uncommon ... it happens a Lot with little kids learning to draw -- all a teacher has to say is "Grass isn't purple.  It's Green," and the little kid, crushed, stops drawing.  

Years later, the grown man still believes "I can't draw."  I hear that a Lot in my work.  And sometimes I see a "grownup" decide to defy that teacher in their head, and go back to recapture the joy of whatever art they had given up --- that's so delightful to see!

(Note: I myself keep having tons o' fun playing chess even though I'm clearly not all that good at it... and probably won't get better, since I Refuse to study it! )

... IQ is still used as a measure of intelligence?

IQ (intelligence quotient) is the "score" on a test that measures "intelligence."  The problem is that "intelligence" is an arbitrary construct.  So there's a tautology here:  "What is an IQ test?  It's a test that measures intelligence."  "What is intelligence? It's something measured by an IQ test."  

We're all drawn to the simplicity of a single score here, but these tests measure a wide variety of abilities, and a lot of the subtests are subject to cultural bias and ...... well, perhaps I can summarize best by paraphrasing the esteemed Mr. Clifton:  "You just stack blocks!  It's stupid!" ! 

Amen to that!  Give me a hobby that I don't have to study for hours on end to improve at any day...oh wait, I already have one; it's called Geocaching, aka "the most fun you can have using $12 billion worth of military hardware!"

Continuing with the young Mensa kids what we need now is for one of them to get serious about Chess. The age of the youngest GM keeps decreasing as new ones are named so when will we get a GM who has only one digit in his or her age ( ie: age 8 or 9 ) ? I think that a pool ( like a betting pool ) needs to be started and I feel the target age of 8 or 9 yrs will be reached before another decade passes by, that is before the end of the year 2022.

There is a interesting new book out from Time Home Entertainment entitled " Secrets Of Genius ". Included is a fun little quizz from the US.Mensa.org ( the only problem is I don't even understand most of the questions, oh darn it all ).

That's why it's the "Secrets" of Genius -- if people can't understand the questions, it Stays "secret." !

Chess and golf, ain't gonna practice but I love them.

I just love hearing I'm not the only one who refuses to push myself to "practice" at a hobby ... it's supposed to be for "fun" -- not "work" -- right? ;-)

Yep, same here...I hate studying (too much like school)!

You realize how IQ works right?  If a 4 year old has an IQ of 150 that means... that they're as smart as a 6 year old (or that they did as well as a 6 year old is expected to do on the same test).  So when Mensa asks a little kid to join, yes the kid's a genius, but not because they're doing astophysics, but because they were able to identify themselves in a mirror and display mastery of object permanence