What do these scores say about me?

As Dr. Glassman was explaining the history of standardized tests and what IQ tests are on Monday, I thought back to last weekend when I was working at my grandparents pizzeria. Why would I do that? Well it just so happened that the Mensa society from the local high school dined in. My grandpa told me that membership of Mensa is open to persons who have attained a score within the upper two percent of the general population on an approved intelligence test that has been properly administered and supervised. In other words they are considered geniuses. Of course I thought those guys must be brilliant to have scored so high similarly to today when Dr. Glassman asked us what we would think of those who scored a perfect on the SAT. It is pretty funny though that these eight high school boys couldn't agree on or figure out what kind of food they were going to eat or how to divide up the check. I was joking with my grandpa along the lines of "so these are the guys that are expected to solve the world's problems" and all he said was "maybe".

I wanted to find out more about IQ tests and I found this great article. The link for it is  http://iq-test.learninginfo.org/iq07.htm. It poses the question as to whether you  need high IQ to be successful. The article states that having a high IQ score doesn't predict success later in life nor does it predict success in school. They only measure a certain type of potential. The potential needs to be developed and nurtured by the person who has it. Another good point is that someone with potential may have no inclination or desire to do anything with it. So you take an IQ test and you learn that you have potential. So what? Potential is not what makes people successful. I think the article makes a good point when it says we need to broaden our understanding of what intelligence is and the role it plays in successful living. This can be related to standardized testing results. So you did poorly on that test, does it mean that you won't be successful and you should just throw in the towel? On the contrast doing well on a standardized test means that you performed well on that particular test on that particular day. How one does on a standardized high school exam does not really affect your life after high school as long as you pass and graduate. Qualities such as determination and vision can be more important to one's ultimate success in life.