The march to Nazism takes another step

  • @theherk@lemmy.world
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    94 days ago

    Every tests measures first and foremost how well one takes that test. There are many IQ tests with varying usefulness.

    • @jagged_circle@feddit.nl
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      124 days ago

      Nope. IQ measures how Western you are.

      We cannot test intelligence. That’s what the creator of the IQ test concluded after the eugenics championed their attempt to do so.

      • @suburban_hillbilly@lemmy.ml
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        144 days ago

        The problem is not so much the test itself, which can be useful sometimes, but the idea that ‘intelligence’ can be fully encapsulated by a single number that is both immutable and discrete.

      • @theherk@lemmy.world
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        84 days ago

        Sorry, but that is only true for a narrow, archaic band of the term IQ. Though I admit that within that narrow interpretation, you’re right. But there have been many tests devised since then to attempt to address those concerns.

          • @theherk@lemmy.world
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            64 days ago

            Maybe, in varying degrees, but also some success. Though intelligence itself is tough to pin down in the broader sense, there are some aspects of the measurement that are useful in both clinical settings and in research.

            • @jagged_circle@feddit.nl
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              24 days ago

              Sure. I’m not saying they aren’t useful in a clinical setting. Just that they don’t measure intelligence.

              It can definitely be useful to measure how much knowledge someone has of Western culture

              • @theherk@lemmy.world
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                24 days ago

                Yeah, and I don’t mean to be too argumentative, but that is still a narrow perspective. They are also useful across cultures in the case of some tests. They are also useful beyond just knowledge. For example, for determining learning aptitude. There are many comments of intelligence. Some are more easy than others to measure objectively.

                Again, you’re definitely right for a subset of IQ tests. I’m just saying in the broader sense they can be useful and even measure “intelligence” in some useful ways. At least, this is what I’ve understood from some reading, not as some expert on the topic.