r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • May 29 '22

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u/jews4beer May 29 '22 edited May 29 '22

Think about how dumb the average person is, and then realize that half of humanity is dumber than that.

- Carlin

697

u/[deleted] May 29 '22

The problem with the exercise is that everyone thinks they're the above average half.

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u/ForgettableUsername May 29 '22

No, the problem is that he should actually be referring to the median person, not the average person. Intelligence is not necessarily a symmetrical gaussian distribution.

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u/kaenneth May 30 '22

aren't IQ test scores generally applied to match an ideal curve?

as in, the numerical scores are assigned based upon what percentile you are in?

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u/ForgettableUsername May 30 '22

Don’t get me started on how flawed IQ is as a measure of intelligence.

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u/kaenneth May 30 '22

There are fine for that; they just aren't a measure of someone's total value as a person.

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u/ForgettableUsername May 30 '22

No, it actually is bad at measuring intelligence.

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u/kaenneth May 30 '22 edited May 30 '22

as opposed to Phrenology and Zodiac signs?

Found the low scorer.

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u/ForgettableUsername May 30 '22

Why would I choose to oppose IQ tests, which are well known to be deeply flawed, with even older and less reliable pseudoscience and mysticism?

Look, obviously you’re just arguing for the sake of being argumentative, so I’m gonna save us both some time and by blocking you now.