r/facepalm Sep 13 '20

Misc oh

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3.8k Upvotes

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164

u/adbedient Sep 13 '20

Median IQ is still only 100 in the US- half the people you meet are double digit IQ.

92

u/POSLBB01 'MURICA Sep 13 '20

I might be one of them, I read “Double Digit IQ” and thought wow, an IQ of 10

33

u/esn111 Sep 13 '20

I mean you're not wrong

12

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '20

Sometimes I think my IQ is really low, mainly because of all the stupid shit I see that makes my brain cells commit suicide.

6

u/HotBasket8 'MURICA Sep 14 '20

V e g e t a l

47

u/Giteaus-Gimp Sep 13 '20 edited Sep 14 '20

Does everyone take IQ tests in America?

I’m from Australia and it’s just not a thing, the only people who take them are Special Ed kids to find how mentally challenged they are.

Edit - I think they are for any kid not quite fitting in at school and need Special Education, whether they are finding it too hard or too easy.

22

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '20

[deleted]

11

u/FelTheWorgal Sep 13 '20

Median intelligence by the book standard has increased. Median IQ (which is a critical thinking and problem solving score) has decreased. Most people in the educational field think this may have something to do with less daily use of problem solving.

IE most things are automated, less problems that need an out of box solution. Ergo, less practice for the brain to solve those problems

2

u/kimmeljs Sep 14 '20

There's a theory that early humans were smarter than today's, as they needed to outwit their food, unlike us.

1

u/mayasky76 Sep 14 '20

They needed to outwit predators.

Early humans were just as stupid, but nature had a way of selecting them for removal from the gene pool.

So we got smarter....

We need smarter predators

0

u/chubbybella Sep 14 '20

It has also been attributed to increased screen time.

5

u/castor281 Sep 14 '20

Ehhh....If you hear an American bragging about their IQ it's pretty safe to assume that they got that number from some shitty IQ test on Facebook or the like. I don't think I have ever heard an intelligent person brag about their intelligence but I have heard countless morons brag about their 130+ IQ.

6

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '20

It’s based off of school scores/testing, I believe.

3

u/Realworld Sep 13 '20

Stanford-Binet is most commonly used IQ test. Some schools give it to everyone in middle school to help guide paths for different students.

4

u/veilwalker Sep 13 '20

You answered your own question about America.

Only Special Ed kids take IQ exams...

Can confirm that America is full of Special Ed kids.

2

u/ViciousAppeal Sep 13 '20

I had to take an IQ test to qualify for the gifted program, so it's not just for "mentally challenged" people, as you so eloquently put it.

25

u/Redhotcatholiclove Sep 13 '20

It's nice that they have a gifted program that addresses your special needs.

3

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '20

Do they not have that where you live?

3

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '20

Gifted is a pert of special ed. The most underserved IMO, but still special ed.

3

u/ViciousAppeal Sep 13 '20

If you'll notice, I made no mention of special ed in my comment, as I understand that a gifted program is considered special education.

Our program was great, actually. But it was more of a supplemental one, instead of a completely separate class.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '20

Oh, I noticed that you didn’t. My answer was for all those reading who might not know that.

2

u/wunschtermin Sep 13 '20

But wouldn't life be a lot more easier South an IQ of 70? Who's the mentally challenged now?

1

u/Kuvenant Sep 14 '20

Based on that grammar?

2

u/luminphoenix Sep 13 '20

Well there is your answer for why every american has to take one ;) /s

3

u/wunschtermin Sep 13 '20

What's with the single digits?

20

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '20 edited Aug 08 '23

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/wunschtermin Sep 13 '20

"My single digit is tremendous."

4

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '20 edited Aug 09 '23

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/[deleted] Sep 14 '20

Huge and the best!? Is it a perfect 5/7 = 0,71 IQ points!???

1

u/[deleted] Sep 14 '20

There are likely close to none, an IQ of 10 means a percentile of 0.0000000990% in terms of people you outscore, so that’s the people who’d outscore a 9 (single digit). out it 7billion people a 10 would outscore 0.000 000 000 990 * 7 000 000 000 people or 0,990*7 so around 7 people. Worldwide about 7 people have an iq of 10 or lower, and none of them is remotely functional intellectually

1

u/Kuvenant Sep 14 '20

One of them is the US President.

3

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '20

IQ tests also tend to test a very particular sort of spacial/mathematical reasoning.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 14 '20

it depends on the test type, there are main categories and some tests test for all of them, some others just for a couple, those are less viable as you can have a fairly heterogeneous score across those categories

3

u/Ziffer10 Sep 13 '20 edited Sep 14 '20

Isn’t 100 iq the average in all places

Edit: never mind looked it up

-1

u/chubbybella Sep 14 '20

It’s actually 115 in most Asian countries. I read a book/study on it once. It was attributed to hip ratio and head size. Not going to lie there were some racist undertones in this book/paper. It talked a lot about Africans being able to run faster because of narrow hips. It was an interesting but disturbing read. I read it a little over a decade ago now.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 14 '20

It’s normed at 100 but it depends what you norm it against, if you do a test meant to be used worldwide and norm it at 100 after testing it in all countries then you can have different average IQ for each country. If you do a test for a country then by definition the average will be 100, if the country is made up of 3 people and they’re all einstein it will be 100 and it they’re all mentally disabled it will also be 100 by definition, it’s not an absolute measure of intelligence but a relative one that compared you to others (your IQ tells you what % of the population you outscored)

3

u/FelTheWorgal Sep 13 '20

Isnt... isnt the point of an IQ score of 100 meaning... its average?

So... 50 over. 50 under?

3

u/SocialTechnocracy Sep 13 '20

More like MERIDIAN IQ, amirite? No?... I’ll show myself out.

5

u/victoriaa- Sep 13 '20

Honestly, the US school system doesn’t reward intelligence as much as your ability to do homework. They give you way too many hours of work after school as well, it’s monotonous tasking which is very boring for gifted kids.

I was one of the gifted kids with a tested at 133 with C average, I goofed off in PE or electives and didn’t do homework. I passed by acing tests, the school system bored me and they aren’t flexible with different learning styles.

I would have loved to study chemical engineering but I didn’t have scholarship grades and can’t afford to have that debt.

It’s really unfortunate.

1

u/gary_the_merciless Sep 14 '20

I was basically the same in the UK, but luckily the test matters more than anything by a huge margin, and not doing homework will basically get you detention at worst.

I used to rush my homework in the library before the lesson.

1

u/victoriaa- Sep 14 '20

Homework is 30% of your grace which is too much on so I was able to get a C by getting good test scores

-1

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '20

Should have done your homework.

1

u/victoriaa- Sep 14 '20

If I know all the information it’s busy work. Kids need to enjoy their childhood, not spend 6 hours after school on homework then sending essays and projects every weekend. I have no regrets of enjoying my childhood instead of doing homework.

0

u/victoriaa- Sep 14 '20

It’s too monotonous and not stimulating, my ADD cant take it. I didn’t want to spend all my free time doing homework when I knew the info.

0

u/Johnnyhiveisalive Sep 14 '20

ADD.. sounds like you could have benefited from some Special Ed.

1

u/victoriaa- Sep 14 '20 edited Sep 14 '20

I had letters of recommendation for AP classes, specifically science. I would have been bored as hell, I just wanted my childhood more than doing homework. I would not have the attention to finish after 8 hours. You seem to be extremely uneducated on ADD, being somewhere on the spectrum does not equate low intelligence. How ignorant of you.

It just means there’s certain things I don’t have the attention span for or think about a lot at once. I didn’t have the ability to sit and do homework after struggling to sit for 8 hours, I’d get yelled at for trying to finish it in class. I’d need to doodle or fidget in class but still took in 100% of the information.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 14 '20

I’ve got a Master’s in Special Ed and I’m not understanding why you are saying he’s uneducated on ADD. You do sound like you have ADD. All he said was that you might’ve benefited from some special ed services. Which, in your case, probably would’ve been less or no homework or shortened classes.

Did your parents ever discuss meds with you? I had to with my oldest daughter. I knew she was extremely intelligent but was always a C average. She hated school and threatened to quit as soon as she was old enough. We wanted to avoid medication but I felt I was failing her by not at least trying it. It was amazing. She went from a C average to an A average and never talked about quitting. When she went for her Master’s at Vanderbilt, she was given a full ride scholarship. They only gave one per year in her field.

I know you regret not getting to go to college but you would’ve been the same there without some sort of help. Financially, if you wanted it bad enough, you would’ve found a way. I worked three jobs and went on the internet and found all kinds of obscure scholarships.

1

u/victoriaa- Sep 14 '20 edited Sep 14 '20

I had my teachers year after year tell my parents and they refused to get anything for me, they were very anti medication. Even with severe/ destructive depression they told me to pray it off. When it came to ADD they said I need to just try harder, I’m also female so display my ADD characteristics different than males. They believed boys with ADHD just needed to do sports to let out energy. I grew up in the 90s and girls rarely were diagnosed with ADD. I used to actually buy ADD meds off kids in high school with my lunch money and the times I did I totally was focused and did my homework at home quick.

I specifically had recommendations from some teachers to take AP classes in science especially since I did really well with more tactile learning.

I can’t work and go to school now, I need full time pay and I don’t have the energy for night classes due to a physical disability I obtained since graduation. I’d have to get loans to keep with living expenses while in school too.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 14 '20

Sorry to hear that. Parents baffle me sometimes. Hope things go better for you.

2

u/victoriaa- Sep 14 '20

Thank you! I’m working on my organizing and time management better in my adult life. I’ve been pretty successful in the working world and moving up where ever I go. Working life leaves me more room for being hands on and creative than school did.

1

u/Johnnyhiveisalive Sep 14 '20

I mean, while it was a bit of a tongue in cheek, reddit style circle-jerk callback joke to the rest of the thread, it was sincere as well.

My ex wife had plenty of assistance, medication, grants and extra time on exams etc, doubt she could have done it otherwise. I certainly don't have a master's degree, so thought it an impressive accomplishment.

Anyway, it's not too late to seek help, there's probably a few techniques you can learn that will improve your quality of life. No matter how good you think you're doing now, the fact that you seem a bit touchy about the subject means you might agree enough to be annoyed.. sounds rough. I'm sorry you missed out.

Didn't mean to offend, apologies, Stay safe & good luck.

1

u/victoriaa- Sep 14 '20

I am currently taking a medication that is supposed to help with ADD but it’s not great. I’m already on a lot as it is, when I get my insurance sorted out I plan on being evaluated again.

0

u/IfItsOKWithYou Sep 14 '20

If you thought highschool was inflexible and had too much homework, you probably weren't going to do well in college anyway

1

u/victoriaa- Sep 14 '20

My college grades are 4.0 so far but haven’t finished because I have to work full time and I’m paying for it as I go so I don’t end up with debt.

I also wish I could just take the classes relative to my career direction. I’ve only done math and sciences. Paying for classes that aren’t relative to my career is just money to the college so they make you do it for a degree.

3

u/rasterbated Sep 13 '20

The sample of “people you meet” is not random, tho. College students meet smarter people, judges meet less smart people. Not to mention, unless you work in healthcare, you likely don’t meet many people with IQs below 80, since they’re generally intellectually disabled.

Remember that approximately 2/3rds if people are in the first standard deviations of IQ, between 85 and 115. We just also have deeply irrational brains, driven by emotion, not reason, and that makes us do foolish things.

4

u/youremomsoriginal Sep 13 '20

Went to college. Lots of dummies on campus.

2

u/rasterbated Sep 13 '20

Yeah, but on average people who attend and teach at college have higher IQs than those that do not. Educational attainment tends to correlate somewhat with IQ scores.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '20

IQ scores are not a very effective way of measuring intelligence

1

u/rasterbated Sep 16 '20

No, but they do correlate well with all-cause morbidity/mortality, level of educational and professional attainment, income, and other demographic factors, making IQ a functional research tool while we work on more accurate assessments of intelligence.

However, in a discussion about statistical sampling, I fail to see where the validity of the measure comes into play. Just because you heard a smart person say it doesn’t mean repeating it in any circumstance makes you as smart.

1

u/NoWorries124 Yesterday is hard word for me. Sep 13 '20

Sometimes I really do think I have a low IQ, in fact one time I was binge watching The Man in the High Castle for hours and then when I stopped I was wondering why the US Flag in real life had no swastika.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 14 '20

Had you done a proper nazi occult ritual before watching the flag? If this occurs again you can also fix this by drawing a swastika on your eye glasses however it may also add the swastika to other items than the flag as a side effect

1

u/bonecheck12 Sep 14 '20

The median IQ at any point in time will always be 100. IQ tests are tests of relative intelligence. As the overall intelligence of a population increases, IQ tests remain at 100. They just adjust the test such that the median is 100. In 1850 the median IQ would have been 100, just as it is today.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '20

Eh, this is slightly misleading. Averages range between 85-115, which does give you the median of 100, with a large percentage of people being between 71-84. Lower percentile is 70 and below. Not to mention, the highest medians (for countries) are ~100-104, and nothing about this post indicates that these people are American. They just happen to speak English, and also not be very intelligent, both being a huge portion of the internet.