It seemed so flattering, until you looked closer.

[janewilliams20]

Facebook has a number of little apps you can download, and tests you can do, complete with the facility to challenge your friends and compare your results with theirs. I keep getting challenged to quizzes about films, which is rather odd, since anyone who knows me knows that I don't watch them, and would expect to score zero.

There's one that's a straight IQ test. After a number of challenges, I took it. IQ 148, it tells me - OK, I'm a few points down from when I was in college, but that's no surprise. One plaintive wall message from a friend who hadn't expected to be beaten, and a comparison chart that shows me ahead of everyone else I know who's taken it, which is a surprise when I look at the names.

So, let's take a detailed look. Which questions did I get wrong, and what were the right answers? Ah. I didn't get any wrong. I got every question right, 30/30 in 8 minutes out of the 15 allowed.

Now, it's been a while since I did any statistics, but I can reach the obvious conclusion here. When it comes to measuring IQ at the level I and most of my friends are at, this test is broken. It can't distinguish in any meaningful manner between us. And since IQ tests in any case measure only the ability to pass IQ tests, this little triumph - isn't.

Ah, well. The ego-boost was nice while it lasted. Shame I'm too intelligent to believe it :)

Comments

[hobbitblue.livejournal.com]

I gave up on it...the timer was too pressurising and I panicked when I was trying to compare cows and saw the numbers counting down... eep!

[janewilliams20.livejournal.com]

I barely even registered the timer. Hadn't realised time was being taken into consideration, beyond having to finish inside 15 min (since I didn't have 15 min of lunchbreak left at that point, it wasn't exactly relevant).