Why do an IQ test?

Why does the vast majority of the population obsess over IQ? In the materialistic, fake, narcissistic world of today, people seem to gravitate towards it out of insecurity or laziness.

To put a lifetime of experience, you as a human being, whittled down to a short test.

It seems to me to be just a lazy way people want to prove they have status on the hierarchy. They want validation, and their ego lures them in with the easy option of not lifting a finger to learn anything in the real world. They subconsciously think, maybe if I do really good on this test I’ll feel good about myself, be superior, and I won’t even have to do anything hard.

I just picture some fat armchair expert doing the test, getting a high score that makes him feel so validated and content that he does nothing but rot in his computer chair, lecturing people in comment sections on the internet all day. Sitting there with bottles of Coke sprawled out across the desk, sticky Dorito fingers hammering away at the keyboard while his neck jiggles as he chuckles to himself reading his own comments. “Hah, god damn, my wit is fire bro, people need to see this.” He gets off on it because it’s the only thing he has to make himself feel good. His ego needs this one thing to survive.

If you think intelligence can be pinned down to a test, you’re either closed-minded or, sorry to say, not very bright yourself. Or maybe just lazy, to have stopped for a moment and had a good think about it. There’s a vast range of things that the IQ test doesn’t even touch on, and I believe there are things we don’t fully understand yet either about how people work. To be honest, it’s not even worth arguing with people who want to push the IQ-being-important argument. They’re usually the same sort of people: ego out of control, something in their life is missing, they need a win somewhere. They also seem to lash out at people who oppose their opinion. They seem dead set on their way of thinking being correct; it’s so black and white.

I’ve tried to explain my point of view, but they seem to never listen to what I’m really trying to say. Either I need to work on how I articulate thoughts, or they aren’t listening. They might be stubborn and closed-minded, and if I make a good point, well, I’m attacking all they have, right?

IQ could show you a few things, sure, but nothing in the big picture. I say, you know what, better to have an IQ that’s really low; you’ll probably be a better person. You would be humble, not look down on everyone, and be willing to listen to people and learn.

The most intelligent people in the world are the humble students. They never stop learning and seeking. Life doesn’t become stale. As you would have heard, “the more you learn, the more you realise you don’t understand.”

Do you think a person who gets a high IQ score wants to listen to what anyone thinks? No, he feels superior.

Do you think he’s willing to be a student and learn? No, he could never be humble enough to allow himself to think someone knows more than him and he could learn something from them.

Now I’m not even going to bother trying to get onto Google — cite this, cite that — to prove my opinion with other people’s opinions. I’m happy thinking for myself. I’m going to rely on my own rationale, critical thinking, and intuition. Yes, that word “intuition” probably makes some people cringe, as it sounds a bit woo-woo, but I think it has a place and it’s worth not fully ignoring it.

Before I even had a good think about all this, IQ has always rubbed me the wrong way. It never really sounded right, and one thing I’ve learned throughout my life is that I will feel something’s right or wrong before I know something.

The IQ test is very academic, and the school systems lean towards teaching the things that actually improve the IQ score of people. Which is why I believe we have seen the steady rise of the average IQ, not because people are evolving and our brains are growing. If anything, you could look around in the world and say we are headed towards “Idiocracy.” People are becoming more rigid, letting AI and Google think for them, and never really being challenged.

The different scopes of intelligence are so vast, and to think you can do a test and be told, “Hey mate, sorry, you are at your maximum capacity,” because of the number you get assigned, is crazy. But hey, if you want to be labelled as a number, drag your feet through life with a billboard dangling around your neck that has your number on it, sure, go ahead.

It seems most people get off on being victims now. Easier for them to take their number, go to a place where your number belongs, and never try. Trying might be risky. Trying might require effort. Yeah, best take your number, accept you’ll never amount to anything (or sit back and relax, depending on the number you get). Nobody feels bad about the way they are or behave then. They all have a number to point to and say in a childish voice, “My IQ is,” or “It’s not my fault, I was dealt these cards at birth.”

For the people reading who don’t want to be told what they are, don’t even do the test. Better yet, assume it’s low and it’s not set in stone.

Be a student for life, that’s my motto. Be always, forever learning, forever changing, and forever trying new things.

Growing and progressing is the most rewarding thing I do in life. When things become stagnant, a grind, it’s time to move on and do something else.

Don’t decay. Don’t learn something and then repeat what you’ve learned for the rest of your life. After you have learned it, you are repeating the original thing you learned without any thought.

I don’t want to decay, so I’m going to keep seeking, keep learning interesting things, and I’m not going to do a flawed test that presumes it can tell me what my limit is. I’m going to keep going without limit, no matter where I end up. Why not? The alternative is for cowards.