I’m sure many of you know what IQ tests are and have a general idea of what an IQ is but, in this article, we’re going to take a deeper dive and explore more aspects of IQs.
What is IQ?
IQ stands for intelligence quotient and comes from the German word Intelligenzquotient. William Stern was the one who came up with the idea of IQ scores. IQ in simple terms is a number that represents your “intelligence”. There’s also EQ which measures Emotional Intelligence but our main topic for this article is IQ. Average scores are between 85-115 and only the top 2% have an IQ score of 130 and above. Those people can be part of Mensa which is made of a group of high intelligence people.
IQ Tests
Originally, IQ was calculated by multiplying the ratio of mental age and actually age by 100 (mental age / actually age x 100). Nowadays, there are many online IQ tests that calculates the IQ score for you. Although they may be inaccurate, it gives a basic idea and it’s fun to look at your score. In a classic IQ test you will generally find questions related to numerical reasoning, logical reasoning, verbal intelligence and spatial intelligence. Listed below are some IQ tests if you want to try some for fun. As stated above, these may be very inaccurate so mainly take them for enjoyment and shouldn’t be taken seriously.
- https://www.mensa.org/public/mensa-iq-challenge
- https://wwiqtest.com/iq-test/
- https://test.iqtestacademy.org/
- https://iq-tests.org/iq-test.html
- https://brainable.com/quiz?afid=gdnuss&gclid=Cj0KCQjwvZCZBhCiARIsAPXbajvjC_xeuWnWgzBmm4zDDIG8JrjDHSbPDOdWLcij09dNusnyDR_KYzsaAsTJEALw_wcB
Highest IQ Scores
Although never officially tested, Einstein’s IQ is predicted to be around 160 which places him in the top 0.03% of the population. In the Guinness Book of World Records, a girl named Marilyn Vos Savant holds the highest IQ score with 228 at 10 years old. Michael Kearney also has one of the highest IQ scores. He got his Bachelor’s degree at 10 years old and Master’s degree at 14 years old. His IQ score was estimated at around 200. There are plenty more of these examples which can be found at the links at the bottom.
Does IQ Score Really Matter?
To be quite frank, IQ scores are completely irrelevant unless you are in the top 2%. The majority of people just have an average IQ and it doesn’t make them superior or seemingly smarter than those a little below average. It’s fun to test your IQ score for entertainment purposes but it’s really rare for a high IQ score. Plus, even being in the top 2% doesn’t give many advantages. Although you may start out “smarter” than everyone, environmental factors and others influence your success too. An example of this is Terman and his experiment with his “Termites” which comprises people in the top 0.01% of IQs. More details of this can be found in the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and in an article by the New York Times. (https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/07/science/75-years-later-study-still-tracking-geniuses.html)
Links:
https://www.mensa.org/iq/what-iq
https://www.britannica.com/science/human-intelligence-psychology
https://www.medicinenet.com/how_do_i_know_my_iq/article.htm
https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/social-relevance/people-with-higher-iq-than-albert-einstein-564517.html#Michael_Kearney___IQ___200%E2%80%93325
