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He’s right, I’m afraid. The kinds of things that iq tests measure are whether you have the patience and training and whether or not you care about the kinds of

He’s right, I’m afraid. The kinds of things that iq tests measure are whether you have the patience and training and whether or not you care about the kinds of problems that show up on iq tests. I’ve worked with computer programmers, and forklift operators, and I have to tell you that the forklift operators are just as smart as the computer programmers. Taleb is also correct that there are a few people who have suffered some sort of brain injury for whom iq might be a useful test; but you can tell who those people are with a casual conversation. All the rest is just training and personality.

saywhatnowman 8y ago
> I have to tell you that the forklift operators are just as smart as the computer programmers Based on what? Conversational ability? How much you like them? It's painful to ever admit that one person is better at a fundamental thing than another. Our primate brains get icked out at the thought of something like that because we evolved in small groups where slights and insults like that could get your head bashed in with a rock. That said, it's important that we approach such questions objectively and with data over anecdotes. IQ measures _something_. In the case of the progressive matrices tests it seems to measure an ability to recognize abstract visual patterns, which probably maps onto _some_ skills in a way that is important. Wouldn't you expect people with higher aptitude for, say, identifying abstract patterns, to have higher aptitude for certain professions?