5 ms·

This is the first time I've ever heard of ads for a "free IQ test" actually leading to the real thing! The paper uses the word "significant" quite a few times,

by jleader 15y ago

This is the first time I've ever heard of ads for a "free IQ test" actually leading to the real thing! The paper uses the word "significant" quite a few times, but never mentions the significance level, or confidence intervals, or any other indication of the statistical quality (or lack thereof) of this data. The large number of subjects (100K) suggests that the results may be valid, but it would be nice to see this quantified. Also, the author says "the test worked properly in all of the major browsers", but doesn't explain how he established that, which is important to rule out the possibility that a problem with the test in some browsers skewed the results. Still, the graph at the end (showing distribution of browser usage across IQ percentiles) is entertaining.

exterm 15y ago
Yeah, the "free IQ test" thing made me wonder too. I always thought that intelligent people would not be very likely to click on those ads.
- glimcat 15y ago
  To click or not to click...that is the test.
- redthrowaway 15y ago
  Furthermore, what would the usage of adblock be by IQ percentile? Opera's high showing may be due to it's adblock extension still not being as mature as those of Chrome and FF, and so the average Opera user might be less likely to use it. There's no doubt that Opera users would tend to be geeks and nerds anyway, but you could say the same thing of the top FF users. I'm not convinced that the methodology supports the apparent conclusion that the smartest people use Opera, just that of those who took the test, Opera users scored best.
  - waterlesscloud 15y ago
    I bet adblock usage peaks between 120-130 iq and drops off on either side. This is a wild, completely speculative hunch for which I have no evidence.
    - redthrowaway 15y ago
      So I get putting a lower bound on it, as it would take exposure to technical communities (even if it's just 4chan) that usually comes from inquisition and information-seeking, but what do you propose as the means by which there would exist an upper bound?
      - niels_olson 15y ago
        Experts in other domains who simply don't give a hoot about web browsers.
      - dorkwagon 15y ago
        I imagine that people of high intelligence would be more likely to understand the greater implications of using ad blockers (driving the creations of paywalls, etc.) and so would be less likely to block ads, even when they know how to do so. It's hard to draw conclusions, though--who knows if this chain of speculation actually leads back to a significant confounding factor?
        redthrowaway 15y ago
        They would also be aware of game theory, and may choose to use adblock but not tell anyone, or even actively campaign against it while using it themselves. I'm not suggesting smart people are unethical, but rather that ethicality and intelligence are fairly orthogonal, and that your proposed means seems to have more to do with the former than the latter. As to the speculation, you are of course right. I'm just putting off studying. Speaking of which...
        alexgartrell 15y ago
        It's also potentially the case that intelligent people recognize that it's silly to be completely upset over ads and that few sides with really obnoxious ads have good content in the first place. Perhaps, to them, it's just not worth the trouble. But neither is trying to convince anyone on the internet that you're smart in the first place.
  - truthout 15y ago
    I'm pretty sure you're wrong. Opera is a niche browser. Any browser with significant market share will reflect a more broad population, by deductive reasoning. A more broad population will be closer to the IQ mean of a population. Safari, which is second lowest by market share shows the second highest iq. You should be able to figure out why you're wrong. Other variables definitively exist. But yeah. You're still wrong.
CognitiveLens 15y ago
There's a major validity problem with the sampling method, and exterm points out a pretty glaring bias, so high numbers don't necessarily improve validity, only reliability. Random sampling would be much better than opt-in sampling, but it's obviously pretty difficult to do that in practice.
- Steko 15y ago
  Would be nice if they could control for household income as well, you'd see much of the differences disappear.
  - code_duck 15y ago
    All browsers are provided free of charge and will run equally well on an average piece of hardware. Why do you think browser use is related to income?
    - Steko 15y ago
      First we know IQ is correlated with income. We might guess Mac (hence Safari) users are correlated with income. We might guess Opera users are correlated with income for several reasons. We might guess Chrome users are correlated with income. We might guess Firefox users are correlated with income. We could guess the same of Lynx or any other niche browser more likely to be popular with well educated, higher income bracket people.
      - code_duck 15y ago
        We might guess those things, I suppose. I was wondering why specifically. Are you saying you think it is mainly related to education, and education is correlated to high income, this that's the link and not something else?

by jleader 15y ago

exterm 15y ago

Yeah, the "free IQ test" thing made me wonder too. I always thought that intelligent people would not be very likely to click on those ads.

glimcat 15y ago
To click or not to click...that is the test.
redthrowaway 15y ago
Furthermore, what would the usage of adblock be by IQ percentile? Opera's high showing may be due to it's adblock extension still not being as mature as those of Chrome and FF, and so the average Opera user might be less likely to use it. There's no doubt that Opera users would tend to be geeks and nerds anyway, but you could say the same thing of the top FF users. I'm not convinced that the methodology supports the apparent conclusion that the smartest people use Opera, just that of those who took the test, Opera users scored best.
- waterlesscloud 15y ago
  I bet adblock usage peaks between 120-130 iq and drops off on either side. This is a wild, completely speculative hunch for which I have no evidence.
  - redthrowaway 15y ago
    So I get putting a lower bound on it, as it would take exposure to technical communities (even if it's just 4chan) that usually comes from inquisition and information-seeking, but what do you propose as the means by which there would exist an upper bound?
    - niels_olson 15y ago
      Experts in other domains who simply don't give a hoot about web browsers.
    - dorkwagon 15y ago
      I imagine that people of high intelligence would be more likely to understand the greater implications of using ad blockers (driving the creations of paywalls, etc.) and so would be less likely to block ads, even when they know how to do so. It's hard to draw conclusions, though--who knows if this chain of speculation actually leads back to a significant confounding factor?
      - redthrowaway 15y ago
        They would also be aware of game theory, and may choose to use adblock but not tell anyone, or even actively campaign against it while using it themselves. I'm not suggesting smart people are unethical, but rather that ethicality and intelligence are fairly orthogonal, and that your proposed means seems to have more to do with the former than the latter. As to the speculation, you are of course right. I'm just putting off studying. Speaking of which...
        alexgartrell 15y ago
        It's also potentially the case that intelligent people recognize that it's silly to be completely upset over ads and that few sides with really obnoxious ads have good content in the first place. Perhaps, to them, it's just not worth the trouble. But neither is trying to convince anyone on the internet that you're smart in the first place.
- truthout 15y ago
  I'm pretty sure you're wrong. Opera is a niche browser. Any browser with significant market share will reflect a more broad population, by deductive reasoning. A more broad population will be closer to the IQ mean of a population. Safari, which is second lowest by market share shows the second highest iq. You should be able to figure out why you're wrong. Other variables definitively exist. But yeah. You're still wrong.

CognitiveLens 15y ago

There's a major validity problem with the sampling method, and exterm points out a pretty glaring bias, so high numbers don't necessarily improve validity, only reliability. Random sampling would be much better than opt-in sampling, but it's obviously pretty difficult to do that in practice.

Steko 15y ago
Would be nice if they could control for household income as well, you'd see much of the differences disappear.
- code_duck 15y ago
  All browsers are provided free of charge and will run equally well on an average piece of hardware. Why do you think browser use is related to income?
  - Steko 15y ago
    First we know IQ is correlated with income. We might guess Mac (hence Safari) users are correlated with income. We might guess Opera users are correlated with income for several reasons. We might guess Chrome users are correlated with income. We might guess Firefox users are correlated with income. We could guess the same of Lynx or any other niche browser more likely to be popular with well educated, higher income bracket people.
    - code_duck 15y ago
      We might guess those things, I suppose. I was wondering why specifically. Are you saying you think it is mainly related to education, and education is correlated to high income, this that's the link and not something else?