To answer this question, I must clarify what I mean by “giftedness,” because the concept of giftedness is currently under challenge. The California Department of Education, in their draft of the Mathematics Framework for California Public Schools, K-12, asserts: We reject ideas of natural gifts and talents…an important goal of this framework is to replace …
Do you over-estimate or under-estimate your intelligence? As you passed through puberty and moved progressively toward adulthood, you observed your burgeoning physical and intellectual power. Suddenly, you were towering above some of the adults whom you had looked up to all your life, and your understanding of the world around you was growing in leaps …
In 1946, J.B.S. Haldane, an English scientist stated: We cannot in general say that A has a greater innate ability than B. A might do better in environment X, and B in environment Y. Had I been born in a Glasgow slum I should very probably have become a chronic drunkard, and if so, I …
Subscribing to the belief that special programs for the mathematically gifted are elitist and/or racist, the California Department of Education, has drafted the Mathematics Framework for California Public Schools, K-12 document. The first chapter of that document, throws down the gauntlet asserting: We reject ideas of natural gifts and talents…an important goal of this …
This is a fascinating question on which people will have a wide range of opinions, though no one really knows the answer. The best we can do is to speculate, based on our observation of particular cases. Studies of identical twins raised apart have shown that there is a genetic component to intelligence, yet our …
Yes, IQ is actually a quotient. For adults (those above 18 years of age) there is a common test, the most popular of which is the WAIS (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale). The WAIS is age-normed across age-groups up to and including 70–74 years. The WAIS manual enables a psychometrician to convert an absolute score on …
The following post is a response to a request that I address Taleb’s assertions. In his criticism of research related to IQ, Nassim Taleb addresses some of the misconceptions about IQ and makes some valid observations about the interpretation of IQ at its high end. However, some of his assertions fly in the face of …
In this post, I propose to add some data to John Cate’s comments (see below). First, it’s important to explain that the term “genius IQ” should be taken to mean “a sufficiently high IQ to offer genius potential,” because a high IQ is a necessary, but not sufficient condition for genius. That is, the term …
Today, politicians attempt to gain credibility by asserting that they are “following the science,” even on issues where there is no scientific consensus. One of the most valuable cognitive benefits of deep scientific exploration is the recognition that our understanding of nature is extremely limited. This insight is usually manifest as the deep intellectual humility …
Are the Politicians really “following the science?” Read More »
This is an interesting question because it has several dimensions. While those who are most likely to change their opinions in the face of disconfirming evidence are drawn from the ranks of the most intelligent, the ability to change an opinion when confronted with new evidence is relatively rare–even among the very gifted. We humans …
