IQ Tests: Why They’re Kinda Bullshit and Why Wisdom Wins

IQ Tests: Why They’re Kinda Bullshit and Why Wisdom Wins

IQ tests might tell you how fast you can solve a puzzle, but they won’t tell you how to raise kids, calm a fight, or survive a week in the woods.

Maybe it’s time we stop worshipping a number and start talking wisdom.

The IQ test started with good intentions. In 1904, French psychologist Alfred Binet created it to figure out which school kids needed extra help (Verywell Mind, 2020).

It was a tool, not a scoreboard. But like most things humans invent, we twisted it.

By the time IQ tests hit the U.S., they were being used to rank people, gatekeep opportunities, and even justify eugenics programs (LitHub, 2021).

That’s not exactly the legacy you want from something that’s supposed to measure brilliance.

Here’s the deal.

IQ tests measure a narrow slice of mental horsepower: logic, pattern recognition, short-term memory, problem solving.

Psychologist Edwin Boring once said, “Intelligence is what the tests test” which is basically admitting they’re circular nonsense.

Meanwhile, they don’t measure creativity, grit, empathy, or emotional intelligence.

The World Economic Forum points out that real-world success often has more to do with those “soft” skills than your ability to spot patterns in a bunch of triangles (WEF, 2015).

And let’s be honest: Mensa might be the dumbest club in the world. It’s a room full of people bragging about test scores while the rest of us are out here building businesses, raising kids, fixing plumbing, or grilling steaks.

I just scored a 117 on an IQ test (just for this specific article (from Headway), which is supposedly “superior”, and I can promise you it didn’t make me any better at remembering to take the trash out on Tuesday or motivating my team to get after it on Wednesday.

If you want to know how someone will do in real life, an IQ score isn’t the tool.

That’s why we’ve got emotional intelligence tests and even DISC (dominance (D), influence (i), steadiness (S), and conscientiousness (C)) profiles, tools that show how you handle stress, how you get along with others, and how you react under pressure.

Those tests might not make you feel like Einstein, but they tell you a hell of a lot more about what you might want to work on or whether people will actually want to work with you.

The Kentucky Dude verdict is simple. IQ tests might be fun if you like filling in bubbles and getting a number to brag about at cocktail parties.

But wisdom that messy mix of judgment, experience, and knowing when to shut up, or get up, is what really matters.

You can’t bubble in wisdom on a scantron. And maybe that’s the point.