I mean, even in casual usage, when most people talk about someone’s high IQ, they probably aren’t talking about focus, memory, or pattern recognition. They’re likely actually talking about education and interests.
That’s precisely what troubles me. I don’t like that we use a term which actually only means the former to refer to how “smart” someone is in vague, visceral sense—nor the implied equation of either IQ or smartness with utility.
I’m not accusing you of that necessarily, it’s just a pattern I see in the world and fret about. Actually, it reminds me of something which might make a good article in its own right; I’ll ruminate on it for a bit while I’m still getting used to article etiquette.
I definitely agree on this. It’s an abused and conflated word, though I don’t know if that’s more of a cause than an effect of problems society has with thinking about intelligence. I wonder how we could best get people to casually use a wider array of words and associations to distinguish the many different things we mean by “smart”.
I don’t know if that’s more of a cause than an effect of problems society has
You’ve hit an important point here, and not just about the topic in question. Consider body image (we want to see people on TV we think are pretty, but we get our ideas of what’s pretty in part from TV) and media violence (we want to depict the world as it really is, but we also want to impart values that will change the world for the better rather than glorifying people and events which change it for the worse). How, in general, do we break these loops?
I wonder how we could best get people to casually use a wider array of words and associations to distinguish the many different things we mean by “smart”.
So far, I haven’t thought of anything better than choosing to be precise when I’m talking about somebody’s talents and weaknesses, so I try to do that.
I don’t like that we use a term which actually only means the former to refer to how “smart” someone is in vague, visceral sense—nor the implied equation of either IQ or smartness with utility.
Well, me neither; I think it’s a reflection of how people would like to imagine other humans as being much simpler and more homogeneous than they actually are. I look forward to your forthcoming post.
That’s precisely what troubles me. I don’t like that we use a term which actually only means the former to refer to how “smart” someone is in vague, visceral sense—nor the implied equation of either IQ or smartness with utility.
I’m not accusing you of that necessarily, it’s just a pattern I see in the world and fret about. Actually, it reminds me of something which might make a good article in its own right; I’ll ruminate on it for a bit while I’m still getting used to article etiquette.
I definitely agree on this. It’s an abused and conflated word, though I don’t know if that’s more of a cause than an effect of problems society has with thinking about intelligence. I wonder how we could best get people to casually use a wider array of words and associations to distinguish the many different things we mean by “smart”.
You’ve hit an important point here, and not just about the topic in question. Consider body image (we want to see people on TV we think are pretty, but we get our ideas of what’s pretty in part from TV) and media violence (we want to depict the world as it really is, but we also want to impart values that will change the world for the better rather than glorifying people and events which change it for the worse). How, in general, do we break these loops?
So far, I haven’t thought of anything better than choosing to be precise when I’m talking about somebody’s talents and weaknesses, so I try to do that.
Well, me neither; I think it’s a reflection of how people would like to imagine other humans as being much simpler and more homogeneous than they actually are. I look forward to your forthcoming post.
That’s reassuring. :)
Me too. I don’t have a post’s worth of idea yet. But there’s cud yet to chew. (Ruminate has one of my favorite etymologies.)