On the other hand, any regular reader of LW will (1) be aware that LW folks as a population are extremely smart and (2) notice that Viliam is demonstrably one of the smartest here, so the Mensa test got something right.
Of course any serious claim to be identifying people five standard deviations above average in a truly normally-distributed property is bullshit, but if you take the implicit claim behind that figure of 176 to be only “there’s a number that kinda-sorta measures brainpower, the average is about 100, about 2% are above 130, higher numbers are dramatically rarer, and Viliam scored 176 which means he’s very unusually bright” then I don’t think it particularly needs laughing at.
On the other hand, any regular reader of LW will (1) be aware that LW folks as a population are extremely smart and (2) notice that Viliam is demonstrably one of the smartest here, so the Mensa test got something right.
Of course any serious claim to be identifying people five standard deviations above average in a truly normally-distributed property is bullshit, but if you take the implicit claim behind that figure of 176 to be only “there’s a number that kinda-sorta measures brainpower, the average is about 100, about 2% are above 130, higher numbers are dramatically rarer, and Viliam scored 176 which means he’s very unusually bright” then I don’t think it particularly needs laughing at.
It was not my intention to make fun of Viliam; I apologize if my comment gave this impression.
I did want to make fun of the institution of Mensa, and stand by them deserving some good-natured ridicule.
I agree with your charitable interpretation about what an IQ of 176 might actually mean; thanks for stating this in such a clear form.