Don’t be. It’s not like knowing that score will actually open any doors for you or constrain your anticipations in any meaningful way; in all likelihood you already know what problems you’re smart enough to tackle to a much greater precision than an integer in the range 0-~160 can possibly give you.
I only know it because I was tested at my parents’ or school’s behest in childhood. I certainly wouldn’t pay for it as an adult.
I don’t feel like it’s embarrassing to know it—why embarrassed? (I remember first learning mine by overhearing my parents talking about it.) It might be embarrassing if you put too much weight on it over practical ability, or if you waved it around as a substitute for convincing argument. But I don’t see too much cause for embarrassment in simply knowing it.
One (currently slightly downvoted) comment doesn’t seem like much of an indicator of a growing community social norm. Does anything else give you that impression?
I assumed that was more based on cultural norms than LW norms. Generally people don’t discuss their IQs in polite company (or potentially-high-variance-IQ company, maybe), especially high IQs, because of the risk of being seen as bragging about something that other people may not view as high-status. In discussions outside LW I’ve heard people be somewhat condescending toward people who even admit to having gotten their IQs tested, as it’s often associated with intellectual pretension. (And, in turn, being seen as claiming high status in a way that actually marks one as low-status is associated with social unawareness.)
Took it. Sort of embarrassed that I don’t know my IQ.
Why does that embarrass you?
Don’t be. It’s not like knowing that score will actually open any doors for you or constrain your anticipations in any meaningful way; in all likelihood you already know what problems you’re smart enough to tackle to a much greater precision than an integer in the range 0-~160 can possibly give you.
I only know it because I was tested at my parents’ or school’s behest in childhood. I certainly wouldn’t pay for it as an adult.
I used my score from when I was 7. I’m pretty sure I am smarter than that based on SAT & GRE but I never learned how to translate those to IQ.
If anything I feel like it’s embarrassing to know it.
Remember, it’s never cool to not know something.
I don’t feel like it’s embarrassing to know it—why embarrassed? (I remember first learning mine by overhearing my parents talking about it.) It might be embarrassing if you put too much weight on it over practical ability, or if you waved it around as a substitute for convincing argument. But I don’t see too much cause for embarrassment in simply knowing it.
Are we as a community setting up social norms against knowledge now?
One (currently slightly downvoted) comment doesn’t seem like much of an indicator of a growing community social norm. Does anything else give you that impression?
The comment indicating embarrassment seems to suggest a norm.
I assumed that was more based on cultural norms than LW norms. Generally people don’t discuss their IQs in polite company (or potentially-high-variance-IQ company, maybe), especially high IQs, because of the risk of being seen as bragging about something that other people may not view as high-status. In discussions outside LW I’ve heard people be somewhat condescending toward people who even admit to having gotten their IQs tested, as it’s often associated with intellectual pretension. (And, in turn, being seen as claiming high status in a way that actually marks one as low-status is associated with social unawareness.)
Your supposition was correct; I also meant it to be a little more light-hearted than it seems to have been interpreted.
(Full disclosure: I don’t know, but I did rush over to consult the SAT/GRE conversion chart when it was posted, which is probably worse.)
It would also be very easy to lie about your IQ if talking about your own IQ was socially acceptable.
Agreed