Have you ever thought about IQ tests in the sense that you asked questions like: Why do they exist? What is the education behind them? And, is there something beyond them? As the shortish yet wonderful book about universal IQ tests called How Intelligent Are You? (Victor Serebriakoff, 1998) points out, there may be many rough yet perfectly acceptable and normal definitions of smart. It is with this idea that the book’s author addresses the sometime amusing evidence and often instructive intelligence problems surrounding IQ tests and their use in testing.
It is possible that each of us will develop our own unique definitions of IQ – which we create and design to suit our own approximate understanding of the complexity of things in the universe. Perhaps some of the well-meaning intellectuals among us formulated universal IQ tests with one purpose in mind – namely, to torment all the rest of us. Or, maybe, IQ testing is simply a biological strategy of those who want to know something meaningful – like how well a person functions in terms of a range of natural reasoning abilities – about anyone who cares to know the measure(s) of intelligence across a general reality of statistically reliable markers. All of these notions are considered, to some extent, throughout this little book about IQ tests.
What I really liked about reading How Intelligent Are You? (Victor Serebriakoff, 1998) was how greatly improved my impression of universal IQ tests (and my own IQ) is now after having given the book a quick and lighthearted reading. In conclusion, it is my opinion that everyone should seriously consider participating in the variety of available Mensa testing opportunities which appear listed on this website and elsewhere online from time to time. Testing sessions are held somewhat regularly and a number of different formats of tests are acceptable for qualifying for admission to Mensa.
