“the average IQ is now x” (where x is different from 100)
I think you are just being pedantic. When people say something like “the flynn effect has raised the average IQ has increased by 10 points over the last 50 years”, they mean that the average person would score 10 points higher on a 1950′s IQ test. See also the value of money, which also changes over time due to inflation. When people say “a dollar was worth more 50 years ago”, you don’t reply “nuh uh, a dollar has always been worth exactly one dollar.”
claims of “some scientists estimating” the IQ of a computer, an animal, or a fictional alien species.
I mean it’s impossible to do any kind of serious estimate. But I don’t think the idea of a linear scale of intelligence is inherently meaningless. So you could give a very rough estimate where nonhuman intelligences would fall on it, and where that would put them relative to humans with such and such IQ.
When people say “a dollar was worth more 50 years ago”, you don’t reply “nuh uh, a dollar has always been worth exactly one dollar.”
Yes, but “a dollar is now worth $x” where x is different from 1 is still meaningless unless you specify you’re talking about today’s dollar vs some other year’s dollar specifically.
That’s correct, but usually I don’t see that mistake made about IQ. On a handful of occasions I’ve seen someone say “we could raise the average IQ by 10 points” or something like that, and some pedant responds that “the average IQ must always be 100″. Which is technically correct, but misses the point. It makes it difficult to have discussions about IQ over time.
I think you are just being pedantic. When people say something like “the flynn effect has raised the average IQ has increased by 10 points over the last 50 years”, they mean that the average person would score 10 points higher on a 1950′s IQ test. See also the value of money, which also changes over time due to inflation. When people say “a dollar was worth more 50 years ago”, you don’t reply “nuh uh, a dollar has always been worth exactly one dollar.”
I mean it’s impossible to do any kind of serious estimate. But I don’t think the idea of a linear scale of intelligence is inherently meaningless. So you could give a very rough estimate where nonhuman intelligences would fall on it, and where that would put them relative to humans with such and such IQ.
Yes, but “a dollar is now worth $x” where x is different from 1 is still meaningless unless you specify you’re talking about today’s dollar vs some other year’s dollar specifically.
That’s correct, but usually I don’t see that mistake made about IQ. On a handful of occasions I’ve seen someone say “we could raise the average IQ by 10 points” or something like that, and some pedant responds that “the average IQ must always be 100″. Which is technically correct, but misses the point. It makes it difficult to have discussions about IQ over time.