> I was tired of having to explain why assigning a number to intelligence made little sense
So stop explaing it. Assigning a number to intelligence makes a lot of sense.
As have been pointed out 1.) it seems those measurements can be reproduced with statistical significance so they measure something and 2.) whatever it measures it seems to be one of the best indicators we have of future job performance.
What they don't tell us is what a person is worth, if he is a good person etc.
"How much can these scores change over a person's lifetime, and how limiting are a person's scores for obtaining what they want out of life?
For groups of individuals, IQs are fairly stable between childhood and adulthood, but for specific individuals within a group, IQs can--and do--vary greatly over a lifetime. The IQs will vary as a result of specific interventions (such as preschool enrichment programs), quality education (or the lack of it), injuries that affect brain functioning, and other aspects of the environment that either enhance or diminish one's cognitive ability. In addition, errors of measurement are much larger than people tend to think, and, therefore, an individual's IQs will vary from time to time--sometimes substantially--simply due to the chance fluctuations that accompany any repeated measurement. And, there is more to life success than the ability to score high on IQ tests. People can be successful based on their creativity, street smarts, and personality variables."
So stop explaing it. Assigning a number to intelligence makes a lot of sense.
As have been pointed out 1.) it seems those measurements can be reproduced with statistical significance so they measure something and 2.) whatever it measures it seems to be one of the best indicators we have of future job performance.
What they don't tell us is what a person is worth, if he is a good person etc.