< < Sherlock > > appeared on the big screen on January 4, 2016. This time, the detective duo [crossed] to the Victorian era.
While lamenting the excellent production and exquisite details of the production team, many of us inevitably ask ourselves silently like Watson: Is it even a little possible for me to become as smart as Sherlock Holmes?
To answer this question, we must first understand one of the main measures of [intelligence] in our time: IQ.
How high is Holmes’ IQ?
Many people know that people with high IQ are smart, but they do not necessarily know what abilities [IQ] reflects.
Originally, the word [IQ] was coined by Binet in 1905. He designed some tests to evaluate children’s learning ability. He divided the score by [standard score] and multiplied it by 100 to obtain [IQ].
Today, intelligence tests are no longer only aimed at children, but also can be done by adults. They measure people’s short-term memory, learning ability, understanding ability, knowledge application ability, logical reasoning ability, language expression ability, graphics and numbers, abstract thinking ability, etc.
How high is Holmes’ IQ? Unfortunately, there was no [intelligence test] in his life, so I’m afraid we can’t get the exact data.
However, we know that about 50% of the people in the world have IQs between 90 and 110, 2.5% have IQs above 130, and only 0.5% have IQs above 140.
It is reported that the person with the highest IQ known in the world is Tao Zhexuan, an Australian of Chinese descent, whose IQ is 230.
How do I know how high my IQ is?
There are many simple [IQ tests] on the Internet, which consist of a different number of multiple choice questions.
These games can reflect a person’s intelligence to some extent, but they are not the same as real [intelligence tests].
1. The difficulty of intelligence tests is related to age.
As we all know, the older a child is, the more he naturally knows. It is definitely not feasible to use the same topic for children of different ages.
To this end, Binet designed a series of tests for children of different ages to measure the gap between children’s actual mental age and physiological age.
Therefore, the final result of the intelligence test is actually a reflection of [the degree to which one is smarter than one’s peers].
Generally speaking, human brain intelligence peaks between the ages of 20 and 30 and then slowly declines. In most people, this decline is not obvious, and in some elderly people who keep learning habits for a long time, there is even no sign of decline at all.
2. What does the intelligence test look like?
Different versions of the intelligence test look completely different. At present, the most commonly used is the Wechsler Intelligence Scale.
Wechsler Intelligence Test consists of 10 to 12 small tests, and the number of different test grades varies. For example, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children has 12 small tests.
Each small test evaluates different aspects of intelligence, including speech test and operation test:
- The items evaluated by speech test include vocabulary, numerical reasoning, numerical memory, knowledge breadth, abstract logic and comprehension, etc. The operation sub-table includes maze, comic book sorting, picture filling and item matching, and identification of the same building block pattern after rotation.
After completing the above two groups of tests, after calculation, three scores can be obtained:
- Verbal IQ Operational IQ Total IQ
To sum up, in order to know your IQ accurately, you need to first fit your intelligence test type, then go through standard test procedures. Thirdly, one-to-one tests conducted by trained psychologists as the main test often have more accurate results than group tests.
Formal intelligence tests usually take 1 to 2 hours and are clinically mainly used to identify children or adults with intellectual disabilities.
Most of the normal people, if especially want to know their exact intelligence quotient, the hospital psychiatric clinic is not necessarily accepted, can try to ask in the psychological counseling center. In addition, some colleges and universities psychology department often collect test objects, can also take a chance.
However, even standard intelligence tests cannot accurately reflect a person’s intelligence level.
Although all intelligence tests include multiple small tests like Wechsler Intelligence Scale, some test methods will only give a total score in the end, while psychologists believe that human intelligence includes many different aspects, and a total score cannot simply summarize all. Even if there are multiple scores, psychologists are still not satisfied: people have different opinions on how many aspects of [intelligence] includes, two, three, seven, or even 180, and it is impossible to pass one test and reach an agreement.
Are you smart or not?
Sherlock Holmes’ brother, we know, was born intelligent, and it seems to have something to do with heredity?
Yes, factors such as congenital heredity also affect intelligence level. In other words, [genius] and [low IQ] may be doomed at birth.
For less extreme situations, in addition to congenital genetic factors, education also has a very obvious impact on the intelligence level of normal people.
Although many studies believe that a person’s average IQ is relatively stable in his life, psychological studies have found that IQ measured in primary school will change due to his study experience in junior high school.
For example, the IQ of [old schoolboy] will show a significant downward trend. There are also some children whose IQ may get higher as they get older. In a typical case in one study, when he rose from sixth grade to eighth grade, his scores in all subjects improved and his IQ increased from 110 to 125.
The influence of cultural background on intelligence test results is also very obvious.
For example, children in Europe and the United States can easily understand the operation of [Hanoi Tower], but they have not played Huarong Road. Therefore, if one of the general intelligence tests is included, children from the other cultural background may [suffer].
However, the [nationality difference] in intelligence level may not be as great as we thought.
In 1912, an American analyzed the intelligence test results of a group of immigrants from various countries. He believed that [the test results showed that 83% of Jews, 80% of Hungarians, 79% of Italians and 87% of Russians had low intelligence level]. However, after receiving American education, the IQ of these immigrants increased.
In addition, the [IQ] reflected in the intelligence test is not static. If the subjects do the same set of questions or similar questions after a period of practice, the scores of the subjects can also be significantly higher.
This shows that the test at least partially reflects a person’s proficiency in a certain skill.
High IQ, low EQ?
Some people say that high IQ is useful for what? No matter how high the IQ is, it is still impossible to live like a normal person, just like Holmes needs Watson and Sheldon needs Leonard. From this, they came to the conclusion that people with high IQ have low EQ.
No, it’s not right:
- On the one hand, it is one-sided to regard [emotional intelligence] as [human intelligence]; On the other hand, in fact, most people with high IQ have no problem getting along with others.
So [EQ] is what again?
The [age] of this concept is much younger than IQ, and it was only put forward in 1985.
Similar to IQ, EQ is used to measure [emotional intelligence], which specifically includes the ability to identify, judge, control and express emotions.
These abilities are related to whether a person can cooperate well with others, or whether he can become a leader, or whether he is better at acting alone. They are not what we generally mean by [whether he can get along well with the people around him, get along well with him, and adapt to life].
Is Holmes EQ Low? Not at all. Look at his ability to spy on people’s hearts. This ability is as important to the investigation as his meticulous logic and amazing memory.
Perhaps, he just thought that [common affairs] were really a waste of time, so he cleverly pushed them all to Watson, who was more involved in the WTO.
After all, pure rationality is absolutely interest-oriented.