Intelligence is a trait that people usually associate with geniuses. You must have heard a thousand times from people around you like your family members, teachers and everyone about how you should study hard and be intelligent about decisions in your life, how being intelligent is the solution to everything in life and you should strive to achieve that. But have you ever wondered how they measure this intelligence? And does being intelligent in one area make you an intelligent person in general? That’s when IQ or Intelligence Quotient steps in.
What is IQ?
IQ or intelligence quotient usually refers to the measure of intelligence in a person. It basically consists of a series of tests or a single test whose score highlights what’s your intelligence level. So, when somebody asks you, what is your IQ they are referring to the score that you received on these tests that highlight how intelligent you truly are. Sometimes it is interchangeably used with the word intelligence as they more or less mean the same thing.
But is someone’s intelligence a one size fits all pair of pants? Not at all. It’s not necessary that your IQ or intelligence quotient will be high in every part of life. Ideally, an IQ test should take into account the different kinds of intelligence that one requires in their life and not just intelligence related to academics. But sadly the reality is that most IQ tests or intelligence quotient tests usually measure your intelligence in the academic part which makes you think that being intelligent in academics is all you need to be deemed intelligent. So, let’s look into more such misconceptions about intelligence or IQ in society.
Misconceptions about intelligence & IQ tests
The popular misconceptions or misunderstandings that people have about intelligence & IQ tests in general include:
- Intelligence is entirely inherited
The most common misconception about intelligence that people seem to have is the idea that intelligence is inherited. You must have come across scenarios where people go like, “Her parents are intelligent, I wonder how she didn’t get any brains from them?” Though your DNA or the genes you inherit from your parents do indeed play a role in your intelligence, more than that, the environment that you grew up in also determines how high your intelligence can be. Access to quality education, nutrition, parental support, and even putting in a lot of effort from your end determines how high your intelligence can be.
- High IQ or intelligence will ensure that you are more successful in life
Another common misconception that people have is that being highly intelligent or having a high IQ will for sure mean that you will succeed in life. But that’s not always the case. Having a high IQ does give one a small push over others but there are other characteristics in an individual that determine how successful they become in life. These include creativity, determination, resilience, interpersonal skills or your ability to be able to talk and understand others, etc. Just having a high IQ doesn’t mean you will be successful in everything you do. You need to hone that intelligence to perfection. It is just like knowing how to play a sport or an instrument doesn’t mean you will always come first in a competition for that particular sport or instrument. You need to put in the effort to hone your skills and better yourself every day.
- IQ or intelligence is fixed and cannot be changed
Many people assume that intelligence is something that is fixed, and if you are bad at something you will never improve. Here’s a secret, there’s no such thing as never improving if you practice hard enough. If you think that you’re bad at sports or maths or dance, try practising it every day. Nobody is born with everything, many people learn it on the way. And who said you are not one of those people? Throughout as you learn and grow so will your IQ and intelligence. So, don’t give up!
- All you need to do to be considered intelligent is study a lot
This idea that intelligence is only related to academics is a very old and rather popular one. How many times have you seen someone, look at someone scoring high on a test and praise them as the most intelligent child in the class? Very often people assume that intelligence or IQ is more or less related to academics. But in reality, there are different types of intelligence. Someone can be great at dancing but not so much when it comes to academics. But that doesn’t imply that they don’t have intelligence or IQ. Even the most simple dance choreography requires a lot of eye-hand coordination, understanding space and body movements, etc. At the same time, someone can be great at studies but bad at talking to people or understanding emotions.
One of the main reasons why people think if you are good at studies then you are intelligent in every part of life is because it is easy to calculate marks that are very objective (i.e. remains the same regardless of the situation. For example- your friend from a different school also has the same marking system out of 100 in exams as you do) in nature compared to sports or dance or singing, as they are very subjective (i.e. can differ depending on a person’s choice. For example- you may like Ruskin Bond as a writer but some may prefer Enid Blyton. It is hard to determine who is actually good as both are equally established.) in nature. And as you are good in school people assume you will be good in other parts of life as well.
- IQ or intelligence tests are highly reliable
There are a lot of IQ tests available everywhere. You need to understand that not all of them are fully reliable. As again each IQ test tests a few areas of intelligence, such as verbal reasoning, logical reasoning, etc. Many fail to test your emotional intelligence, your creativity, etc. Plus the test takers mood on the day of the test also affects their IQ results. That doesn’t mean they are not intelligent they were just having a bad day.
Afterword
IQ or intelligence tests are very popular, in today’s day and age. And as more and more people are getting aware of these tests a lot of misconceptions are also getting spread around it, affecting people and their self-worth as people attach their value to their intelligence (which as we have discussed before under misconceptions, IQ is normally associated with academics). To help you understand the concept of intelligence and IQ better and stop discrimination based on one’s intelligence, we hope this article serves as a mini guide.
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