2011 Geek IQ Test

snydeq writes "Active Directory object catalogs, quad-core processors, Debian default configurations, Star Trek TNG guest appearances — find out how much you know where it really counts by taking InfoWorld's 2011 Geek IQ Test."

Comments

WTF does that have to do with IQ?

[Moraelin]

Ookaaay... exactly what does knowing obscure trivia about shows from 50 years ago have to do with IQ? I could see it as a geek score for bragging rights, or a hint if you might want to have a professional look into whether you've got Asperger's, but IQ? Seriously?

Re:WTF does that have to do with IQ?

[SJHillman]

Incorrect as it is, "IQ test" has come to mean a test of knowledge and fact rather than one of ability.

Not much of a geek

[xrayspx]

First question: Are you a good enough programmer to use radio buttons or checkboxes to build a multiple choice quiz?

Re:Not much of a geek

[Ziekheid]

This. Seeing that I had to keep track of my own answers made me close the page.
This is 2011, come up with something better.

Not really

[Moraelin]

Not really. Or not outside of the bizarro world of Internet marketing.

Actual IQ tests still at least try to measure certain kinds of mental aptitude. While some degree of knowledge are unfortunately inherent in being able to even ask the questions, much less answer them (e.g., someone has to be familiar with rectangular blocks before you can ask them to count blocks in a picture), that was never the focus of actual IQ tests. How much you know about some obscure subject -- be it Star Trek or Victorian novels -- is just not part of the definition of IQ.

However the notion is increasingly MISUSED to basically mean "whatever way we can play on your insecurities and need to reassure yourself, to get a click out of you". This can mean knowledge of trivial things, or even things completely unrelated to intelligence, like optical illusions, deliberately ambiguous pictures, paraeidolia, or whatever.

When you see stuff like "93% of people can't tell whether the ballerina rotates to the left or right" on some "IQ Test" ad (you know the kind I'm talking about), it doesn't really mean that the definition of IQ or of IQ Tests has changed. It just means that some dishonest marketers are aiming exactly for the kind of idiot who'd (A) not realize it's a stupid scam, and (B) is insecure enough to actually want some website to pat him on the head and tell him that he's so smart after all.

It's not really all that different from preying on some people's sexual insecurities to sell them penis enlargement pills.

Don't get me wrong, I'll be the first to say that IQ is pretty meaningless for anything except taking an IQ test. But still, it at least means that. Memorizing trivia that's fully useless to anyone and for anything else than a trivia contest, is just not the same thing as high IQ.

Re:Trick Question

[Ihmhi]

What website doesn't know how to implement working radio buttons?

Seriously, I look at the first question, and it's like they expect me to remember the answer or something. How am I supposed to take the test and then share the results on Facebook?

Also, this seems to be less a "Geek IQ" quiz and more a "IT terminology quiz with the occasional splash of science-fiction knowledge questions" quiz.

Re:Trick Question

[Oxford_Comma_Lover]

You could have five fingers and count in binary the number you get right. There are only twenty questions.