MoJo wrote:
Let's see - - - I pay a group of eggheads to tell me how smart I am? How smart is that?
If facetious, I appreciate the humour!
If serious, note that "smart" has too many definitions to pin down.
Relating to IQ, here's the typical story:
A child has trouble interacting with peers, and is always daydreaming. Teachers classify the child as "slow" because they never seem to pay attention, get poor grades, and other children classify the child as "retarded" and
make sure to tell him/her as much. The child begins to build a "shell" due to a feeling of unworthiness and non-acceptance.
Fast-forward some number of years: The person (could be young, middle-aged, or even older -- consider a lifetime of living this way) wants to find out just how "slow" they are, and undergo some testing; alternatively, if they're lucky and took the SAT before they were changed in 1984, can use that as a proxy for a special test. Behold, the person who was always tagged as "slow" and "retarded" is actually well above genius level.
Reason: A child with very high IQ matures (mentally) faster than their peers, and thus are considered unable to interact for any number of other reasons. For example, an IQ of 150 means a child of 10 thinks at roughly the level of a 15-year-old. (And, no, the numbers are not exact, and there is a range of error, as in everything.) They read, write, and philosophize earlier than others of their age. These children require constant challenge.
Teachers are reluctant to tag any child as "gifted" simply because
every parent thinks their child is "gifted" and needs special treatment (it doesn't do the parent's ego any harm, either). Parents with truly gifted children (and I believe it's heredity + environment) won't be as quick to jump on that bandwagon, but rather prefer to help the children learn to interact -- but it isn't easy, since peers can't understand why this person talks and thinks differently, so "there must be something
wrong with him/her."
The testing helps one to understand the problem (many call it an "affliction").
Sorry to be long-winded -- this is just the introductory course.
Does this help?
I'd write to them, but I'm only a 148 IQ because due to having no left hand my jigsaw puzzle went slower than if I had two hands, otherwise I'd be on up there much higher .. (That's what the psychologist giving me the test said in 1980 when I was sent by Texas Rehabilitation Commission for testing to see if ... I wuz smart enuff to co to colldge ... Spose I wuz becuz I gat into 5 honor societies wile I wuz there and was in the top of the top 5% at U uv H 
)