Everyone knows what the IQ test is. At least, everyone, I've ever known. That's because I live in an 'occidental' or Western society where having a high IQ is valued. In fact, I am proud to say that according to Internet popup IQ tests I am borderline genius. Actually, all of my university-educated friends are also borderline geniuses. Who knew that Carleton University was filled with so much intelligence. Naturally, this is a very valuable piece of information for people looking to donate money or invest in research at Carleton. Despite this, it is probable that the results of an Internet popup IQ test will not be considered seriously by someone looking to invest in a corporation or to accept members into an institution. Nonetheless, these same test results frequently affect and sometimes even totally dictate the decisions of countless institutions and corporations in accepting members or investing money. It is not clear why the presentation context or mode of the same test determines the acceptance, rejection, value or meaning of the results. I am not convinced that intelligence tests actually test intelligence. This is an old and well-documented view, as IQ tests have been subjected to a wide range of criticisms. Specifically, they are often said to be culturally and racially biased as well as being biased toward the age and socio-economic status of the test taker.
             Probably the most well-known IQ test is the Stanford-Binet and it is widely recognized as providing a reasonably good prediction of academic success. In fact, most, if not all, intelligence tests are developed within the academic community. They are then used to measure how successful one will be within that same system with reasonable success; it would be ignorant to ignore all of the evidence in favor of intelligence testing as reasonable predictors of academic success. However, these tests are used universally as legitimate intelligence measures for people who e...