Alas, not really a genius
In a moment of lull, I suddenly decided to take a test to see what my IQ is. You know, I always pegged myself as a type of a quiet genius, possessing formidable intellect, but too lackadaisical to put it to any entrepreneurial use or scientific pursuit. Yet, vain person that I am, I never before bothered to find out exactly how smart I was.
So, I take the online test and end up with the score of 133. That puts me in something like Top 3 percentile, but earns me only a designation of “gifted”, rather than “genius”. Bummer!
But, hey, I wouldn’t be calling myself a genius if I did not occasionally have ingenious ideas. Despite my obvious proficiency in English, it is not my first language. What if I take the test in Russian?, I say to myself, Surely, I’ll break 150 then!
So, I find a Russian-language online test. Which turns out to be somewhat more demanding, I must say. My score? Drum roll, por favor… ta-ba-da-ba-da-ba-da-ba-da-ba-da-ba-dum… 135. No, really!…
I was skeptical about the validity of these tests, to start with, but taking two different ones, at different websites, in different languages, and getting scores this close would be too much of a coincidence…
I’m going to have to accept that I fall short of the genius threshold. Still, not too shabby, if I humbly say so myself… [walks into the sunset, preening...]
Mom, by the way, I know what you are going to say. Love you too!
Yeah, these things are validated across languages. Assuming you understand the questions in both, native non-native makes no difference.
I should try French, then, for the fun of it…
walks into the sunset, preening
Cue the Incredible Hulk music…
OK, I normally have a pretty big ego, but if you can do the test in English, Russian, and French, then I bow before you.
I wonder if they have a hieroglyphic one. It’s been a few years since I studied it (along with hieratic and demotic), but I think I could come back up to speed fairly fast. It figures I like dead languages better than live ones, although I can handle some Spanish.
My wanderlust manifested itself in learning the basics of a few European languages ahead of my visits. With French, eventually, I reached a point of pretty good reading ability and an excellent skill in conversation, as long as I keep that conversation to a monologue. Not so much when it gets to be a dialogue, though
So what was the URL of the test you took? (English, please…) It’d be fun to compare scores…
IQTest.com
Thanks for the link, Ilya! Got 126 and a headache for the rest of the day. Admittedly, I had trouble fully translating/comprehending 2 questions though.
147! Ooooooh….so close!
Artyomchik, that’s why I figured that taking a test in Russian could be easier. But it wasn’t, as a matter of fact, quite the opposite.
Brian, according to the comparison chart at the same site, if you break 145, you are officially a “genius”. Well done, sir!
I scored 134
Man, why does it always have to be a competition for me 
Little Brother Complex? Uncle Freud would have a field day with me.
Well, you can now always say that on this particular test you beat me by a point
Son, I did not think to comment on this entry, because I really did not have time to read. But your thoughts about my mind are absolutely correct!