Measuring your insult about others mental abilities ?

Question

Many on YA throw insults about other questioners and answerers mental abilities eg you 'Retard' / 'imbecile' / 'idiot' / 'moron' without realising that there is an area of IQ that each of these terms decribes.

"Moron" for instance was once applied to people with an IQ of 51-70 and was a step up from "imbecile" (IQ of 26-50) and two steps up from "idiot" (IQ of 0-25). "Retard" breaks down as follows - Profound mental retardation IQ Below 20
Severe mental retardation IQ of 20–34
Moderate mental retardation IQ of 35–49
Mild mental retardation IQ of 50–69
Borderline mental retardation IQ of 70–79

So before you call another YA user a "moron', "retard" etc just think "could they have an IQ that low"

Have you ever had your IQ measured and what was it - be honest ?

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_retardation

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moron_%28psychology%29

My IQ seems to come out at between 110-115 over the years which aint getting me in MENSA. But I recently got an IQ reading of 129 on my Girlfriends Mobile Phone IQ test so she thinks I'm cleverer than I am ;-)

This test is for 'Sprocket' http://www.abc.net.au/animals/dog_test/

Answer 1

Great question! The only time I measured mine was on-line and I scored 118. So Mensa won't be calling on me!

But it depends how you measure 'intelligence'. I don't think being educated makes you intelligent but how you deal with life in general. I measure a persons intelligence on their responses, Honesty is respectable but a fool is contemptible. Intelligence can remain silent but a fool can't control the need to be heard; regardless.

I think the abuse people spurt is self explanatory of their own capabilities...

Answer 2

All of these numbers mean nothing unless you know what the test was. IQ test results are not freely interchangeable.

For example, one of the tests that Mensa use has a maximum possible score of 161, so 187 would be impossible for that test. And therefore it means nothing. You might get 187 in one test and 127 in another and then 107 in a third.

I was in Mensa for a few years (I left as I got nothing from it and it was just a waste of the membership fee for me) with a tested IQ of 137. That is still meaningless as I don't know which of the two tests they use for testing was used at the time. All I know is that I was within the top 2% of the population (the criteria for being allowed to join Mensa).

IQ scores are meaningless. And so are the broad labels you quoted unless everyone is measured using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale which is the scale from which those bands are taken in the Wikipedia article. All those who mention Mensa might like to know that Mensa do not use this test they use the Cattell III B and the Cattell Culture Fair III A tests.

As well as that, you seem to have missed that part of your own quoted passage that says "was once applied" meaning that it is no longer generally applied and so these words are perfectly acceptable as general insults. Not only that, but many English words can have more than one meaning. Look them up in a dictionary, they have a specific technical, psychological, meaning - the ones you have listed - as well as a more generally used meaning.

Answer 3

People are so USED to using words like MORON, IDIOT, etc to describe people who either say something STUPID or DO something stupid, that those words have long ago become EXTREMELY COMMON without regard to the measurement meaning of the IQ behind the word...... it's kind of nice to see that someone being called an idiot might just have a very low IQ.... and in some cases, if the shoe fits!!!!!! But even I, with my 136 IQ have said some MORONIC and IDIOTIC things sometime in my lifetime---as I believe EVERYONE has.... so, if someone in YA calls someone else a MORON or an IDIOT because they don't necessarily agree with that persons beliefs... it's no real reflection on the person who STATES his beliefs---no matter how MORONIC those beliefs might be....... HOWEVER, as far as YA goes, there ARE some people who have some REALLY way out there questions and responses who properly SHOULD be considered AT LEAST FOR THAT PARTICULAR QUESTION to be of a MORONIC VIEWPOINT.

Answer 4

I scored 120 on a recent IQ test and find this comment quite interesting. Of course, if someone calls someone else a moron, idiot, retard etc.. then I dont imagine that having a higher IQ or lower IQ actually makes a difference. It wouldn't boil down to how smart they were but how ignorant and uncaring of other peoples feelings. Which, would then also prove your statistics useless because the type of people who make such rash comments could probably care less if they did hurt someone elses feelings. Its just their way of lashing out (anonomously of course !!! )

*** Yeah, either that or they are just trying to score a quick 2 points... ha ha ha Anyways, kudo's for the question !

Answer 5

I was deemed to be `as thick as two short planks` when I was at school. My ma was everlastingly coming to the school about my poor results. I was given a paper to go through in my headmasters office. It turned out to be an IQ test which revealed a result of 140+. I then had flashes of good results in exams but on the whole was considered `bone idle`, I didn`t believe in all that homework and most of our marks were based on that..

Things improved vastly after leaving school, the knowledge I had gleaned at school enabled me to pass an exam and enjoy a really good job.

Answer 6

Ive never had it measured .. but what if someone was classed as a.. "Moronic idiotic retarded imbecile"

Would the points system be cumulative? therefore making the score very high and.. in turn giving a high IQ.... lol

Answer 7

What you say is quite true. However, in an open venue like YA this is to some extent unavoidable.What pains that those who pass such uncalled remarks do it just for the sake of earning the pittance of two marks. If only they answer the question and then make such comments I would not mind since they have made some concrete contribution.We can of course report such mischevous reactins for action as departure from community guidelines.

Answer 8

Haha my IQ is just above "borderline mental retardation" - great. Now I can tell the lads in the pub that I'm technically a retard. Must be all the beer I drunk over the years. I'm pissed right now to be perfectly honest. :-)

Answer 9

Absolutely right. There is no need to insult other people simply because they have a different opinion to ours.
In fact I believe that people who resort to insults as a substitute to debating can not have a very high IQ.

Answer 10

187: honest, but to be truthful i am a retard a moron a sub intellectual if i wasnt i'd be one step nearer to a happy life than being taken for a sucker. intelligence means nothing when too many smartasses have treated one like crap all ones life. as i write this sat 29/07 3:07 am i havent had me christmas dinner yet and i'm still picking dried blood from my nose.