When the Octane exceeds the IQ

[Guest Hedda]

If you have always wondered how those Thai kids whizzing around Bangkok or Pattaya on motorbikes can do such dumb and dangerous things, this may be the answer:

 

Bangkok (dpa) - The average intelligence quotient (IQ) of Thai teenagers is 87 points, well below the international average, senior health officials acknowledged on Wednesday.

 

"The international average IQ for children is between 90 to 110 points, so people with IQs between 80 to 90 are slow-witted," said Somchai Jakrapan, director general of the government's mental health department.

 

According to the latest available data, compiled four years ago, the average IQ for Thai children aged between 13 to 18 was 87 points, while it was 80 points for children aged under five.

 

Vachara Phanachet, Thailand's vice minister of health, told a seminar that the main reason Thai children were growing up slow witted was because parents were not stimulating their children's brains enough." "Children are the future of the country so we need to start developing their potential fully," warned Vachara.

 

The mental health department last year launched a pilot project in 20 provinces teaching parents how to better stimulate their babies' brains at an early age to turn them into faster-witted adults."

 

http://www.bangkokpost.net/breaking_news/b...s.php?id=109927

 

 

[Guest namjai]

I wonder if the wonderful improvements from the western world are helping as well...McDonalds, Burger King, etc. I would think that going from natural foods to fast junk is not too good. Look at all the young kids that are chunky now...in the 80's you did not see that.

[Guest Hedda]

I suspect that one of the main reasons is that young parents in poor urban or rural areas head off to the cities to work, leaving their infants behind to be cared for by aging grandparents or other elderly relatives, who have little if any schooling themselves and make little effort to do anything but warehouse the kids. They love them, but forget about intellectual stumulation.

 

 

 

[Gaybutton]

I'm wondering how they arrived at this figure. A great many Thai people never had more than a primary education in the first place. So, who are they testing? Are they testing those fortunate enough to be in high school or a university? Are they testing random teens, including those who never made it as far as a high school or universtity? I have never met a Thai student who has mentioned anything about taking an IQ test, and that includes my own boyfriend who is in school. He says he knows what an IQ test is, but he has never taken such a test and neither have any of his friends.

 

Before I would want to take the figure seriously, I would want to know who is being tested. What test is being administered? Who created the test?

 

Actually, a relatively low IQ score would not come as a major shock to me. Based on what I've seen, Thailand does not exactly provide what those from western countries would consider to be a well rounded education.

 

I have always been highly skeptical of standardized tests. I've never figured out just what they are supposed to prove. As most of us know, in his youth Einstein would have received a low score on such a test.

 

A close friend of mine is a teacher. She told me a story about her students taking an intelligence test. She said as she was walking around her classroom, observing what kinds of answers her students were writing, she paused and watched a student, one of the brightest she ever had, answer a few questions. She told me that he answered one question that went something like this:

 

Which of the following does not belong on the list?

 

1. Goldfish

 

2. Bear

 

3. Shark

 

4. Whale

 

Obviously, she was somewhat taken aback when this student selected 'shark' for his answer. She later asked him about it. She reminded him of the question and asked him again what he thinks the right answer is. Again the student said 'shark.'

 

She said, "But why didn't you choose 'bear?' That's the only land animal on this list."

 

He said, "Because it's the wrong answer."

 

She said, "How do you figure that?

 

He said, "A shark is the only one on the list that doesn't have a backbone."

 

He got the answer wrong, but I like his answer better than the so-called correct answer. That's just another reason why I don't trust standardized tests, especially IQ tests.

 

 

[Guest Hedda]

Spend a few hours driving around Bangkok or Pattaya and you'll get all the confirmation of the IQ test results you could ask for.

 

[Gaybutton]

Spend a few hours driving around Bangkok or Pattaya and you'll get all the confirmation of the IQ test results you could ask for.

 

Good point. Of course, if these people are suicidal, then I'd say their IQ is quite high because they're certainly doing all they can to end up dead and take a few others with them.