Stupid things people have actually said to you.

[TordelBack]

Sheesh HdE, you could have just PM'd me. 

[HdE]

Sheesh HdE, you could have just PM'd me. 

BWAH HAH HAHA HAAAAH!!! Nice one! 

[Mike Carroll]

Slightly off-topic: it's not something stupid that someone's actually said to me, but it seems to be appearing all the time on the web, and it's very, very stupid (and deliciously ironic)...

I've posted my reaction to this here: http://twitpic.com/x9ou4 (Please re-tweet it to everyone you know - maybe we can shame the advertisers into changing their approach!)

-- Mike

[Bolt-01]

I may be missing something here, because I'm pretty badly colour blind, but there is NO number in that box is there? So I assume that makes me as thick as pig-shit, yes?

[Kerrin]

No. It's a colour blindness test which some advertising numbnut has decided to label an intelligence test Bolt. Not only a stupid idea but a malicious one too. I seem to remember BMW doing a similar thing a while back.

[johnnystress]

There is a number..I see a faint 94 but a stronger 74

[Kerrin]

Yeah, it's 74, but as Bolt is colour blind he won't see anything. 

[Mike Carroll]

The greenish dots darkened for clarity:

[Peter Wolf]

Why would someone be so stupid to use an observational test as an intelligence test ?

I dont really get what the point of this is at all.I find intelligence/IQ tests to be very annoying in general because the majority of them seem to be based on maths and if you are useless at maths then it implies that you are a complete moron.


Annoying stupid rubbish.

[SmallBlueThing]

Agreed. I worked, for a while, with the two guys who wrote a lot of the IQ paperbacks that were popular fifteen or so years ago, designing the actual IQ tests. They were very odd men, whose behaviour I can now see was something indicative of where my later career would take me. Those who know what I do will know what I mean. Perfectly pleasant, they were, just very, very strange.

Basically, once you crack "how to do them", there's no "intelligence" involved, it's just a skill to learn. I regularly score 141plus on IQ tests, and was a member of Mensa for years, simply because I knew how to do them. Believe it or not, I once saw one of these gentlemen fail massively to work a coffee machine and then put his coat on inside out. They also could not grasp "dressing appropriately for the weather".

SBT

[JayzusB.Christ]

Yeah, it's 74,

Hey, slow down there, egghead.

[House of Usher]

Yeah, it's 74,

Hey, slow down there, egghead.

Yeah, it's 74, but

[wild-seven]

Overheard in the greengrocers this morning, a gentleman was informed that he was 10p short, he ferreted around in his pocket for some change and asked 'is it a silver or a bronze coin?'

[johnnystress]

Basically, once you crack "how to do them", there's no "intelligence" involved, it's just a skill to learn. I regularly score 141plus on IQ tests, and was a member of Mensa for years, simply because I knew how to do them. Believe it or not, I once saw one of these gentlemen fail massively to work a coffee machine and then put his coat on inside out. They also could not grasp "dressing appropriately for the weather".
SBT

They use this sort of testing for the civil service here. I failed miserably when I did one but was heartened when my girlfriend and her mate- both have masters degrees in law-- also did really bad on them.

As you say they're designed to sort the people who are good at these tests from the people who aren't- and otherwise meaningless

[House of Usher]

I'm pleased to say the only tests I've done in civil service recruitment assessments have been relevant to the job. I wasn't keen on the assessment for senior research staff, which involved having to make recommendations based on documents they deliberately didn't give you enough time to read. At least I know what to expect next time I apply for a senior post.