Why Are So Many Cops Dumb?

[Revoltingest]

That was my point. The problem may not be how "whatever" is measured. The problem may be what is being measured.

No, the problem is intent to hire cops
who range from dumb up to average.
That's wrong, however IQ is measured.

 

[setarcos]

Book smarts. How well read a person is, for example. They veer much more to problem solving.

The weird thing is, every single year of my life, I was invited to some sort of camp for math and science people. I am not a math or science type of person, though I tend to do fine on those types of tests. But I am definitely a word person over a math person. Not a single question ever had anything to do with how well read I was.

Newer IQ tests much less so. But with older tests, those that include specific mathematical and scientific aptitudes, it most certainly is to your advantage, especially in linguistic and vocabulary aptitude assessments to be very well read. A well read person is a very good indicator of that persons "General" IQ. By well read, I don't simply mean robotic mimicry of mentally or vocally sounding out the words without some modicum of consideration of meaning.

 

[Kathryn]

Newer IQ tests much less so. But with older tests, those that include specific mathematical and scientific aptitudes, it most certainly is to your advantage, especially in linguistic and vocabulary aptitude assessments to be very well read. A well read person is a very good indicator of that persons "General" IQ. By well read, I don't simply mean robotic mimicry of mentally or vocally sounding out the words without some modicum of consideration of meaning.

It never was advantageous to me. Like I said, I took many IQ tests with the same results over and over again as a child and then as an adult. I am 62 years old.

 

[setarcos]

That is perfectly fine. But since your assessment differs significantly from what qualified experts say I am just going to dismiss it. And I recommend others do likewise.

Awe come on. You shouldn't be so dismissive when you offer no meat in your rebuttal for us "others" to chew on.

 

[Revoltingest]

Newer IQ tests much less so. But with older tests, those that include specific mathematical and scientific aptitudes, it most certainly is to your advantage, especially in linguistic and vocabulary aptitude assessments to be very well read. A well read person is a very good indicator of that persons "General" IQ. By well read, I don't simply mean robotic mimicry of mentally or vocally sounding out the words without some modicum of consideration of meaning.

You may choose whatever metric you want
for this question....
Do you favor or oppose discrimination
against intelligence in cops?

 

[setarcos]

It never was advantageous to me. Like I said, I took many IQ tests with the same results over and over again as a child and then as an adult. I am 62 years old.

Oh I'm sure it was to your advantage whether you acknowledge it or not. I would like to ask though...why have you taken so many IQ tests? Do you simply enjoy them or are you interested in tracking how steadfast your IQ is throughout the years or...?

 

[Kathryn]

Oh I'm sure it was to your advantage whether you acknowledge it or not. I would like to ask though...why have you taken so many IQ tests? Do you simply enjoy them or are you interested in tracking how steadfast your IQ is throughout the years or...?

None of the above. Based on my teachers' advice, and moving so often I guess (my dad was an Air Force officer), I just took a lot of IQ tests. Like probably every other year or so.

One time, I retook an IQ test to find out whether or not I would qualify to go into a private school without paying tuition. After I became an adult, I had carbon monoxide poisoning (accidental for the record) and was curious about whether or not it affected my IQ since it does affect one's brain. That being said, I doubt that online stuff is anywhere close to what is given in a controlled environment. (By the way, my IQ did drop a bit according to the online tests I took, but not as much as I thought it would.)

I had the carbon monoxide poisoning around age 25 or 26 or so.

 

[fantome profane]

Awe come on. You shouldn't be so dismissive when you offer no meat in your rebuttal for us "others" to chew on.

What am I? Your local butcher?

Chew on this.

The Looking Glass for Intelligence Quotient Tests: The Interplay of Motivation, Cognitive Functioning, and Affect

The Intelligence Quotient (IQ) tests and the corresponding psychometric explanations dominate both the scientific and popular views about human intelligence. Though the IQ tests have been in currency for long, there exists a gap in what they are believed ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

My personal opinion is that while I.Q. texts do have merit, their importance should not be over estimated. And a person's I.Q. can change throughout their lives. Your results on an I.Q. test can be affected by what kind of day you are having when you take the test. And although they have been improved somewhat they still contain cultural biases.

Your I.Q. can be increased by exposing yourself to a variety of experiences including reading variety of different kinds of books on different topics and with different writing styles, including fiction and non-fiction of a wide variety of genres. The notion that these tests somehow weed out "book smarts" is ridiculous.

From personal experience I can tell you my I.Q. is very different now than it was when I was tested as a child. And that is due to several reasons but not the least of all that they take your age into account when scoring these tests.

But you can disregard personal experience on this matter. Peeing into a cup does not make one a qualified urologist.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Book smarts and wisdom are different.

Sure...so take the intelligence test as part of the whole and see if they have 'wisdom'
But excluding people purely based on what you're calling book smarts? Not smart.

Speaking for myself, I'd lived 2 years in remote Papua New Guinea working for a timber company. I don't think I fitted the 'sheltered book learning kid' trope.

 

[Jimmy]

Sure...so take the intelligence test as part of the whole and see if they have 'wisdom'
But excluding people purely based on what you're calling book smarts? Not smart.

Speaking for myself, I'd lived 2 years in remote Papua New Guinea working for a timber company. I don't think I fitted the 'sheltered book learning kid' trope.

Huh? I just made an observation. Your going off on a tangent and besides, I made that comment a year ago

 

[Jimmy]

No .. their Dumb .. even dumber than "The rest of us" which are really dumb .. Simple Right ... and while we all make mistakes .. dumb moron's make far more mistakes than others .. which is what makes them morons .. Simple Right

Your point?

 

[Jimmy]

It's a little known fact that Albert Einstein spent a short time as a cop.

At the recruitment interview he was asked about his education, to which he stated that he was a High School drop out. He was immediately accepted. It all went wrong a bit later ....

Police Sergeant: Einstein, you've been checking traffic all day and haven't given out any tickets, what's wrong?
Einstein: Well, I got to thinking. The speed limit is 50. But it seems to me that it's all relative. From my point of view at the side of the road someone might be doing 60, but from the point of view of someone in a car going in the opposite direction at 50, he's doing 110. And if I chase him in my patrol car, as I come up behind him and match his speed, he's stationary, so I can't reasonably give him a ticket.
Sergeant: Einstein, are you sure you are cut out for police work?
Einstein: Maybe not ...

This joke is weak

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Huh? I just made an observation. Your going off on a tangent and besides, I made that comment a year ago

1) Sure...I was assuming your observation was in relation to the OP, rather than divorced from the topic at hand. If that's not true, fair enough. Seems weird though.

2) Have you changed your mind in the last year?

Had a few alerts come through to me from this thread today, couple of people rating posts, etc, so poked my head in.

 

[setarcos]

You may choose whatever metric you want
for this question....
Do you favor or oppose discrimination
against intelligence in cops?

I think I've made it readily apparent what I'm in favor of.
I would have to have more information on what you are referring to when you say "intelligence". I think a certain amount of intelligence in the right kinds of aptitudes are necessary in any occupation where some kind of successful productivity is expected.

 

[setarcos]

What am I? Your local butcher?

Chew on this.

The Looking Glass for Intelligence Quotient Tests: The Interplay of Motivation, Cognitive Functioning, and Affect

The Intelligence Quotient (IQ) tests and the corresponding psychometric explanations dominate both the scientific and popular views about human intelligence. Though the IQ tests have been in currency for long, there exists a gap in what they are believed ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

My personal opinion is that while I.Q. texts do have merit, their importance should not be over estimated. And a person's I.Q. can change throughout their lives. Your results on an I.Q. test can be affected by what kind of day you are having when you take the test. And although they have been improved somewhat they still contain cultural biases.

Your I.Q. can be increased by exposing yourself to a variety of experiences including reading variety of different kinds of books on different topics and with different writing styles, including fiction and non-fiction of a wide variety of genres. The notion that these tests somehow weed out "book smarts" is ridiculous.

From personal experience I can tell you my I.Q. is very different now than it was when I was tested as a child. And that is due to several reasons but not the least of all that they take your age into account when scoring these tests.

But you can disregard personal experience on this matter. Peeing into a cup does not make one a qualified urologist.

Lol. Yes...to a certain extent we are all offering some kind of service here and expect the same.
I see that once pointed out you do have more to offer. That makes for a lot better experience here.

 

[fantome profane]

Yes...to a certain extent we are all offering some kind of service

Perhaps, but we can also choose to send the soup back if it is not up to our standards.

 

[Jimmy]

1) Sure...I was assuming your observation was in relation to the OP, rather than divorced from the topic at hand. If that's not true, fair enough. Seems weird though.

2) Have you changed your mind in the last year?

Had a few alerts come through to me from this thread today, couple of people rating posts, etc, so poked my head in.

It relates to the OP, but I think you’re still going off.

 

[Kathryn]

All my IQ scores throughout the years were within a few points of each other. I don't recall "book smart" questions. However, I do recall a lot of problem solving questions. Like, most of them seemed to be problem solving questions. Oh well, don't take it from me. I mean, I only took probably six or seven IQ tests in a controlled environment, as a child, and I probably don't remember them all that well.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

It relates to the OP, but I think you’re still going off.

The OP was discussing a situation where candidates with a high IQ score were excluded, as the recruiters believed they wouldn't remain in the police force long term.
They were literally excluding people with high IQs regardless of their 'wisdom'.

What I'm suggesting is to not include or exclude people purely on an IQ test (an imperfect measure at best anyway) and instead just make that one part of the assessment of a candidate.

Book smarts and wisdom are different. Your quote. But they're not exclusive of each other. My point.

 

[Kathryn]

The OP was discussing a situation where candidates with a high IQ score were excluded, as the recruiters believed they wouldn't remain in the police force long term.
They were literally excluding people with high IQs regardless of their 'wisdom'.

What I'm suggesting is to not include or exclude people purely on an IQ test (an imperfect measure at best anyway) and instead just make that one part of the assessment of a candidate.

Book smarts and wisdom are different. Your quote. But they're not exclusive of each other. My point.

I totally agree!