Comments on: The WQ of Solomon?

Question: The WQ of Solomon?

rongorongo — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 02:11:51 -0800

We all know about IQ - but has anybody ever tried to make a standardised test for wisdom?

I know that wisdom is a valuable asset and that it is something pretty much impossible to measure objectively. Then again so is intelligence and that hasn't stopped the world wading in. It does seem to me that at least some aspects of wisdom - such as the ability to plan well, accurate understanding of human behaviour, a tendency to copy or agree with others that have been successful or even a good knowledge of "wise sayings" - would indeed be quite measurable. Equally I guess it would be possible to measure wisdom in terms of conformance to a religious doctrine. Has anybody ever tried to do this in a systematic way?

By: bigmusic

bigmusic — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 02:30:41 -0800

Yes.

By: rongorongo

rongorongo — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 03:24:25 -0800

Bigmusic - thanks. I did have a look at some of these before posting the question. The Magellan's Log post looks closest to what I was thinking about - but I think he is just having fun. Others seem to be selling rather dubious sounding life coaching products. I wondered if anybody had tried anything more serious - in the manner of other standardised tests.

By: i_am_a_Jedi

i_am_a_Jedi — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 04:54:15 -0800

It's not a standardised test but I always enjoyed this story.

There is a reason for this. Each year, Boggs, a Cuban-born fifty-six-year-old polymath, administers what he calls a "general knowledge" testhe avoids the term "trivia"to the roughly one hundred law-school graduates he is considering for his clerkships. Last year's quiz had seventy-one questions, including "Who gave the famous speech 'Ain't I a Woman?' " (Sojourner Truth); "What does the Herfindahl-Hirschman index measure?" (industry concentration); and "Who killed (a) Duncan (b) McKinley (c) Cock Robin (d) Ron Goldman, and (e) Vaudeville?" (Macbeth, Czolgosz, the sparrow with the bow and arrow, etc.) The Judge seems to have a thing for questions involving Shakespeare, T. S. Eliot, and the phrase "order of magnitude." For most aspiring lawyers, the quiz is not easy. The average score is about thirty per cent.

By: availablelight

availablelight — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 07:02:45 -0800

Also google "Robert Sternberg."

By: rongorongo

rongorongo — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 07:37:27 -0800

Thanks availablelight. Sternberg mentions his "Balance Theory of Wisdom" and that he is currently testing it out in schools. He mentions that he has developed some psychometric tests of wisdom. This is the sort of thing I was thinking of.

By: rongorongo

rongorongo — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 04:41:35 -0800

Paul Graham's essay on the difference between wisdom and intelligence is worthwhile reading here.