My IQ

Back in college, when I tried IQ tests for the first time, I used to clock close to 140 consistently in various tests. Recently, I tested my IQ in an app and it fell below 130 for the first time... I thought the app was not correct. So I tried it again in another online test. That gave a score slightly below 130 too. I was worried if I was becoming less intelligent a I got older. Then I took another test today and I got a 145. Here is the result of that IQ test

A normal intelligence quotient (IQ) ranges from 85 to 115 (According to the Stanford-Binet scale). Only approximately 1% of the people in the world have an IQ of 135 or over. Genius or near-genius IQ is considered to start around 140 to 145. Less than 1/4 of 1 percent falls into this category.

It looks like, it has got to do a lot more with familiarity with the tests and patience rather than actual intelligence. Back in College, I was very serious about these tests as I expected employers to test me on these. So I wrote these exams more carefully but when I tried in recently, I wasn't paying too much attention as I was merely checking out the app. Then when I tried it online, I was still figuring out the format. Now, the third time that I tried, I was more careful in my responses and I really was trying to perform well... just to reassure myself... and walah! here is the score. But again, it is just for the sake of reassurance. It doesn't mean anything. I haven't become smarter or dumber over the years, I have been using my intellectual faculties differently, which is not suitable to the IQ tests. So don't worry if you score less on your IQ tests as you near 40 :) Just pay more attention.

Identity politics

The recent landslide win of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh has caught many "secularist" political pundits off guard. In their postmortem analysis, they pin it all on BJP's evil an divisive identity politics. But the truth is, identity politics is a worldwide phenomenon... Not something that has been "misused" by the "evil" BJP. When Obama contested for president of the USA for the first time, he was able to mobilize the African Americans like never before. When Trump contested for president of the USA last year, he was able to mobilize the "high-school educated, low income, whites". Yes, in UP, BJP did play religious politics (appealing to the Hindus) but the BSP and SP have played both Caste politics (identity based on Caste) and religious politics (appealing to Muslims). The Congress lost grounds in most states in the 60s and 70s because they weren't able to appeal to the ethnic fault lines in those states... the regional parties did and they have never left Congress even a sniff of power in local politics. But Congress did turn into a populist party (politics of convenience) but it was too late by then. The only place Congress is successful at the regional level is Kerala, where it has clearly been playing identity politics very conveniently (appealing to Christians in the Kottayam belt, appealing to the Hindus of Malabar and appealing to the Muslims of Malappuram and Kasaragod) and has the support of the Muslim League, which clearly, as the name suggests is appealing to the Muslims… I don’t recall a time when Malappuram voted the Muslim League out of power for poor governance and corruption. This is the unfortunate state of affairs in global politics… identity over ideology. A consolation to this dirty affair that identity politics is that we are in a democracy and there are checks and balances… Even with a negligible presence in the Indian parliament, the Congress is able to filibuster the BJP’s legislation proposals. We are lucky not to be in Saudi Arabia or China, where identity is the only politics. Democratic politics is as Churchill once said, “the worst form of government, except for all the others.”