Got a better way?
Well… no, since I don’t think you can ever accurately measure a notion as transient as Intelligence so as for it to do anyone any good. IQ’s are just another way for pseudointellectuals to stroke their collective egos and distance themselves from the mob of idiots they perceive the general low-IQ public to be.
I’ve met a lot of humble, hard-working low-IQ people that have blown me away with their intellectual acuteness but not nearly as many as the teachers, doctors and politicians that have astounded me with their sheer stupidity and absolute lack of logic. I almost detest IQ-tests and I’m fairly sure people like Einsten and Tesla, at least, would agree but, then again, they had low IQ’s so their opinions probably wouldn’t matter much.
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What makes you think intelligence is so transient? Most people I’ve known tend to stay about as intelligent as they’ve ever been over the years – they may become more or less educated, more or less ambitious, get better or worse grades, but those are not the things IQs are supposed to measure. I think you’re making that mistake: a “humble, hard-working” (by which I’m guessing you mean blue collar) person with great intellectual acuteness can indeed have a higher IQ than a stupid doctor or lawyer. There may be a correlation between IQ and social status, but not necessarily. If a guy really has an intellectual acuteness (as opposed to just intellectual curiosity, which is also different) that blows you away, that will probably show up on an IQ test.
At least according to this website, Einstein never had an IQ test. He was considered a slow learner, but I wonder if an IQ test would have been able to reveal his intellect. Dunno about Tesla.
Ah, but any *truly *intelligent person would know that “average” is just the general term for mean, median or mode. 