The IQ Uncertainty Principle

I realized something interesting about intelligence a while ago. It could have been a year ago - can't remember exactly.

The IQ Uncertainty Principle states that, you can't tell the difference between someone who's more intelligent than you and someone else who's less intelligent than you, simply by observing their behaviour (without knowing what effects their behaviour is causing). That is, they will both be behaving equally bizarrely. The difference is that one of them is aware of why they're doing it, and the other is not.

More formally, a person A with IQ "X" can't tell the difference between two other people, B whose IQ is "X+N" and C whose IQ is "X-N". Some examples:

1. A's IQ is 100, B's IQ is 120, C's IQ is 80. A can't tell who's more intelligent, B or C.
2. A's IQ is 120, B's IQ is 140, C's IQ is 100. Again, A can't tell who's more intelligent, B or C.
3. A's IQ is 90, B's IQ is 75, C's IQ is 105. Ditto.

However if B's IQ is "X+M" and C's IQ is "X-N" then A still doesn't know who's more intelligent - he only notices that one is behaving more bizarrely than the other. Examples:

1. A's IQ is 100, B's IQ is 90, C's IQ is 120. A notices that C is behaving more bizarrely than B, but doesn't know who's more intelligent.
2. A's IQ is 110, B's IQ is 120, C's IQ is 90. Ditto.

The difference, however, becomes apparent after the fact - if you can see the effects resulting from their behaviour. One of them will be seen to have "method in his madness", while the other will obviously be just plain mad, judging from the chaos left in his wake.

In many cases though, the behaviour and the effects of that behaviour cannot be separated from each other. If Mozart and a folk musician were to play the piano, it's easy to see who's more musically intelligent because the behaviour and the effect are inseparable (playing the piano and listening to the music). In other cases, there is often a significant time lag between the behaviour and the effect. Playing the stock market is one example.