Modern IQ tests are based on factor analysis. The theory goes something along the line that different segments with in the test (e.g. spatial reasoning, basic logic, etc.) correlate with each other and form a single intelligence factor called g. There might be some tests out there that only claim to measure a made up metric called IQ (similar to the SAT) however most modern IQ tests are designed to estimate this g-factor. This is off course pseudo-science as the only evidence that this g-factor exists is from these tests.
Now does this score correlate with some behavior, off course it does. Do groups vary on IQ-scores, off course they do. However, the behavior you can explain with IQ is nothing you couldn’t explain with astrology (outside of very low IQ-scores, which mostly correlate with mental disabilities). They do predict education prospects, but not much better then you parent’s wealth does, and certainly no better then SAT scores. IQ is not a trait, it is a metric, just like SAT scores.
As for group difference, it has been shown over and over again that this group difference can be explained with other more useful metrics like access to education, or your diet. Is it heritable? No. The research accumulated to demonstrate that (mostly done in the latter half of the last century) is reeked with bad science, including forged data, statistical manipulation, false assumptions, etc. The burden of proof is actually on the IQ people. They’ve spent more then a century trying to prove a racial difference, and they have so far utterly failed. Because there isn’t any, and their whole endeavor is pseudo-science.
This is almost all wrong and no actual intelligence researcher agrees with any of it. IQ is substantially heritable and the group difference has persisted for a very long time, and even survives admixture based studies where mixed individuals place as expected regardless of skin color or other factors. The gap is largely genetic.
Now does this score correlate with some behavior, off course it does. Do groups vary on IQ-scores, off course they do. However, the behavior you can explain with IQ is nothing you couldn’t explain with astrology (outside of very low IQ-scores, which mostly correlate with mental disabilities). They do predict education prospects, but not much better then you parent’s wealth does, and certainly no better then SAT scores. IQ is not a trait, it is a metric, just like SAT scores.
As for group difference, it has been shown over and over again that this group difference can be explained with other more useful metrics like access to education, or your diet. Is it heritable? No. The research accumulated to demonstrate that (mostly done in the latter half of the last century) is reeked with bad science, including forged data, statistical manipulation, false assumptions, etc. The burden of proof is actually on the IQ people. They’ve spent more then a century trying to prove a racial difference, and they have so far utterly failed. Because there isn’t any, and their whole endeavor is pseudo-science.