WISDOM I.Q. - SCORING

 

 

WISDOM IQ [WQ] ANSWERS AND SCORING

 

   The correct answers are below.  Please note that different point totals are awarded for each question based on the importance of the issue.  Some answer patterns get bonus points, and some answers can cause point loss.  Keep a running total of your points and then look up your Wisdom IQ [WQ]  on the table below:

 

WISDOM I.Q. SCORE TABLE

 

40 POINTS                                                Wisdom IQ = 130                       

 

35-39 POINTS                                           Wisdom IQ = 115

 

30-34 POINTS                                          Wisdom IQ = 100

                       

25-29 POINTS                                          Wisdom IQ = 90

 

20-24 POINTS                                          Wisdom IQ = 70

 

Below 20                                                   Wisdom IQ = 50

 

 

ANSWERS

 

1.  The answer is “d” (Consider both the short term and long-term consequences, in terms of pleasure and pain, and try to strike a balance insuring some pleasure now with good chances for pleasure in the long run). 

   This is not a difficult question to answer correctly in the abstract.  But it is a master principle of wisdom.  Accordingly, give your self 2 points for a correct answer; add a 2 point bonus if you can honestly say you actually follow this advice for all important decisions; give yourself a 1 point bonus if you usually follow this advice.

 

 2.   The answer is “a” (Make Love Not War). 

   The key to this question is reversibility.  Tattoos are almost irreversible, and accordingly the choice is very important.  This means that the decision must be made after considerable thought with a focus on how the choice will be viewed many years from now.  “I Love John” probably will prove to be very embarrassing when that relationship ends (as most early relationships do).  Similarly “Legalize Marijuana Now” may become outdated by actual legalization, or a change in our understanding of the medical impact of smoking cannabis.  “Make Love Not War” is the least offensive, socially, and not likely to become outdated given the lust for violence by modern man.

   Give yourself 1 point for the correct answer.  Give yourself an additional 1-point bonus if your first response was to resist answering because you understand that no one should get a tattoo given that its limited aesthetic function is outweighed by its irreversibility.

 

3.   The answer is “b” (When to have your first child.)

   Having a child, at any time, is an irreversible and profound event.  It transforms your life more than almost any other decision you can make.  Once made, it cannot be undone.  The timing of that decision will control your psychic and financial resource allocations for the next 18 years.  Your early choice of your college major, or investments, while potentially very important, are all reversible with relative ease.  In the grand scheme of things, your choice of cars, while irreversible in the short run, is ultimately reversible in the long run and trifling in its life consequences.

   Give yourself 1 point for the correct answer.  Give yourself an additional 1-point bonus if this answer was immediately obvious.

 

4.   The answer is “b” (After two years of college, or age 21 if you do not attend college).

   Occupational choice is a CLD (critical life decision).  In light of the plethora of occupational choices, it is very unlikely that you would have sufficient information in high school to make an informed choice.  Choosing later in life, at age 30 or 35, creates the problem that your entry into the occupational arena, which may require training, will be too late to maximize your chances of advancement and to avoid wasting economic resources on irrelevant educational efforts.  After several years of college, or at age 21, you have time to train and make entry while having significant information about the choices and your inclinations and capacities.  Of course, your “final” choice may not turn out to be final because you must remain flexible and adaptive to a changing occupational market place.

   Give yourself 2 points for the correct answer.

 

5.   The answer is “b” (Get a B.A. degree).

            Professionals, like psychologists, lawyers, and physicians usually make good livings, placing them in the middle, upper middle, and lower upper class; but rarely do they become really rich.  Even when they have their own practice, they function essentially as employees, i.e., people paid to do work.  Real wealth typically arises from owning a business that produces a product, or a service done by someone other than the owner.  A general education achieved through a B.A. degree will give you the entry chances you need, while allowing you to enter the arena at a young age.  Youth is essential because you will need to experience many failures before you achieve success.  The MBA degree is a second best alternative.  The degree does not give you the knowledge, leadership, and creativity needed to create a business; it provides technical knowledge that helps run existing enterprises.

            Give yourself 2 points if you answered “b”, and 1 point if you answered “f”.

 

6.   The answer is “f” (plastic surgeon).

   Failure is endemic and painful in all of these activities, except surgeon, even if you are very talented.  You must be in 99.9% of competitors and have a character of steal to survive as an artist, actor, or athletes.  In contrast, however difficult, there is a high degree of success amongst intelligent hard working surgeons even when they are not the very “best.”

            Give yourself 1 point if you answered “f”.

 

7.   The answer is “b” (Quietly find another job and then quit)

            When you are unappreciated, the working is boring, and working conditions are emotionally damaging, it is rare that things will improve enough to warrant staying on the job.  Immediately quitting is unwise because it risks financial hardship if work is hard to get, and places you in a poor bargaining position when you find a prospective job.  (A hungry man is not discriminating when it comes to his next meal.)  Immediately quitting is only appropriate if working conditions truly are medically threatening and intolerable.  Finally, learning to tolerate painful circumstances is almost always unwise because it erodes self-esteem and long-term health.  Generally, denigrating employees and supervisors is an impotent strategy that undermines your own credibility and trustworthiness when done on a consistent basis.

        

            Give yourself 1 point if you answered “b”.

 

8.   The answer is “a” (Take a course in retail sales skills and techniques)

            Underwater welding is a highly technical well paying job undertaken by very few.  It is physically demanding.  When you are working in an arena that is highly specialized, or dependent on robust health, you are at risk, in a changing commercial environment, for being unemployed and defunct.  It is imperative that you have alternate job skills that protect you from unexpected changes in the work environment.  While taking an advanced welding course may increase your pay, it does not protect you and preserve flexibility.  Other courses, which are essentially entertainment, are simply a waste of time until you have handled your over-specialization.

            Give yourself 1 point if you answered “a”.  Subtract 1 point if you chose to sue your employer for age discrimination.

 

9. The answer is “d” (Take the more regular employment and live with lower compensation.)

            These kind of odd hours, through cycle disruption, cause mild sleep deprivation, i.e., loosing two or three hours of sleep a day.  When it continues for weeks and months this schedule can have equally powerful effects as complete sleep deprivation over shorter periods.  Chronic mild sleep deprivation, however, is more insidious and dangerous because its effects are less well known and less obvious.  Chronic mild sleep deprivation has the potential to erode relationships, undermine school or work performance, and, importantly, interfere with critical life decisions.  The avoidance of complete sleep deprivation and chronic mild sleep deprivation is an important LGD for preserving the minimum conditions of high functioning and emotional wellbeing.  The price that will be exacted for underestimating the importance of sleep can be very high indeed.

            Give yourself 1 point if you answered “d”.

 

10.   The answer is (e) (the new lesion ignored is the most dangerous), and second most important is (b) (riding on a motorcycle).

            The new lesion could be a melanoma, which, if left untreated is almost always fatal.  Riding a motorcycle as a passenger or rider creates a high risk of serious injury including spinal cord injury causing life-long paralysis.

            Give yourself 5 points if you got both, in the right order; give yourself 4 points if you got both in the wrong order; give yourself 2 points if you got one, in any order, and subtract 1 point if you got neither.

 

11.   The answer is “c” (Having regular physical exams and health maintenance screenings after age 40)

            All of the choices, except cannabis avoidance, will probably make some small contribution to a long life.  But only regular health screening will detect diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure, which can be avoided by early treatment.

           Give yourself 1 point if you answered “c”.

 

12.   The answer is “c” (Eat four to five small meals a day rather than two or three larger meals)

            Give yourself 1 point if you answered “c”.

 

13.   The answer is “m” (a staunch republican).     

            Give yourself 2 points if you answered “m”.

 

14.  The answer is “b” (Immediately after the tenth sexual encounter)

            Time is too precious to waste many months or a year on any issue that is important to a relationship.  On the other hand, making a judgment on a single encounter, or a few, can be very misleading.

            Give yourself 2 points if you answered “b”.

 

 

15.   The answer is “a” (Sex is a pleasurable act which should be indulged in for pleasure and to communicate a great liking for another)

            Regard sex as a special pleasurable act, like a great movie, play, meal or concert which should be indulged in both for pleasure and to communicate a great attraction, and liking of another person.  Disregard all views of sex that involve ideas of sin, wrongfulness or dirt.        

            Give yourself 1 point if you answered “a”.  Give yourself a 1-point bonus if you laughed when you read choice “c”.

 

16.  The answer is “c” (Don’t have sex without birth control)

            All of choices reflect sound advice, on average.  Birth control, however, is the most important because an unwanted pregnancy reliably has a profound impact on life that cannot be reversed. 

            Give yourself 2 points if you answered “c”.

 

17.  The answer is (c)            

            Give yourself 2 points if you answered “c”.

 

18.   The answer is (c)  (As early as possible, learn basic carpentry skills)

            Give yourself 1 point if you answered “c”.

 

19.   The answer is “b” (Decrease the pharmaceutical investment and use the proceeds to increase your allotment to Blue Chips and cash equivalents)

            The key principle here is you need to decrease your risk profile as you get older, and avoid investments that can be difficult to liquidate, like real estate.  The Blue Chips are safer, because they are not new companies, and they provide some diversification.  The current investment in real estate also helps diversification and provides some cash that can be used at retirement.  After age 50, having the majority of your investments in a single start-up company is a recipe for disaster.  This would make more sense at age 30. 

            Give yourself 4 points if you answered “b”.  Subtract 2 points if you chose “a”.

 

20.   The answer is (a)  (Do not have children until you are married and have been living with your spouse for at least two years.)

            Give yourself 4 points if you answered “a”.

 

21.    The answer is (b) (Child rearing should be divided between two working spouses in proportion to the spouses’ incomes.)

             Give yourself 1 point if you answered “b”.

 

22.   The answer is (g)   (All of the above reflect good advice.)

            Give yourself 2 points if you answered “g”.

 

23.   The answer is (c)  (At college pursue two different areas of study and study them intensely, making sure one of your majors is quite practical in terms of job possibilities.)

            Give yourself 1 point if you answered “c”.

 

24.   The answer is (a)  (Avoid hiring lawyers to do minor legal tasks like evictions, small suits, and divorces.)

             Give yourself 2 points if you answered “a”.

 

25.   The answer is (b)  (When hiring a lawyer to do a complex task, make sure you hire someone who is a partner at a prestigious law firm with a national reputation.)

            Give yourself 1 point if you answered “b”.