In everyday life, we easily make judgments, recognizing some people as smart, while others, to put it mildly, not so much. However, attempts to scientifically interpret the meaning of such assessments face serious difficulties. A generally accepted definition of intelligence has not yet been developed. There is also no clarity regarding the criteria for its assessment: for example, should success in certain endeavors be considered as such? Moreover, it is not even clear whether intelligence is a single characteristic of a person, or is it just a combination of many different abilities? But despite this, psychologists have been measuring intelligence for more than a century.
Try to answer a few simple questions without using the Internet or dictionaries. Who is Velvet Joe? What is Wyandotte? Is the salsify a snake, a fish, a lizard or a plant? What is Rosa Bonheur famous for? In what city are overlands made? And keep in mind that at the beginning of the 20th century, a person who did not answer these questions could well be declared mentally retarded...
The questions given are taken from a mental ability test that immigrants arriving in the United States were required to take at the beginning of the last century. Originally designed for American soldiers, this test began to be thoughtlessly applied to everyone, including visitors who barely spoke English. There was a period when only a few of them were able to successfully pass the test, while the rest were denied entry into the country as mentally retarded.
Dimension of the mind
In 1865, the English scientist Francis Galton published an article “Hereditary talent and character”, in which he substantiated the provisions of a new science, which he called “eugenics”. After analyzing the pedigrees of many British families, Galton came to the conclusion that human talent and, in general, all mental properties are inherited like physical ones. People have long learned to obtain breeds of animals with the desired qualities through artificial selection. Likewise, Galton believed, the human race should be improved by breeding a new generation of people who would be healthier, stronger and, most importantly, smarter than their ancestors.
But if the parameters of animals - speed, weight, milk yield - are not difficult to measure, then how to objectively assess the mental properties of a person? Having asked this question, Galton founded the first anthropometric laboratory in London, where he began measuring the capabilities of various human senses, believing that intellectually gifted people should have increased sensory sensitivity.
In 1890, American psychologist James McKean Cattell, who worked in Galton's laboratory, developed and published the first tests to assess the intelligence of college students. By the way, it was in this article that the word “test” was first used to refer to psychometric techniques. Cattell measured 50 different parameters. These included muscle strength, speed of movement, sensitivity to pain, ability to distinguish weight, visual and hearing acuity, eye accuracy, reaction time, memory ability, and even lung capacity. Cattell's work caused a huge stir. Numerous intelligence testing laboratories have begun to appear all over the world.
Cattell, like his teacher, espoused the idea that intelligence is an innate quality. Returning to America, he opened a test laboratory at Columbia University in 1891, became the first professor of psychology in the United States, published many scientific journals (including the famous Science magazine), and was also elected president of the American Psychological Association. All his life, this most authoritative scientist convinced everyone that the influence of the environment on intelligence is negligible, therefore it is necessary to encourage marriages between healthy and intellectually full-fledged people and sterilize the “underdeveloped”. He even offered each of his seven children a thousand dollars (huge money at that time) if they found a match among the children of university teachers.
Selection of gifted
However, Galton and Cattell had an opponent - the French psychologist Alfred Binet (1857-1911), who categorically disagreed with the idea that intelligence is an exclusively innate quality and cannot be developed in any way. He wrote: “We must in every possible way resist such a pessimistic point of view ... The brain of a child is like a field in which an experienced farmer, through cultivation, can carry out the changes he has planned and, as a result, get fertile land instead of barren.” Binet began to strongly criticize the Galton and Cattell tests for excessive attention to sensory skills and giving too much importance to abilities for special activities. He argued that to assess intelligence it is necessary first of all to test memory, imagination, attention, intelligence, suggestibility and aesthetic feelings.
When universal schooling was introduced in France, it became necessary to quickly and objectively distinguish children who were capable of learning from those who were lazy and unwilling to study, and from those who, due to various birth defects, could not study in a regular school. The French Ministry of Education entrusted the development of a methodology for testing children to Alfred Binet, who, together with Theodore Simon, created a series of tests to test the intelligence of children in 1905. It was in the Binet-Simon test that the so-called intelligence quotient (IQ) was first used.
The test tasks were grouped by age - from 3 to 13 years. The test began with tasks corresponding to the child's chronological age. If he completely coped with them, he was given tasks for the older age group. On the contrary, if a subject could not solve a single problem for his age, he was given those intended for a younger group until an age was identified for which he could solve all the problems. This is how the “mental” age of the child was determined. Dividing it by chronological age and expressing the result as a percentage yielded an IQ value, which by definition is equal to 100 when mental age exactly matches chronological age. If previously children could be divided into only three groups: gifted, normal and mentally retarded, now it is possible to classify them much more accurately according to the degree of mental development. Later, based on this test, Stanford University professor Louis Terman created a new intelligence test, known as the Stanford-Binet test, which is still actively used today.
Flynn effect
More than a century has passed since the creation of the first intelligence test. During this time, huge statistics have accumulated on IQ standards for different times and different countries. In 1984, James Flynn crunched data on the intelligence of Americans from 1932 to 1978 and found that average IQ test scores increased steadily and quite significantly over time. Every 10 years, the average IQ score increases by approximately three points, which is why psychologists have to constantly adjust the value of the norm in tests. Moreover, the increase in average IQ is especially noticeable for non-verbal tasks, but not so pronounced in verbal ones.
The rate of growth of average intelligence is not constant over time. For example, in the United States, intelligence increased very quickly among people born between 1890 and 1925. For those whose childhoods were spent during the Great Depression, the “norm” also increased, although more slowly. In the post-war years, growth rates increased sharply and then began to decline slightly. A similar surge in the growth rate of intelligence in the post-war years (1945-1960) was also found in the countries of Western Europe, New Zealand and Japan. The reasons for the Flynn effect are still not completely clear. Perhaps it is associated with the gradual disappearance of hunger in developed countries, improved medicine, a decrease in the number of children in families, improved education, as well as an increase in the information complexity of the environment surrounding a person from early childhood.
Army test
The Binet test was originally intended only to assess the intelligence of children, whose mental abilities are highly dependent on age. For adults, a different approach was needed, and it didn’t take long to arrive. As the United States prepared to enter World War I, it required mass testing of recruits, weeding out those who were mentally retarded. The military turned to psychologist Robert Yerkes for help. As a result, the first intelligence tests for adults appeared - the Army Alpha Test (for the literate) and the Army Beta Test (for the illiterate). The first consisted exclusively of verbal tasks for understanding the meaning of what was read, searching for synonyms, continuing a sequence of numbers, etc. By the way, the questions given at the beginning of the article were taken precisely from this test. The “beta” option included non-verbal tasks, for example, adding cubes according to a model, completing an image, finding a way in drawn mazes. IQ was determined by the number of successfully completed tasks.
In a short time, almost 2 million recruits were tested. It was then that the US public was shocked to learn from psychologists that the mental age of the average conscript was 13 years old. Numerous journalistic articles began to appear, the authors of which spoke about the intellectual degradation of the nation. In the wake of hysteria, intelligence testing was introduced for immigrants to prevent the mentally retarded from entering the country, and sterilization of criminals and the mentally ill was allowed. Similar processes also unfolded in Canada, Australia, Japan and Western Europe. The countries of Northern Europe were especially zealous in getting rid of the “inferior” ones,
Great Britain (by the way, among the adherents of eugenics were Winston Churchill, Bernard Shaw and Herbert Wells), and, of course, eugenic ideas began to be applied most actively in Nazi Germany. The well-known consequences meant that after World War II, eugenics became a fringe scientific field, and the idea that intelligence was a purely innate quality began to be perceived as fascist.
However, in Europe and the USA after the war, research into intelligence continued. By that time, evidence had accumulated that intelligence was influenced not only by heredity, but also by the environment. For example, IQ has been statistically proven to be positively related to the educational level of parents and the socioeconomic status of the family: children whose parents are uneducated and poor tend to have lower IQs. It also turned out that intelligence is associated with the number of children in the family and the order of their birth. The fewer children there are in a family, the more parents are involved in each of them and the higher their intelligence, and older brothers and sisters have, on average, a higher IQ than younger ones. It is also higher among residents of large industrial cities compared to residents of rural areas. And yet it remained unclear in what proportions heredity and environment determine the level of intelligence.
From pedology to the Unified State Exam
In the USSR, intelligence testing became very popular in the late 1920s and early 1930s. It gained the greatest scope within the framework of the so-called pedology - a science that combines pedagogy, psychodiagnostics and child psychology. A network of pedological institutions was created, a lot of literature was published, conferences and congresses were held. Hundreds of thousands of children have been tested, and a huge number of scientific articles have been published. However, after some patterns were discovered that contradicted Soviet ideology (for example, that children from families of workers and peasants have less intelligence than from families of the intelligentsia), pedology began to be actively criticized. As a result, on July 4, 1936, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted a resolution “On pedological perversions in the system of People’s Commissariat for Education,” after which the concepts of pedology and testing were not only prohibited, but also acquired an odious meaning. The development of domestic work in the field of psychological measurements of intelligence stopped for at least half a century, and the developments and achievements that had already been created were forgotten. As a result, Russia lags significantly behind the world culture of using tests, as illustrated by the practice of introducing the Unified State Exam, which, instead of specialists in testology and psychodiagnostics, was developed by ministerial officials - with an understandable result.
The Cyril Burt Affair
In the middle of the 20th century, the most authoritative researcher in the world on the issue of the influence of environment and heredity on intelligence was the English psychologist Cyril Burt (1883-1971). He became famous in psychology for his comparative studies of twins, in which he convincingly proved that intelligence is determined 80% by heredity and only 20% by environment. Fully adhering to Galton's eugenic ideas, Burt actively put them into practice for several decades. As a member of the London City Council, he created an elite education system in England. Children aged 11 years were divided into three categories based on test results. Those judged to be the most capable were trained at a higher level and gained access to higher education. For his services to society, Burt was even awarded the title of nobility, and in the psychology of intelligence he was considered one of the greatest scientific authorities. Many popular theories of intelligence in the 1960s and 1970s (for example, Arthur Jensen and Hans Jürgen Eysenck) were based on his research.
However, after Burt's death, in the mid-1970s, a scandal broke out in the scientific world. It turned out that the results of most of his studies were fabricated. Moreover, it turned out that for more than 30 years he published numerous articles on behalf of the non-existent Miss Hourd and Miss Conway, in which he praised his theories in every possible way, supporting them with fabricated data. As a result, confidence in the theory of innate abilities in the scientific world was completely lost, since even its most zealous adherent, as it turned out, was unable to convincingly substantiate it. The system created by Burt of dividing students into streams depending on their abilities was finally canceled, and scientists in their works began to remove references to his research.
However, Burt's opponents did not triumph for long. Soon, numerous studies were conducted on several thousand pairs of monozygotic and dizygotic twins, some of whom lived in the same family, and some of whom lived separately from birth. The intelligence of native and adopted children who were raised in the same family from birth was also studied. These studies convincingly proved that heredity does influence intelligence, although, of course, not as strongly as Galton, Cattell and Burt claimed.
It has now been established that the influence of congenital factors on IQ is only about 40-50%. The remaining 50-60%, which falls on the environment, is quite a lot, especially considering that these figures were obtained by comparing people living and growing up in relatively similar conditions. If we compare twins living separately in radically different environments (for example, a large city in an economically developed state and a small closed rural community), then the influence of the environment on intelligence will be even greater. On the other hand, if we could place all people in the most favorable conditions for the development of intelligence, then genetic factors would play the main role, since everyone would be able to develop to their “ceiling”, which, as a rule, does not happen in life .
Multifaceted g-factor
Back in 1923, American psychologist Edwin Boring gave a humorous definition: “Intelligence is what intelligence tests measure.” However, what do these tests actually measure?
Surprisingly, psychologists have not yet decided what is meant by the term “intelligence.” For example, in Gestalt psychology (Wolfgang Köhler, Max Wertheimer) it is considered as the ability to form generalized visual images. According to the school of the Swiss biologist and philosopher Jean Piaget, this is the most perfect form of adaptation of the body to the environment. American psychometrician Louis Leon Thurstone viewed intelligence as the ability to self-regulate mental activity. The list of definitions can be continued indefinitely.
Another question that has a centuries-old history: is intelligence a single quality or is it a combination of various independent abilities? At the beginning of the 20th century, the English psychologist Charles Spearman developed a new statistical processing method called “factor analysis.” When he applied it to scores on different tasks in intelligence tests, he found that they all correlated with each other. From this, Spearman concluded that there is a certain general factor of intelligence, which he called the “G factor” (from the English general - “general”), which manifests itself in all types of tasks at once. And to explain some of the differences between test results among people with the same general intelligence, Spearman introduced a second factor, which he called S (from English specific), which serves as an indicator of many specific abilities.
Spearman's two-factor theory of intelligence is based on several secondary concepts that emphasize different aspects of the G factor. Thus, Raymond Cattell identified two components, which he called crystallized and fluid intelligence. The first reflects knowledge about the world and past experience, and the second reflects the amount of RAM, the speed of mental processes and other characteristics that are more dependent on heredity. Spearman's student John Raven also divided factor G into two components, but in a different way, distinguishing productive intelligence (the ability to identify connections and relationships, come to conclusions that are not clearly presented in a given situation) and reproductive intelligence (the ability to use past experience and learned information). Donald Wexler proposed dividing general intelligence into verbal and nonverbal.
Multiple Intelligences
Other researchers have believed that intelligence is actually many different abilities. This was formulated most clearly in 1938 by Louis Thurstone in his multifactor theory of intelligence, according to which there is no general intelligence, but there are seven independent primary abilities: the ability to operate in the mind with spatial relationships, to detail visual images, to perform basic arithmetic operations, to understand the meaning of words, to quickly select a word according to a given criterion, memorize and identify logical patterns.
Thurstone's approach was developed by other researchers. Thus, Howard Gardner in 1983 identified eight independent types of human intelligence: musical, visual-spatial, naturalistic (the ability to observe natural phenomena), verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal and intrapersonal (richness of spiritual life). In the works of John Carroll (1976), 24 factors of intelligence were identified, and in the study of Edwin Fleischman (1984) - 52. But even earlier, in 1967, a record number of independent intellectual abilities (as many as 120 varieties!) was postulated by Joy Guilford in his structural model of intelligence . It became unclear what all this diversity reflects: the real nature of intelligence or the features of the methods used to study it?
The response to this crisis was the emergence in the late 1980s and early 1990s of a new generation of theories that view intelligence not as a combination of different abilities, but as a hierarchy of different cognitive processes. Of the modern hierarchical theories of intelligence, perhaps the most interesting is the Grand Design model, proposed by Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor Boris Mitrofanovich Velichkovsky. According to his concept, the mechanisms of human intelligence operate at six levels, forming a global architecture based on neurophysiological mechanisms. At the lower levels, processes that are much more ancient in evolutionary terms than those measured by IQ tests take place. They are responsible for reflexes, coordination of movements, taking into account the environment - and only at the upper levels do speech structures and self-awareness appear. The value of Velichkovsky’s theory is that it builds a bridge between physiology and human consciousness, and intellect in it ceases to be a “black box.” But it is still unclear how to apply this theory in applied problems, and therefore, in practice, traditional tests based on phenomenological theories of intelligence half a century ago are still used to measure intelligence, which sometimes leads to rather unexpected results.
Francis Galton - descendant of Yaroslav the Wise
The name of Francis Galton (1822-1911) is usually associated only with eugenics, but his contribution to science is much more extensive. He invented a printing telegraph (teletype), a helioscope (a traveling periscope), and a “wave machine” (a power plant using the energy of sea waves). The history of scientific meteorology begins with him: he discovered anticyclones and developed the first meteorological maps. Galton is also the founder of a number of branches of psychology - psychodiagnostics, psychogenetics and differential psychology. He was the first to substantiate and develop the fingerprinting method, widely used in forensic science. He also had a great influence on the development of mathematical statistics, developing, together with his student K. Pearson, correlation and regression analysis. Since Galton argued that mental abilities were innate, biographers were not too lazy to trace his own ancestry almost to the fiftieth generation. The grandfather of Galton (and Charles Darwin) was the famous philosopher, naturalist and poet Erasmus Darwin, and among his more distant ancestors were the Frankish Emperor Charlemagne, the English King William the Conqueror and even the Kiev Prince Yaroslav the Wise.
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The Mensa Paradox
In 1946, lawyer Lancelot Wear and his friend lawyer Roland Burrill created a closed society called Mensa (from the Latin mensa - “table”). The main requirement for joining was to pass an intelligence test with a result better than 98% of people. Despite these strict requirements, the society grew rapidly, with chapters almost all over the world, and now has over 100,000 members in more than 50 countries. There are about 30 other similar closed clubs, and in most of them the requirements for intelligence are even more stringent. So, to join the Intertel society you need to be smarter than 99% of people; to become a member of Colloquy, you need to prove that you belong to the smartest 0.03%, and the Triple Nine society is so named because its members beat the tests intelligence of 99.9% of people. And finally, there is the Mega society, which only one person in a million has a chance of joining, since it requires an IQ greater than 99.9999% of people.
It would seem that if the smartest people on the planet get together, they will be able to solve, or at least suggest a solution to, many of the problems facing humanity. Unfortunately, instead, members of such societies are mainly engaged in finding out who has the higher IQ, holding puzzle-solving tournaments, and also inventing new and more complex tests to assess their own intelligence.
Although all high IQ societies proudly post lists of celebrities from their ranks on their websites, it should be noted that they are negligible compared to the total number of participants. Thus, of the members of Mensa, perhaps only four are known in our country: science fiction writer and popularizer of science Isaac Asimov, inventor of the cell phone Martin Cooper, creator of the ZX Spectrum computers Clive Sinclair and the already mentioned psychologist-falsifier Cyril Burt. The remaining 100,000 “super intellectuals” never did anything that would affect the development of civilization.
Does this mean the IQ test doesn't work? Not at all. Research shows that outstanding scientists have very high IQs - an average of about 160. But why then do many people with even higher scores never achieve success in science? There are several explanations for this phenomenon, known as the Mensa Paradox.
First, discoveries in science often depend on chance, on being in the right place at the right time. It is clear that someone who is lucky enough to work at a large university, where there is a creative atmosphere and there are no problems with scientific equipment, has a better chance of making an important discovery than someone working in a province with antediluvian instruments, surrounded by people who have long been disillusioned with science. Secondly, in addition to high intelligence, other personal qualities are also important: persistence, high motivation, as well as some social skills. Without them, an intellectual risks spending his entire life waiting in the wings, lying on the sofa. And finally, the very structure of modern society is such that people who could potentially make the greatest scientific discoveries often prefer not to go into science at all, but choose the more prestigious and better paid professions of a doctor, lawyer, financier, journalist, as evidenced by, for example, , composition of the Mensa society. If we lived in the 20th century, we would only have to throw up our hands and complain about the ineffective waste of intellectual resources. However, the progress of information technology has allowed many people with high IQ, without changing their usual way of life, to participate in the work of expanding, accumulating and organizing the knowledge of civilization, for example, in various online open encyclopedias and dictionaries.
Answers to the test questions at the beginning of the article
Velvet Joe is a character from a popular American pipe tobacco advertisement in the early 20th century. Wyandotte is an American breed of chicken developed in 1870. Salsify is a flowering plant of the Asteraceae family. Rose Bonheur (1822-1899) was a French animal painter, one of the most famous female artists of the 19th century. American Overland cars were produced at the beginning of the last century in Toledo (Ohio).
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The founder of Toyota, Sakichi Toyoda, constantly used the “five whys” rule. In all incomprehensible situations, he used this method, and it always helped him.
This is the rule. For example, you want a fur coat.
You ask yourself: why do I want a fur coat? This is the first "why". You answer: because I want to surprise everyone. Okay, second “why”: Why do you want to surprise everyone? Answer: Because I want people to pay attention to me. Third “why”: Why do you need to be noticed? Answer: Because I feel insecure. Fourth “why”: Why do you feel insecure? Answer: Because I can’t realize myself, because I’m sitting in one place. Fifth “why”: Why can’t you realize yourself? Answer: Because I do what I don't like. And tell me now, what does the fur coat have to do with it?
Sakichi Toyoda taught that in the answer to the fifth “why” lies the root cause, which, at first glance, is not visible. The fifth “because” brings to light what is hidden. If you like, the fifth “because” is the real you. This is a very effective way to check what you are really hiding, what you are afraid to admit even to yourself, what you really want and what, in fact, is just tinsel.
Thanks to Mr. Toyoda not only for Toyota.
2024 472 45 ER 0.1540
61-year-old Australian farmer won a super marathon because he didn't know you could sleep during it
The distance of the Australian ultramarathon from Sydney to Melbourne is 875 km, which takes more than 5 days from start to finish. The race typically features world-class track and field athletes who train specifically for the event. The majority of athletes are under 30 years of age and are sponsored by major sports brands that provide athletes with uniforms and sneakers.
In 1983, many were perplexed when 61-year-old Cliff Young appeared at the start line on the day of the race (biography on Wikipedia). At first, everyone thought that he had come to watch the start of the race, since he was not dressed like other athletes: in overalls and galoshes over his boots. But when Cliff came to the table to get the number of the race participant, everyone realized that he intended to run with everyone.
When Cliff received number 64 and stood on the line with other athletes, the film crew reporting from the start site decided to conduct a short interview with him. They pointed a camera at Cliff and asked:
- Hello! Who are you and what are you doing here?
- I'm Cliff Young. We raise sheep on a large pasture near Melbourne.
-Are you really going to take part in this race?
- Yes.
- Do you have a sponsor?
- No.
- Then you won't be able to run.
- No, I can do it. I grew up on a farm where we couldn't afford horses or a car until very recently: it wasn't until 4 years ago that I bought a car. When a storm was approaching, I went out to herd the sheep. We had 2,000 sheep grazing on 2,000 acres. Sometimes I caught sheep for 2–3 days - it was not easy, but I always caught them. I think I can participate in the race because it is only 2 days longer and is only 5 days, whereas I run after the sheep for 3 days.
When the marathon began, the professionals left Cliff in his galoshes far behind. Some spectators sympathized with him, and some laughed at him, since he could not even start correctly. People watched Cliff on TV, many worried and prayed for him so that he would not die on the way.
Every professional knew that it would take about 5 days to complete the distance and that this would require 18 hours of running and 6 hours of sleep every day. Cliff Young didn't know this.
The next morning after the start, people learned that Cliff did not sleep, but continued to run all night, reaching the town of Mittagong. But even without stopping to sleep, Cliff was far behind all the athletes, although he continued to run, while still managing to greet people standing along the race route.
Every night he got closer to the leaders of the race, and on the last night Cliff beat all the world class athletes. By the morning of the last day he was far ahead of everyone. Cliff not only ran the ultramarathon at the age of 61 without dying, but he won it, breaking the race record by 9 hours and becoming a national hero.
Cliff Young completed the 875 kilometer race in 5 days, 15 hours and 4 minutes.
Cliff Young did not take home a single prize. When Cliff was awarded the first prize of $10,000, he said that he did not know about the existence of the prize, that he did not participate in the race for the money, and without hesitation decided to give the money to the first five athletes who ran after him, $2,000 each. Cliff didn't keep a cent for himself and the whole of Australia just fell in love with him.
Many trained athletes knew entire techniques about how to run and how much time to rest during a distance. Moreover, they were convinced that it was impossible to run a supermarathon at the age of 61. Cliff Young didn't know all this. He didn't even know that athletes could sleep. His mind was free of limiting beliefs. He just wanted to win: he imagined a fleeing sheep in front of him and tried to catch up with it.
1922 209 40 ER 0.1315
A marathon of a lifetime
Terry Fox runs in bloody shorts during the Marathon of Hope across Canada, July 1980. He ran for 143 days until he died. Terry Fox was born in Canada in 1958. In 1977, Terry began to experience pain in his right knee and was diagnosed with bone cancer.
Doctors were forced to amputate his right leg above the knee. Three years later, the young athlete decides to run across the country from ocean to ocean. The purpose of the run is to collect donations for cancer research. When organizing the Marathon of Hope, he dreamed of collecting one dollar from every Canadian citizen. For more than a year, he trained daily, because he well understood that even a healthy person could not overcome such a distance without prior preparation.
Terry Fox began the Marathon of Hope on April 12, 1980, by dipping his toe into the Atlantic Ocean, and intended to dunk it a second time in the Pacific Ocean in Vancouver. He ran an average of 42 km a day, but the disease progressed and he ran in constant pain with a prosthetic leg instead. Only enormous willpower and the desire to help millions of fellow sufferers moved him forward.
He was unable to complete the marathon. The cancer spread to his lungs, and Terry Fox was forced to stop racing on September 1, 1980. He stopped near the city of Thunder Bay (in northern Ontario) after 143 days of continuous marathon, running 5,373 km through the provinces of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. Ten months later, before his 23rd birthday, Terry died.
By February 1981, it had raised just over $24 million, but most importantly, it managed to attract the attention of the general public. Now in Canada and more than 50 other countries around the world, charity runs named after Terry Fox are held annually to fund donations for cancer research. The Terry Fox Run is in the record books as the largest single fundraising campaign in the world. Now, after 25 years of development, the Terry Fox Foundation has grown to $360 million, so with the help of millions of people, Terry Fox's efforts were not in vain.
Canadian authorities named the icebreaker after Terry Fox. The ship was launched in 1983.
1246 91 30 ER 0.0828
In November 2011, in a museum in the German city of Dortmund, a cleaning lady destroyed a work of modern art insured for 800 thousand euros. The piece, titled “When the Ceiling Starts to Dribble,” was a basin containing what appeared to be sediment from something dripping from the ceiling. The cleaning lady saw the dirty basin and carefully wiped it, thus performing one of the most powerful artistic acts in the history of modern art. Showing that even if it cost 800 thousand euros - but in fact it’s just ordinary dirt.
In February 2014, history repeated itself in Italy. At a museum in Bari, a cleaning lady threw out a couple of crumpled paper exhibits and also swept cookie crumbs off the table, which, as it later turned out, were part of an installation worth 10 thousand euros.
And now - you won't believe it - history repeated itself for the third time. And again in Italy. In the city of Bolzano, a museum cleaner saw the installation “Where will we dance tonight?”, which consisted of champagne bottles, cigarette butts and confetti scattered on the floor. And, of course, I threw it all out of the room....
904 108 69 ER 0.0655
Before his death, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent called the commander-in-chief of the army and expressed to him his three wishes:
1. He bequeathed that his coffin (tabut) be carried in the hands of the best doctors of the Ottoman Empire of that time.
2. His second wish was that gold coins and precious stones be scattered along the entire path along which his coffin would be carried.
3. He bequeathed that his hands stick out from the tabout and be visible to everyone.
When the commander-in-chief of the army, dismayed by what he had heard, asked him the reason for such wishes, Suleiman the Magnificent (Kanuni) explained everything as follows:
- Let the best healers carry my taboo and let everyone see that even the best healers are powerless in the face of death.
- Scatter the gold I have earned, let everyone see that the wealth that we receive from this life remains in this world.
- Let everyone see my hands and understand that even the Padishah of the whole world - Sultan Suleiman Kanuni left this life empty-handed.
855 91 19 ER 0.0584
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Hello. My name is Sasha, I'm 28 years old. I am an entrepreneur, trader and a bit of an investor. He grew up in an ordinary family. He wasn’t poor, but he wasn’t a major either. After school I entered university and moved to Moscow. The money my parents gave me was not enough. I had to look for part-time work. Having seen the beautiful life in Moscow, I set myself a goal - to get rich. And he immediately began to act. He sold everything he could get his hands on. Chinese phones with a TV with 2 SIM cards were especially successful. As a result, I dropped out of university, completing only 2 courses. I saw no further point in studying. The business of selling Chinese goods brought in normal money. A little later I became acquainted with trading and realized that this was what I needed. Despite the fact that everything didn’t work out for me right away, after 3 months I reached a normal profit. And over the next 3 years, I bought myself everything that I couldn’t even dream of before: an apartment in Moscow, a new premium car, a house for my parents. I recently started a VKontakte group where I share my knowledge. I recommend subscribing!
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Six months ago I launched the Closed Club of Traders. The goal was quite simple: to gather successful traders and exchange knowledge. When 1+1 equals not 2, but 11. The main feature of the club is that only a trader who earns at least $2,000 per month can become a member. This is the main value; there are no amateurs in the club. I gathered the first members of the club through familiar traders and thematic forums. At first I did not pursue any commercial interests, only personal ones. Over time, I realized that this is just the coolest business idea! Club members are willing to pay for communication with successful traders and knowledge. I set a monthly fee for access to the club in the amount of $200. For a trader who earns at least $2,000 a month, this is pennies. Currently there are 38 members in the club. The guys are very happy and gladly pay their fees.
My goal is to gather at least 1000 club members in 2 years. Can you imagine the commercial potential of this project? (We multiply 200 by 1000. We get the club’s monthly revenue in dollars) To speed up this process, I decided to start training. First I conducted an experiment. I trained three guys who were completely far from trading. The results shocked me. Within 1 month of training, all three had an income of more than $2000, reviews are in my group. These guys are already members of the Closed Club. Trained 1 time - and received loyal clients in the Closed Club. Cool! Now I am recruiting students again.
I'm looking for 10 people for personal training. I will teach for FREE. Your trading experience is not important. The training lasts 6 weeks. 2 lessons per week. We work personally, one on one. Online via Skype, through the screen sharing function.
My task is to teach you to earn at least $2000 per month. I personally will literally take you by the hand and bring you to the result! You will be required to: 1. open a trading account with a real balance, 2. devote 2 hours of time 2 times a week. 3. Do your homework. 4. After completing the training, record a video review. How to become my student?
Write here: "+" https://vk.me/trading_education
Please tell us a little about yourself. 5 spots left!
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The average IQ in a country shows the effectiveness of the educational system. The number of Nobel laureates speaks volumes about its place in the intellectual arena of the world. Based on these two indicators, we decided to compile a list of the smartest countries...
First place
By IQ: Hong Kong
According to two studies by professors Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen - "IQ and the Wealth of Nations" and "IQ and Global Inequality", the first places in IQ are occupied by East Asian countries, and the administrative region of Hong Kong is in the lead. There, the average IQ level of the country is 107 points. True, the quantity and high population density (6480 people/km²) play a certain role here. Roughly speaking, the ability to provide uniform education throughout the country is much easier than, say, in Russia.
By number of Nobel laureates: USA
But in terms of the number of Nobel laureates, it is far ahead of the United States. According to statistics from the Nobel Committee, there are 356 laureates for the period from 1901 to 2014. In many respects, this is determined by the opportunities that are provided for research to scientists from different countries in American institutes and research centers.
Second place
By IQ: South Korea
In second place in terms of IQ is South Korea with a rating of 106 points. It has one of the most demanding and rigorous education systems in the world, with the greatest preference for the exact sciences. They finish school there only at the age of 19, followed by university.
In South Korea, there is terrible competition for admission to higher education institutions. During entrance exams and sessions, according to statistics, mental stress reaches such intensity that people simply cannot stand it. But the result is obvious - South Korea is one of the smartest countries in the world.
By number of Nobel laureates: Great Britain
The second place in terms of Nobel laureates is Great Britain, whose residents receive awards every year. In total, the Nobel Prize has been awarded to the 121st Briton.
Third place
By IQ: Japan
Japan ranks third with 105 points. This is not surprising, given that today the Land of the Rising Sun is far ahead of all other countries in the world in the development of high technologies. True Japanese quality will give even the pedantic Germans a head start.
The University of Tokyo is today considered the best in all of Asia and is included in the list of the 25 best higher education institutions in the world. The country's literacy rate reaches 99%, and in addition to IQ tests, the Japanese do an excellent job in studying the exact and natural sciences.
By number of Nobel laureates: Germany
Germany shares third place with Japan with its 104 Nobel Prizes in a variety of fields.
Fourth place
By IQ: Taiwan
And again, a country from Asia, a partially recognized state of the Republic of China, more often referred to by the name of the island - Taiwan. Its inhabitants were also able to make “intelligence” their signature trait, giving them a worthy place in the world and in the market.
Today Taiwan is one of the main suppliers of high-tech products, especially the information and electronics industry. The country's leadership has further plans to transform Taiwan into a “green silicon island” or an island of science and technology.
By number of Nobel laureates: France
But in terms of Nobel laureates, as opposed to Asia, the West leads. France ranks fourth on this list, being one of the leaders of fresh ideas in art, philosophy and literature.
Fifth place
By IQ: Singapore
Singapore ranks fifth in terms of IQ. It is much easier for a city-state to establish an education system than for giant countries. On the other hand, it ranks first among the richest and most prosperous countries, according to Forbes.
A country with a population of 5 million people has a GDP of $270 billion. You can’t help but correlate the results with high IQ test scores. The World Bank has named Singapore the best place to do business.
By number of Nobel laureates: Sweden
In fifth place is Sweden, the birthplace of Nobel and the permanent location of the headquarters of the Nobel Committee. Among the Swedes, 29 people distinguished themselves by receiving the Nobel Prize in the fields of medicine, chemistry, physics, and literature.
Sixth place
By IQ: Austria, Germany, Italy, Netherlands
Sixth place is shared by Austria, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands with the same score - 102. Perhaps, Italy stands out the most from this list, whose residents are known for their southern and windy character. And yet, during the siesta, which stops all life in the regions of Southern Italy for several hours in the middle of the working day, Italians do not forget about science and art.
It is enough to take one look at the history of Italy to understand that since the Roman era, this country has been the first in Europe in terms of the number of geniuses “per capita”.
By number of Nobel laureates: Switzerland
Switzerland takes an honorable sixth place. The requirements at local universities are high, especially in the field of natural sciences. It is here that seven Swiss people have received Nobel Prizes since 1975. There are a total of 25 awards per country.
Seventh place
By IQ: Switzerland
And again Switzerland, which, according to the average IQ (101), is one step below that of its scientific elite. Switzerland is one of the leading countries in terms of the number of people with higher education. It also ranks second in the ranking of the most prosperous countries in the world, according to experts from the Prosperity Index.
By number of Nobel laureates: Russia
Russia shares seventh place with an IQ level of 97 points and 23 Nobel laureates. Our compatriots have managed to distinguish themselves in many areas: literature, quantum electronics, electromagnetic radiation, semiconductors, superfluid liquids and other things that few ordinary people understand anything about.
