Genius-level IQ tests are in all truth, an oxymoron. An IQ test is designed to rank its takers along a continuum. IQ is, in effect, relative, and takers of an IQ test are ranked in reference to others taking the same test. An IQ score of 100 is considered average. If answering ten out of twenty questions correctly results in an average score, then ten correct answers equals a score of 100,
. which translates as ten points per question. On such a test, eight questions correct would mean an IQ of 80 (which psychiatrists consider mild retardation). Fifteen questions correct means an IQ of 150 (meaning genius level). Creating an IQ test for a group of geniuses would result in misleading scores, because brilliant math professor--certainly not a sufferer of mental retardation--might earn a score of 80 next to Albert Einstein's score of 150. IQ is relevant as a test for cognitive ability only when administered to the general population, since scores are acquired by ranking test-takers against one another.
