Irish Joie F.

Feruelo

Grade 9 – Alfredo Santos

Intelligence Quotient: Can it really define us as a person?

One of the most popular and discussed problem in our today’s daily lives is about the
Philippines having low Intelligence Quotient (IQ) among different Asian countries. Some people
believe that the reason of why the Philippines ranked lowest at the survey of what countries have the
most highest IQ is because of economic progress, unemployment rate of teachers and poverty so other
citizens cannot afford to go to school for some educations. Where does this problem coming from?
What are the main reasons why the Philippines ranked lowest at the survey? What are the positive and
negative effects of having low or high IQ? Does it affect our daily lives? What defines us for having
low IQ? What is the importance of Intelligence Quotient?

The discussed problem is about Philippines having low IQ. Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is
defined as is a total score derived from several standardized tests designed to assess human
intelligence. It is important because it is used for educational placement, assessment of intellectual
disability, and evaluating job applicants. Even when students improve their scores on standardized
tests, they do not always improve their cognitive abilities, such as memory, attention and speed.
People having a high IQ can assess their leaning, understand things easily, problem solving abilities,
and adaptability to do their designated work easily.

According to some studies, people who have more IQ can accepted easily to work and can
become more successful than other people. According to the survey table of ASEAN countries, listed
from countries with highest IQ to lowest IQ, the Philippines was listed on the last part of the table.
While countries like Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos ranked highest among all ASEAN countries.

By the survey given, some or most people believed that Philippines is the country with lowest
IQ. Some may also believe that is it the reason why Philippines’ economic status is not progressing.
The economic progress does not depends on how high or low the IQ of the citizens in the country.
Yes, it can be also a factor and also a reason why the country is not progressing. But we should also
think of another factor on why the economic growth is decreasing.

The economics progress in intellectual quotient can be based on how the workers can sustain
their productivity to do their designated jobs. Some factors of low IQ are all about education. It can be
loss of workers, lack of education, not specific budget or lack of budget, idleness to learn, and poverty.
First, moderate or few workers can be a factor of why the country has low IQ. For example, lack of
teachers or decreasing population or teachers can also decrease the number of learners. It can affect the
future of the students. With no educations, the intellect of the students can also decrease as the number
of educators also decreases.

Lack of education is also associated with lack of educators. With no specific learning or
education, it may not help you to apply for job. Another one is lack of budget of the government to
finance the education of Filipinos. Public schools are government properties that built for people who
cannot sustain to go to private schools. These schools are built to sustain education of Filipinos who
want to educate their selves for future needs. More public schools can help us to learn and educate
more for our country to have a high IQ.
 The Social Weather Survey conducted from June 27-30, found that 9.4 percent or an estimated
2.2 million families experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months. Overall,
hunger is up by seven points in Metro Manila, four points in Mindanao; down 3.7 points each in
Visayas and Balance Luzon. The measure of Hunger refers to involuntary suffering because the
respondents answer a survey question that specifies hunger due to lack of food to eat. The 9.4 percent
quarterly hunger in June 2018 is the sum of 8.1 percent (est. 1.9 million families) who
experienced moderate hunger and 1.3 percent (est. 294,000 families) who experienced severe hunger.

According to the authors, the computation of national IQs is based on the Standard and
Colored Progressive Matrices intelligence tests, developed in Britain in the 1930's and 1940's,
respectively. The authors also indicated that “all national IQs are expressed in relation to a British IQ
of 100”. Sociologist Thomas Volken of the University of Zurich criticized Lynn’s and Vanhannen’s
work in 2003 in the European Sociological Review, calling it “highly problematic”.

People who have inability to assess their learning or education and have idleness to learn
cannot improve their IQ well. And the last one is living in poverty. It can be associated with lack of
budget. If a family cannot sustain their personal needs for each member, then they cannot also sustain
the education of their children.

According to the some articles, Sereno does have an IQ of 109. Her IQ is above the average
IQ which is 108 and it is also higher than the average Filipino IQ which is 86. This proves that not all
Filipinos have low IQ. This also proves that Filipinos should not be underestimated because Filipinos
are humble and smart but we do not show them off first. We will discover our talent in our own and
we also let others to discover what we can do. These statistics suggest that either Dr. Tria did not tell
the truth or there is a very small contingent of 21 geniuses in this country and Leila De Lima is among
them! It could be very true since God gave Pinoys the brains. According to Duterte, “We are a small
nation. Maybe God gave you the money, but we have the brains,” he said.

In my own words, intelligence quotient is important in our daily lives. Some positive effects
of having average or high IQ are: It can help us to think easily by the given tasks, improve our
memory, assess our learnings, help us to be productive and do the designated works. If there are
positive effects, there are also negative effects. Having low IQ, the people may think that you are
uneducated and living in the world of poverty. People nowadays think that if you have low
intelligence, you should not communicate or join with people having average or high IQ. People
cannot socialize with just because of having low intelligence.

The benefits of having high or average range of intelligence quotient may help us recognize
and realize different and unique things. It can be used to provide all we need for the future. Also,
having high IQ can help us to sustain or increase also the population of people to have high IQ. People
with high IQ can lead our country, solve the country’s problem easily, and adaptability to do their
work easily and creatively. Having high IQ can help us to decide independently and wisely. It can also
increase the ability of people to be more productive and more resourceful.

The negative effects of having low IQ are: uneducated people or citizens can be fooled easily.
Todays popular issue is about fake news. When someone tells fake news, everyone will believe them.
They will also experience hard time in looking for jobs. If they did not have any jobs, they cannot
sustain their personal needs and the needs for their families.

In my own opinion, we should not base our progress in having high or low IQ. As a Filipino
citizen, we are all born with different kind of knowledge. We should not judge one's ability to think or
assess their leaning. We are all unique and gifted with different talents. All people have their own
limitations. Maybe others can do their task skillfull but other can't. You can do it but others can't and
you can't do it but others can. We should all be positive and do not let others define you based on your
intelligence and talents. We should be equal to all people. We should socialize regardless of how smart
or not they are. We should all help each other to learn.

As a student, I can help to educate other people. I can share my knowledge and let their
knowledge grow for free. I believe that education is the only treasure that cannot be stolen from
anybody. Education is like a seed that when planted, you need to take care of it. As the time passes by,
the plant represents education will grow.