The bell curve distribution for IQ scores tells us that two thirds of the world’s population have an IQ somewhere between 85 and 115. This means that some four and a half billion people around the globe share just 31 numerical values (“He’s a 94,” “You’re a 110,” ”I’m a 103”), equivalent to 150 million people worldwide sharing the same IQ score. This sounds a lot to me like astrology, which lumps everyone into one of twelve signs of the zodiac.
So much of the supposedly scientific work that went into quantifying the human animal in the 20th century had about it a vast assembly of voodoo and presumption. Numbers had in them a sense of magic, of "truth," just like photographs do--but the truths that each contain are so conditional, specific, and limited.
I hadn't heard of Daniel Tammet before, but his book looks to be worth reading--I must admit to holding a huge crush on autistic brains. The article in the link above had me kinda swooning.
