Psychometrics

I don't know, it just popped into my head. Which doesn't mean it's worth writing about. It sounds vaguely related to measuring things that are difficult to measure, like what other people are thinking about.

Google returns 'about 1,010,000' hits for psychometrics in 0.07 seconds. That's some quick thinking. I'm not sure how much we think about in 0.07 seconds. This gets me wondering how to quantitate how much we think about. It's very common to claim that someone has 'a lot to think about,' but Google search results impress us with how fast zillions of answers are located, although it does say 'about' for big numbers so there is some estimating going on.

At work I have a small replica of 'The Thinker' positioned on a shelf above my computer monitor. So I see it a lot, and my gaze sometimes wanders there when I'm thinking some unmeasured number of thoughts. It's a wonderful statue, the right elbow rested on the left knee, the chin supported on the back of the curled hand, shoulders hunched forwards. From what I can gather from a few web articles, the statue is supposed to represent Dante. He certainly seems to be thinking heavy thoughts, and not necessarily about something like being cold, which I currently am since the thermostat was turned down for the night.

So, how to quantitate thoughts? And actually, there is the number of thoughts per unit of time and the weight of thoughts to consider. 'The Thinker' is a case in point for heavy thoughts. Or maybe that should be depth when it comes to The Thinker. I don't think of the Google response time as reflecting much depth or weight, just speed.

As in any good measurement system, it's important to start with a list of definitions that help understand things like 'when a thought starts and when it stops'. Things get messy very quickly, especially when distributed among 'the back of mind,' 'the tip of my tongue,' 'my gut reaction,' and 'the seat of my pants,' to name a few locales.

I think I'll simply hold that thought for now.

Psychometry was initially about intelligence measurement, and more recently includes personality and suitability for employment. The Wikipedia comes through again with a brief summary with links to other brief summaries with links to other brief summaries...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychometrics

Alternatively, practice psychometric tests are available for those anticipating an exam as part of the job interview process (note the maze logo for this company. There is also an encouraging quote from 'N. T.' of Newcastle):
http://www.careerpsychologycentre.com/

Finally, there is the experience of one's life flashing before their eyes, which probably begins to approach the speed of a Google search.

As you can see, there wasn't a lot to write about today. Rose did get braces yesterday, which is huge, but I wasn't sure what to say. It clearly hurts. Otherwise a quiet day on the home front.