Exams and tests are usually how people gauge the intelligence and knowledge of an individual, particularly in schools and academies. The higher a student's exam scores are, the more people would think that the student possesses a brilliant mind, and the opposite is true when a student scores poorly on their exam. But in reality, exams are not necessarily a measure of intelligence or the ability to apply knowledge, and more of a means to assess one's ability to recall and retain information. Applying those knowledge when needed is an entirely separate thing and many skills cannot be discovered through just answering written exams. But even with that way of assessment, a person can still prevail even when he does not have great memorization skills, as long as he perseveres and works hard for the task in front of him.
You see, I'm not a smart person. I'm just your normal, average guy that you can find anywhere. But believe it or not, I used to ace my exams (with the exception of math), particularly during my high school days, but I also am not great at memorization. That said, I always review days before the exams diligently, checking my notes whenever I can. Meanwhile, I can see my other classmates just lazing around and only open their notes a day or two before the exam, and still score pretty high on their exams. Knowing that sometimes makes me feel insecure because I can only perform better than them if I put more effort than they did. Well, that hardworking me died down when I changed schools in my fourth year. But the lesson is: hard work and effort when studying can pay off with good results, so in a way, you can also use exams as a measure of who can put in hard work and effort, which is a much-needed skill in today's society.
In a sense, exams could also be used to see how an individual will perform under pressure, another skill that is much needed when working, since with exams, students will have to reach a certain score to pass the test, but they have to answer the exams in a limited time.
Still, there were exams that could be used to measure one's intelligence, with math, for example. A person may be able to memorize mathematical formulas to the point that it will haunt them in their dreams, but without understanding when, why, and how to apply them, they won't be able to answer the exam correctly. A person may be able to easily memorize the guitar chords of a song, but that does not necessarily mean that he has the skills to play it.
"So, why were exams still used as proof of knowledge?"
While exam scores do not exactly dictate a person's intelligence or skills, I think that the reason why institutions still use them is that, in many jobs, reliability and trainability are valued much higher than the raw intelligence of an individual. Society thinks that by having high scores in exams means that they can follow instructions more efficiently, and exams are excellent predictors for that, even if they are not foolproof predictors for professional success.
And for students, I think that they find getting high exam scores as a validation of their efforts, spending a long time reading notes, and just because other students can quickly memorize things better than others doesn't mean that they do not put in any effort to get their scores.
Of course, even with the exam being used as the main metric of a person's intelligence, there were still people who would rise above the others despite not performing well on their exams. Just take a look at Steve Jobs, who dropped out of college just after one semester but ended up co-founding Apple, the world's number one phone brand.
That was all in this post. Thank you, and see you at the next one.
