Thinking about exam marking reminded me of the first computer joke I ever heard – over 40 years ago now.
The Americans still had conscription. All recruits were given an intelligence test to help determine their assignment.
Almost as soon as he arrived on the base it was clear that one young man did not offer 10 cents to the dime in the intellectual department. Everybody was astonished therefore when he scored 100% in the IQ test. Could he possibly be one of these idiot savants?
The best thing was to ask him to take another test. By the time these results came back – 100% again – everybody was sure that he could not have undiscovered genius. An investigation was ordered.
Being a nation at the forefront of technology the IQ test was in multiple-choice, tick-box format, marked by a computer using an early form of optimal mark reading.
The computer checked that there was a tick in the right box.
But only the right one.
The young man had achieved his perfect score by ticking every box on the form.
Which is, after all, a form of genius
