2003: Test the Nation
June 28, 2021
By AHNZ
TV1 delivered a “National IQ Test” on the night of 30 June 2003. Hosed by Simon Dalow and Lana Coc-Kroft. The findings are of less interest to the Anarchist Historian as relative audacity of asking questions like these at all.
Those of the Tasman/Nelson/Marlborough region were found to top the IQ score helped by Nelson being the smartest town of all. Males were smarter than females (no other genders were sampled,) and grey hair and grey eyes and old age correlated with high IQ too. New Zealanders were divided up into many different categories and tuned in to voluntarily test themselves against mental questions for 3 hours.
The hosts, Dalow and Coc-Kroft demonstrated the casual differences the New Zealanders of 2003 were comfortable with. Dalow was a newsreader and barrister in a hetrosexual marriage (as far as he knew at that point) and Coc-Kroft a blonde Miss Universe and gameshow girl who had become a leader in presenting adventure and sport on TV¹. A white man, a white woman, and no token brown person required for their own sake as it would have to be in a different era².
“We all have different strengths and weaknesses. The main thing is to have a go, so get ready for Test the Nation – the New Zealand IQ Test 2003, on TV One, June 30.” – Dalow
Only during a Dignity Culture phase would an audience have such a long attention span for academic entertainment! Dignity Culture particularly values intelligence and is occupied with measuring it as well as with the very masculine perspective of cataloging individual differences. An r-selected culture would insist that everyone is the same, IQ tests don’t work, and things like race or gender are frauds. Testing someone on being a meat-eater vs vegetarian was fine in 2003 but Politically Incorrect within 15 years to even contemplate let alone publicise in prime time tv.
It had been 20 years since New Zealand was in a position to air a show like this as it did back in the days of Krypton Factor Dignity Culture. Likewise, there could be no Dignity Culture or IQ testing shows again until the mid-2020s.
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1 Lana Coc-Kroft led the way in lots of Honour Culture era TV, hosting or being part of various adventure and sporting shows from the mid-90s until it nearly killed her in the early 2000s
2 Stacey Daniels, future Mrs Morrison, was in the show but it wasn’t tokenism.
Ref. Internet Results, Test The Nation New Zealand IQ Test 2003; Wayback Machine
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