I have always had a strong distaste for the idea that the ability to figure out riddles and to do puzzles is an indicator of greater or lesser intelligence. And it dawned on me today, that this custom which is today carried on by people like those in Mensa, and even by psychologists who design IQ tests is rooted in the ideology of people who believe that reality is self-evident. the reasoning goes something like this:

"Reality is self evident, therefore, the answer to these puzzles ought to be self-evident, because these puzzles are a part of reality. But they are hard for most people to figure out. Those who can see through the twists and turns of the puzzles must be smarter than most, because they have a keener sense of reality."

From my perspective, being of the camp that believes that we have to reason things through, and that reality is certainly not self evident - that in fact, many core truisms about the world can be counter-intuitive... I would think that's a laughable way to test intelligence. These are puzzles which are designed as a game of outwit. And so matching your wits against the puzzle maker is not an accurate test of how well you will succeed in life, where you match your wits against the situations you come into contact with.