Claim Roulette: 12 “get smarter” ads, graded in 12 seconds each

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Claim Roulette: 12 “get smarter” ads, graded in 12 seconds each

A silly format that makes a serious distinction. Each claim gets a letter grade and one verdict. Steal freely.

Grading scale

A — Strong, boring, replicable pathway for a named outcome
B — Real effect, wrong marketing
C — Near transfer / training dressed as magic
D — Hypothesis cosplaying as product science
F — Soup marketed as a g vaccine

“Train 10 minutes a day and raise your IQ.”

Grade: F. IQ batteries are not app streaks. Trained-task gains ≠ general ability.
“Sleep debt destroys cognitive performance.”

Grade: A for acute sharpness. Not a lasting rewire of g. Fix this before you buy anything.
“Dual n-back will permanently boost fluid intelligence.”

Grade: D historically loud, now mostly sour. Treat as WM workout, not inoculation.
“This nootropic stack raises intelligence in healthy adults.”

Grade: F unless they name molecule, dose, deficit, and a design that would embarrass them.
“Learning a hard skill (code / language / instrument) makes you smarter.”

Grade: A/B. It thickens knowledge and often competence. Saying it “raises IQ” is optional theater.
“Brain games prevent Alzheimer’s.”

Grade: F as a product claim. Disease prevention is a clinical claim with receipts or silence.
“Processing-speed training helped older adults on trained and some near outcomes.”

Grade: B. Population and DV matter. Not a youth IQ potion.
“Chess makes kids smarter.”

Grade: C. Chess kids are selected and practiced. Far transfer metas are unkind to the slogan.
“Exercise helps cognition.”

Grade: B for many acute/health pathways. Still not “bought 15 IQ points.”
“Adaptive reasoning practice with honest difficulty is useful deliberate practice.”

Grade: B as practice. F if sold as clinically proven g boost. (This is where we live — disclosure: IntelligenceMax is that gym.)
“Iodine deficiency correction can matter a lot where deficiency exists.”

Grade: A for that population. Marketing to already-nourished Instagram is cargo cult.
“Our scoreboard went up, therefore intelligence rose.”

Grade: F. The scoreboard is the thing that learned.

The honest punchline

Want fewer F grades in your life? Separate dials (g vs knowledge vs acute state vs long-horizon health), demand active controls, and treat “raises intelligence” like a claim that owes you a design.

Public map: https://intelligencemax.ai/guide

Transfer / measurement notes: https://intelligencemax.ai/science

CSV / citation pack: https://gist.github.com/connerlambden/f0ba06e1c98379250b1015f3ed14b867

Pocket litmus tests: https://dev.to/connerlambden/five-litmus-tests-for-this-will-raise-your-intelligence-claims-7g

I built the live reasoning gym. Steal the grading scale without linking anything. Accuracy > vibes.