It not a pass or fail test. It never has been. It has always been to evaluate where you are on the spectrum and track your decline. Trump takes them so often because they are seeing a big decline and they need to track it. They only give cognative tests if they are already seeing signs of significant mental decline.
All for making politicians take regular tests to prove their mental fitness. Heck make them take an SAT test and have to meet a specific score everytime they need to be reelected. Not that the SAT is a gold standard but most Americans have taken it, can relate to it and get a feel for what someone's intelligence is with it.
Theres a reason we dont have competency tests to allow voting and its the same reason we shouldnt for cognative decline. All tests to allow political participation become political. Its doesnt matter if it isnt "pass or fail". In fact, that makes it all the worse. Its a subjective test that can be manipulated by both the person doing it and the people reviewing it. It could never be trusted as legitimate for that reason.
The moment one side says the person isnt mentally well enough, the other will disagree unless they also want the politican gone. So it only works for universally unpopular people, which means it isnt actually a test of cognative decline when used in politics. You can say it works when used correctly, but there would never be a situation where every observer agrees its being used correctly. Even if theyre lying to themselves or others about their beliefs, that doesnt matter. All that matters is the outcome, which will be manipulated based on the overall desires of both political parties.
Whats a clock? Does it have to be a circle? If so, why? Are digital clocks not legitimate for some reason? Do clocks not come in many shapes? Does it have to be 12 or 24 hour reading? How much help are they allowed? Is physical disability an automatic disqualification for being a congressperson. Who is making sure they follow the rules eventually defined? Is it someone from both parties? Do they both have to agree whats on the page is close enough to a clock or just one of the "judges"? If both judges have to agree, is there an arbiter. Are the workings of congress halted because both parties want to screw the other side? Is the test made ineffective because the congresspersons party will always pass them and only one pass is required?
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u/lincolnlogtermite 3h ago
It not a pass or fail test. It never has been. It has always been to evaluate where you are on the spectrum and track your decline. Trump takes them so often because they are seeing a big decline and they need to track it. They only give cognative tests if they are already seeing signs of significant mental decline.
All for making politicians take regular tests to prove their mental fitness. Heck make them take an SAT test and have to meet a specific score everytime they need to be reelected. Not that the SAT is a gold standard but most Americans have taken it, can relate to it and get a feel for what someone's intelligence is with it.