I’m reasonably sure that high IQ (i.e. over 140) is not particularly well correlated with outstanding achievement. I am almost certain that extremely high IQ’s are not a prerequisite for extraordinary achievement, though there may be some specific fields where this does not hold true (say, theoretical physics).
If someone with an IQ of 180 has a thousand times the chance of making some incredible breakthrough compared to someone with an IQ of 140, shifting from 1% of the people having IQ > 140 to having 25%+ of the people having an IQ over 140 would still probably generate a great deal of breakthroughs.
There is one study that demonstrated that among top 1% SAT scorers investigated some years after testing, the upper quartile produces about twice the number of patents as the lower one (and about 6 times the average, if I remember right). That seems to imply that having more really top performers might produce more useful goods even if the vast majority of them never invent anything great.
Even a tiny shift upwards of everybody’s IQ has a pretty impressive multiplicative effect at the high end.
Interpersonal skills are more important for job success than IQ, but I doubt great skills will produce goods useful across society in the same way as an invention does. A high EQ person probably just makes the local social network better, which has a relatively limited overall effect.
There is one study that demonstrated that among top 1% SAT scorers investigated some years after testing, the upper quartile produces about twice the number of patents as the lower one (and about 6 times the average, if I remember right). That seems to imply that having more really top performers might produce more useful goods even if the vast majority of them never invent anything great.
This could just reflect winner-take-all dynamics. Only a few people can get into Harvard. Only a few people can become tenured professors, only a few mentored by major figures, only a few access to resources etc. Success builds on success; if you have a patent, it’s easier to get another. A small difference at the beginning (your ‘upper quartile’) can snowball.
I would bet that being in the upper quartile is only weakly correlated with being smarter than the rest of that 1%. No organized tests like college admissions uses straight IQ, but they do use SAT scores. That says something, I think.
I’m reasonably sure that high IQ (i.e. over 140) is not particularly well correlated with outstanding achievement. I am almost certain that extremely high IQ’s are not a prerequisite for extraordinary achievement, though there may be some specific fields where this does not hold true (say, theoretical physics).
I remember reading that the optimal IQ for success in life is actually about 130, but can’t find a source for that now. I did find this though, which seems to support your claim.
I think that having the general population’s IQ raised would have such wide-ranging effects that looking at society as it is now isn’t a very good indicator of what that would be like. Society as it is now isn’t set up to support people with very high IQs (or even get the most out of the IQs that people have to begin with), so I’m pretty sure there would be changes to all kinds of things to fix that.
The linked article is problematic. There is a pretty agreed on correlation between IQ and income (the image obscures this). In the case of wealth the article claims that there is a non-linear relationship that makes really smart people have a low wealth level. But this is due to the author fitting a third degree polynomial to the data! I am pretty convinced it is a case of overfitting. See my critique post for more details.
I’m reasonably sure that high IQ (i.e. over 140) is not particularly well correlated with outstanding achievement. I am almost certain that extremely high IQ’s are not a prerequisite for extraordinary achievement, though there may be some specific fields where this does not hold true (say, theoretical physics).
If someone with an IQ of 180 has a thousand times the chance of making some incredible breakthrough compared to someone with an IQ of 140, shifting from 1% of the people having IQ > 140 to having 25%+ of the people having an IQ over 140 would still probably generate a great deal of breakthroughs.
There is one study that demonstrated that among top 1% SAT scorers investigated some years after testing, the upper quartile produces about twice the number of patents as the lower one (and about 6 times the average, if I remember right). That seems to imply that having more really top performers might produce more useful goods even if the vast majority of them never invent anything great.
Even a tiny shift upwards of everybody’s IQ has a pretty impressive multiplicative effect at the high end.
Interpersonal skills are more important for job success than IQ, but I doubt great skills will produce goods useful across society in the same way as an invention does. A high EQ person probably just makes the local social network better, which has a relatively limited overall effect.
This could just reflect winner-take-all dynamics. Only a few people can get into Harvard. Only a few people can become tenured professors, only a few mentored by major figures, only a few access to resources etc. Success builds on success; if you have a patent, it’s easier to get another. A small difference at the beginning (your ‘upper quartile’) can snowball.
I would bet that being in the upper quartile is only weakly correlated with being smarter than the rest of that 1%. No organized tests like college admissions uses straight IQ, but they do use SAT scores. That says something, I think.
IIRC, the SAT doesn’t have enough questions to distinguish an upper 1⁄4 of 1%. At least, the reported scores don’t go higher than “99th percentile”.
I remember reading that the optimal IQ for success in life is actually about 130, but can’t find a source for that now. I did find this though, which seems to support your claim.
I think that having the general population’s IQ raised would have such wide-ranging effects that looking at society as it is now isn’t a very good indicator of what that would be like. Society as it is now isn’t set up to support people with very high IQs (or even get the most out of the IQs that people have to begin with), so I’m pretty sure there would be changes to all kinds of things to fix that.
The linked article is problematic. There is a pretty agreed on correlation between IQ and income (the image obscures this). In the case of wealth the article claims that there is a non-linear relationship that makes really smart people have a low wealth level. But this is due to the author fitting a third degree polynomial to the data! I am pretty convinced it is a case of overfitting. See my critique post for more details.