Intelligence Is Still Important

[noeticknight]

...In response to recent postings from our dogmatic hardliner friends. Found an amusing piece written on another forum and a certain portion stood out. I would regard it as good entertainment, but being that some parts actually ring of truth, I thought I'd share that feeling of uneasiness which accompanies the realization that the strong really do rule the weak in this world (See bold portion).


IQ over 189
In all of human history only about two dozen people have been this smart. William James Sidis is one example. He lectured Harvard mathematicians on four-dimensional mathematics at age 11 and was a professor of mathematics at Rice University at age 14. He easily mastered many more languages than the then 'world record' of around 40. He would do the entire New York Times crossword in his head. Because of his eccentricities, academics and the press mercilessly hounded him. At the age of 22 he published a book discussing black holes a full 15 years before Nobel Laureate Chandrasekhar thought of them. He eventually refused to do anything academic or have anything to do with academic society. Who knows what these people think about or what they think of the rest of humanity.


IQ 172 - 188
Keynes-who used to intimidate Bertrand Russell-was probably in this category. John Stuart Mill and Bobby Fischer are also in this category. While still of primary school age only around one-in-a-thousand university professors can look them in the eye intellectually. They tend to read competently before they are three years old. They find even grand system building relatively easy. They are seldom understood or appreciated. Most feel profoundly isolated from society-even when they are appreciated. A large proportion of this group opt out of society and never make revolutionary contributions in the standard academic fields or professions. It seems to be very difficult to motivate them to play the academic/ scholarly/professional game because they regard even the most venerable of traditions and institutions as absurd or silly. Consider that their intellect is as far above that of the average person as the average person's intellect is above that of someone with mental retardation. Even the mind of the average professor appears to him like the mind of the average brick layer would appear to the professor.


IQ 156 - 171
The smarter Nobel Prize winners and most historical geniuses (people like Einstein, Hawking, Byron, Milton, Kant, Newton, Russell, Rand) are to be found in this category. Most exceed the average postgraduate in academic competence-even professors-while still in primary school, and probably knew more than their teachers from about the 6th grade onwards. Their powers of comprehension and reason are such that they can see that many alternative systems (theories) account for the essentials inherent in abstract hypotheses and may be able to compare these in turn and bring them within the ambit of a single grand formal system (theory). They can and do read philosophy for pleasure well before puberty. They can read at the university level before the average person can comprehend their first reader, i.e. 'I see a cat.' They can probably perceive several logically consistent ethical systems and may find themselves struggling with the problem of constructing a grand ethical system. A common experie nce with people in this category or higher is that they are not wanted-that the masses (including the professional classes) find them an affront of some sort. Fortunately they are plentiful in absolute numbers, so many of them do rise above the envy and hostility.


IQ 140 - 155
Most professional mathematicians, physicists, philosophers and high court judges or very senior counsel, can be found in this group. They are autodidacts par excellence. Highly regarded original academic work rarely occurs with lower IQs. Some in this group exceed the average university student in academic competence while still in primary school. They garner most academic honors like Phi Beta Kappa election, Rhodes scholarships, math Olympiads, etc. Many Nobel laureates and some historical geniuses, like Sartre, are also to be found here. Their reasoning powers are sufficient to enable them to build intellectual systems (theories) out of the essential features (not superficialities) of a situation. They can read anything and probably read philosophy for pleasure. Morality is now a matter of self-chosen ethical principles held to a standard of logical consistency. People in this category make up the society's intellectual leaders. Most original ideas start with these people, however their contribution tends to be in bits and pieces rather than a whole new system or new way of seeing things.


IQ 124 - 140
This group forms the bulk of the better doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants and other professionals, U.S. Presidents, CEOs of large companies and academics. This category of people and all those above them don't require assistance to learn. They can find the information and master the methods by themselves. They are capable of postgraduate work, including PhDs, but may struggle with a few subjects such as post-graduate mathematics, physics and philosophy. They usually appreciate that abstract hypotheses can be systematized and often attempt to do so (try to form theories), but for the most part they tend to miss the essentials and build systems out of superficialities. Reading philosophy and legal tracts with comprehension is possible. Morality is decidedly a matter of principles for this group but nevertheless they tend to accept established systems, rarely is the principled system a self-chosen one. These people tend to be the keepers, and transmitters, of knowledge and the higher points of any culture, but can't create it themselves. .


IQ 108 - 124
Their best work level is that of most teachers, low to middle level management and military officers, substandard to fair professionals and some elected national or provincial politicians. They can learn via the typical university format of lectures and textbooks. At times they might struggle at the university level, but graduation is not difficult. Abstract, what-if hypothetical thinking begins in this group but is still superficial. Some may be aware that their hypotheses could form part of a coherent whole but cannot draw out the whole themselves. Their best reading level is editorials, magazines like Time, The Economist and Scientific American, and classical novels. Principled morality also begins in this group, i.e. they can see there are nonarbitrary principles or laws that should govern ethical behavior and thought. They can also see that these laws are social constructs and have not come down from heaven or other ultimate authority. This group makes up the moral, intellectual and practical leadership assistants of society.


IQ 92 - 108
This is the average person, able to function at the level of skilled blue-collar, clerical, sales or police work. Learning varies from explicit coaching with hands on experience to study guides and textbook work with some practical experience. They should be able to deal with a high school curriculum and graduate but quite a few, even with hard work, won't do well enough to enter university. Their reasoning is proficient but pretty concrete at the level of non-essential surface details, and their reading level is, at best, news stories (not editorials), popular magazines and novels. Morality is conventional, a matter of serving the social order and tradition or doing your duty as defined by some authority like the church, a teacher, a parent or the state. This large group is the glue of society but given the wrong authority it (and the two groups below it) may do horrible things in the name of morality.