Comments on: IQ and richness

By: shadox

shadox — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 02:48:42 +0000

Intelligence may not be a guarantee of wealth, but I will bet you that there is a correlation – up to a point. Intelligence is correlated with education and education is correlated with income – once again to a point. This correlation probably breaks down at the very high end of the scale, but I suspect you will not find many super intelligent individuals making minimum wage (or at least they will be under represented in this population).

By: Young

Young — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 06:34:38 +0000

I expect that there may be some correlation between IQ and wealth because health is strongly correlated with both. Of course this is thinking on a highly macro level. I’ve personally seen that it’s not at all the case on a micro level!

As far as the comments about ADHD though, I’m pretty sure that having ADHD != low IQ. After all, ADHD isn’t directly correlated with low intelligence (is it?) and since some people with ADHD struggle with focusing intently on one thing and ignoring the world, they might be better able to hyper-focus on IQ tests and end up with a higher score.

By: mbhunter

mbhunter — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:49:30 +0000

Regarding the ADHD comment by Nathania: A good friend of mine growing up was diagnosed with ADHD. He was put into a special school at one point. However, he was one of three National Merit finalists in my class (the award based on the PSAT). Smart as a whip, but I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t heard it.

By: Madame X

Madame X — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 16:19:12 +0000

I’d read stats about this before, so I kind of knew what the answer would be, and I agree with the other commenters about some of the reasons why. But I’d also add that it’s partially because our culture doesn’t really value intelligence all that highly. People tend to be suspicious and dismissive of certain kinds of intelligence, and instead put more value on certain personality traits that make someone seem easy to get along with, more trustworthy, etc. And in some situations that may be a better criterion– but in general it’s a bit sad. If pay is any indication, we all care a lot more about being entertained by beautiful people and skilled athletes than we care about, say, who’s educating our children!

By: plonkee

plonkee — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:34:18 +0000

I didn’t think that a high IQ would lead to greater wealth because although income might be correlated to high IQ qualities on the other side of the being rich equation i.e. keeping money are not really related to intelligence but to common sense and discipline. I wouldn’t expect those to be well correlated with IQ.

By: Nathania

Nathania — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 15:48:16 +0000

I didn’t think that high IQ was going to be a determining factor for wealth. The reason is that there are so many entrepreneurs, CEOs, etc who are classified as “learning disabled” or “ADD” by the educational system.

But the way education is set up really only recognizes a singular, traditional method of learning. Instead of celebrating the strengths and creativity of future business leaders.

By: Mer

Mer — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 15:47:33 +0000

*checks her pile of check stubs*

No kidding.

Also? Just a small reminder… despite the fact that IQ tests are heavily skewed in favor of academic and intellectual talent, colleges often aren’t, particularly in the first 4 years. a high IQ score doesn’t mean the person in question is going to be good at being a student, or good at navigating the academic system.