This is the list of some of the smartest people in the world. Some of them are extremely successful, others provoke more pity than awe. Probably as long as your IQ is below 160, the smarter you are the more successful you will be. IQ is influenced by many factors, not all of them in our control. By improving short and long term memory, reading speed, decision making and general knowledge we effectively improve IQ, maybe (no proven) by 10-20 points. We must be damn sure that it is a good decision.
The benefits of being smart
- Income. It is known that income correlates with IQ and its derivatives: advanced college degree, professional knowledge, ability to learn and work independently, creative problem solving. Up to IQ of 130 (~PhD degree) the correlation between IQ and income is pretty much self-evident. Some of the richest people have very high IQ, so the graph is a bit skewed. Personally I know several people who are significantly smarter then me – they are either wealhy or plain crazy.
- Health. Smart people live longer, maybe because they make fewer stupid mistakes and get access to more healthy environment.
- Family life. People with higher IQ plan their family and thus are on average more happy with the family life – spouse [if any], number of children [if any], family lifestyle. IQ is a good indicator that people will opt-out of situations that endanger their happiness… Since divorced people are less happy than single or married people, the family life of smarter people is probably better. Moreover, the hereditary nature of IQ-related indicators means smarter and on average more successful kids, which is a nice bonus.
- Happiness. Inconclusive. There are indications that stupid people are unhappy. People who are extremely smart also seam to be unhappy (high expectations/entitlement feelings?). Between people with average IQ, smarter people are happier. So if you feel very smart, it is not sure that being yet smarter will make you happier.
The alternative costs
While developing one skillset we ultimately could use the same time and energy developing other skillsets. Here are some worthy alternatives. Superlearning facilitate pursue of these skills to some extent.
Communication skills
Having a network of friends and close bonds with people, winning fiends and maintaining relationship – these are extremely valuable skills. Since communication skills require both talking and listening, they are best suited to ambiverts (not extreme introverts/extraverts).
- Income. Winning friends and influencing people is a stronger indicator of wealth than IQ.
- Health. Group sports are better suited and more enjoyed by highly communicative people, however the risks of alcoholism and smoking are also higher.
- Family life. Communication skills are the key to happy marriage, but may also spawn affairs.
- Happiness. Mental resilience from talking to other people by far overweights the burden of empathy.
Mindfulness/sensory awareness
Being deeply aware of yourself and able to control your perception is a worthy goal. Probably it is correlated with happiness, or a least elimination of unhappiness.
- Income. Mindfulness reduces stress. Potentially mindfulness helps in more stressful environments that are indicative of high-risk high-benefit jobs. On the other hand, risk seekers will usually choose quite low-stress environment.
- Health. Probably strongly correlated, as long as avoiding extremes [imbalanced nutrition danger].
- Family life. Calmer families with less conflicts tend to be more stable. In this setting all members of families need to pursue mindfulness…
- Happiness. Responsible for 10% of happiness, which is pretty cool.
Honoured nomination
Some skills are sought after but their benefit questionable
- Foreign languages. It is great to be bilingual, but the benefits of further additional languages are not proven.
- Physical strength/agility. The dangers of improper training may overweight the benefits of extra abilities. Moderate exercise (1 hour 3 times a week) is probably better than extreme exercise.
- Dancing/Cooking/Music/Survival. These skills make our life richer and better. It makes sense to pursue these skills with moderation, or we will be subjected to high professional risks.
Conclusion
For me it is clear that I want my kids to balance pursue of IQ skills and communication skills. I do want them to get some taste of mindfulness, know 3-5 languages, and have some basic sports education. I think they need to have some time to play and just be kids, but also should understand that for every action there is an alternative cost and they should choose wisely.
