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IQ isn’t everything
IQ tests and their proxies, which are designed to measure a factor known as general intelligence, are used by many businesses and colleges to help select the “best” candidates, and also play a role in schools and universities, in the form of SAT tests in the US and CATs in the UK.
- However, IQ scores have long been criticised as poor indicators of an individual’s all-around intelligence, as well as for their inability to predict how good a person will be in a particular profession.
Everyone can improve their rational thinking and decision-making skills
Richard Nisbett at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and others discovered that just half an hour’s training in statistical reasoning can improve a person’s ability to use rational thinking in everyday situations
- And we don’t need formal training to improve: there are many tricks we can teach ourselves
We might also be better equipped to elect leaders that did the same
Bush’s successor is intellectually engaged, shows cognitive flexibility, can question beliefs, is sensitive to inconsistency and engages in counterfactual thinking
Intuitive processing can serve us well in some areas
choosing a potential partner, for example, or in situations where you’ve had a lot of experience.
- It can trip us up in others, though, such as when we overvalue our own egocentric perspective.
IQ tests cannot predict which of these paths someone will follow
Intelligence is about brain power whereas rational thinking is about control
- Most researchers agree that overall, the correlation between intelligence and successful decision-making is weak
- The exception is when people are warned that they might be vulnerable to a thinking bias
- IQ indicates a greater capacity for complex cognition for problems new to you, but what we apply that capability to is another question
