» After the Bell Curve. New studies show that IQ directly correlates to a child's economic status. One study measured an astonishing increase of 20 points for abused children adopted by well-to-do families. From my experience, hard work is more important than intelligence, anyway. I've known lots of really smart non-achievers.
rebecca's pocket
.: July 2006 --> IQ directly correlates to economic status
IQ directly correlates to economic status
[ 07.31.06 ]
Achievers...
10% Inspiration and 90% Perspiration.
Your note assumes that the only thing of value is achievement. I know many smart non-achievers who are perfectly happy with their state - and more high achievers who are miserable human beings.
I guess you're equating "achievement" with monetary status, and I don't. I'm thinking of people who just seem to lack the ability to set goals and then follow through. Some of them haven't achieved much by society's standards, and some of them have—but none of them has achieved much measured by their internal compasses. In many cases, this can be traced directly back to their high intelligence: good grades came so easily to them, they simply never learned to start something that was hard for them, and then to stick with it until they mastered it.
On the other hand, I've known lots of people with average intelligence who did know how to work, and who seem to be able to do anything they want, whether that's learn to play an instrument or run a business.
There's a common expression among users of SAT scores, and the like, and in the college admissions literature: show me the SAT scores for a school, and I'll tell you the income levels of the parents. The implication is that it's not the ineffable "IQ" that is being measured, as much as the amount of exposure to, and empowerment in relation to various cultural aspects of the world, including, ahem, those cultural artifacts called schools.