> In at least some cases, intelligence actively abets stupidity by allowing pernicious rationalisation
This is something I’ve believed very strongly for many years. I’ve met some amazingly stupid geniuses who believe things so absurd it actively hobbles their ability to function. I’ve met many others who advocate almost psychotically destructive (to others) beliefs that they have meticulously rationalized. Totalitarian politics of various stripes is a petty common case.
It’s one of several reasons I am deeply skeptical of the cult of IQ. Even if you accept that intelligence is a single dimensional trait, it is not clear to me that more IQ equals better. More IQ seems to often result in a superior capacity to rationalize delusional thinking.
Thinking is a practice, an art, and how you think matters quite a bit. A person of average intellect who thinks rationally is going to do better than someone with a high IQ who is insane or delusional.
I also know a few people who would be considered learning impaired. They exceed at making bad decisions. They will never do good in life. You can flat out show them how it is bad. They will still do it. I also know some who are in that same spectrum and they will freely admit they are wrong and willing to learn better. They usually are willing to not do silly things. But sometimes to an irrational degree. Rationality in different systems and IQ I would suspect are not correlated. One thing I have found that does help with many is saying 'i am probably wrong' or 'i dont know'. If you are at least willing to say those two things you can at least maybe do better in life.
> More IQ seems to often result in a superior capacity to rationalize delusional thinking.
Oh, yes. You can tie yourself up in knots. You can blind yourself to the truth. This is why virtue goes hand in hand with wisdom. Without virtue, you're a fool. Or, if you prefer, stupid. No respect can be extended to foolishness. There is no tragic greatness to be found here, only pathetic degeneracy.
As someone once said, in order to believe the 100 stupidest ideas ever conceived by the human mind, all you need is a PhD.
IQ tests measures your ability to think abstractly. It does not measure your ability to think for yourself, or your ability to find practical working solutions to problems.
This is something I’ve believed very strongly for many years. I’ve met some amazingly stupid geniuses who believe things so absurd it actively hobbles their ability to function. I’ve met many others who advocate almost psychotically destructive (to others) beliefs that they have meticulously rationalized. Totalitarian politics of various stripes is a petty common case.
It’s one of several reasons I am deeply skeptical of the cult of IQ. Even if you accept that intelligence is a single dimensional trait, it is not clear to me that more IQ equals better. More IQ seems to often result in a superior capacity to rationalize delusional thinking.
Thinking is a practice, an art, and how you think matters quite a bit. A person of average intellect who thinks rationally is going to do better than someone with a high IQ who is insane or delusional.