I recently watched a Jordan Peterson interview where he was talking about IQ and that is really what ultimately prompted me to make this post because I partially disagreed with him. He isnt completely wrong and mostly goes off the idea that the US military wont accept anyone under an IQ of around 85. They do a different test that isnt technically an IQ test but it is equivalent in many ways. So what do I personally think?
I think the fundamental flaw is that an IQ plays far less of a role in someones job unless they are in a field that is primarily academic or requires a large amount of memorization. Peterson believes very strongly that an IQ plays more of a role in someones future job, while most studies done link success in a field to upbringing and study habits. The chance of you becoming a successful person in your field comes down much more to how you approach the job and the effort you put into it than the actual potential of your learning ability.
When it comes down to it IQ isnt how smart you are, it is simply a measurement for potential, something that I think many forget. At the time when I saw a certain video, the guy with the highest recorded IQ in the US is a bouncer for a bar because despite being able to learn things very quickly, he didn't apply them. So even if you are under the average level of potential when it comes to intelligence you can still make up for it in many different ways. The simple fact is most jobs are much more about teaching habits and what to do rather than actually being hard. The hardest part is usually managing people and making sure they get their work done.
If you happen to have the perfect storm of IQ and being raised in a healthy environment or you just have natural motivation then you truly do have the potential to do great things, but for us average people it will probably have a much smaller effect on our lives. Plus IQ is a highly over rated measurement of someones life. I would much rather be dumb and happy any day of the week than unhappy and successful at my career. However this is probably just my opinion on the matter.
I think IQ tests and many other tests in general are good models but to live by them exclusively would just be foolish. There are people born in the ghetto who have extremely high IQ s but will never reach their potential because they are held back by the environment that they are born into. Making sure your children have a safe place to grow up and instilling good life habits within them, will help them succeed far more in life.
-Calaber24p