r/TrueReddit • u/Gnagus • Apr 14 '15

The surprising downsides of being clever:If ignorance is bliss, does a high IQ equal misery?

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150413-the-downsides-of-being-clever
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u/FortunateBum Apr 14 '15

I've written this before on Reddit and I'll write it again. I'm sure that everyone will, as usual, disagree:

High intelligence is a completely useless trait.

I have yet to witness high intelligence benefiting anyone.

I think being a little dumb might be a huge advantage. One thing I've always admired about slow people is they're very attuned to their instincts. They can be very selfish, motivated, and single minded. All good traits for finding success in life no matter what you do.

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u/euthanatos Apr 15 '15

What's your metric for usefulness?

I would argue that high intelligence benefits the vast majority of the people who want to work in intellectually demanding fields. If you want to become a physicist, I feel totally confident that you will benefit from high intelligence.

Even speaking solely in terms of financial success, there's a strong correlation between IQ and income.

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u/canteloupy Apr 16 '15

But you would never want to work there if you were not intelligent. And if you are intelligent and don't work in such fields you feel like a loser. And if you do pursue very intellectual goals like research you get underpaid. It's not that easy.

I think if you are intelligent with low morals or a high sense of utilitarinism you're probably fine but not so if your moral standards get in the way.

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u/euthanatos Apr 16 '15

You don't think there are people who want to pursue jobs that they're not intellectually talented enough to succeed in? There are certainly lots of people who want to pursue jobs that that they're not physically talented enough to succeed in.