Common biases about intelligence

  1. Intelligence is fixed (Also known as a fixed mindset).
  2. Intelligence is genetic. Yes, intelligence depends on nature (genes) but not completely. If that was the case, the children of all scientists would have been scientists. The greatest virtue of low intelligence is ‘fixed mindset’.
  3. Intelligent people don’t need to work hard to become successful. Yes, intelligence does help people in removing the initial hiccups and obstacles but in reality, intelligent people are more hardworking. Their intelligence lets them gauge the fact that indeed hard work sharpens intelligence.
  4. Intelligence Grows very slowly : In a research done on navy seals, it was consistently demonstrated that in just three years, intelligence of an average individual can increase by up to 30%. That’s huge. IQ of a gifted person is 130 and that of average intelligent person is 110. The only problem is that people don’t believe this simple fact (even when tons of empirical evidence is present for increase in intelligence).

What are some signs of intelligence?

Remember what Socrates said ‘I know I am intelligent because I know that I know nothing’.

What kind of intelligence is best?