The following is an edited excerpt.
If being smart is such an overwhelming advantage, why aren’t we all uniformly intelligent? Or are there drawbacks to being clever that sometimes give slower thinkers the upper hand? And why are even the smartest people prone to – well, stupidity?
It turns out that our usual measures of intelligence – particularly IQ – have very little to do with irrational, illogical behaviors. You really can be highly intelligent, and at the same time very stupid. Understanding the factors that lead clever people to make bad decisions is beginning to shed light on many of society’s biggest catastrophes, including the recent economic crisis.
Read the full article here: Stupidity: What makes people do dumb things (Free subscription required)
Further Reading:
- Is evolution reducing our intelligence? Talking Back.
- Ron Unz on genius, IQ, race and meritocracy. Genetic Literacy Project.
- Are boys really better at math, girls better at reading? Science 2.0.
- Is IQ in the genes? The PC hypocrisy of intelligence studies. The Telegraph.
