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IQ is only a minor factor in success
31–40 of 296 posts
Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success
#32A truly smart person will have a very impressive, convincing answer to this question.
Having a rich daddy is probably the largest influence in someone's chances of being rich themselves, at least in the US.
This is a common misconception. Most (balance sheet, not "appear to be") rich people are self made, and first generation rich. Kids of rich parents tend to just blow their inheritance away quickly.
Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success
#33I have to point out that this question functions as a classical reference to the life of Thales (born 624 BC) - touted as the first philosopher. In the apocryphal story, he proved he could be wealthy if he wanted to and- according to one version - grew rich by predicting that the olive harvest would be good and investing accordingly. Having information others do not has always thus ruled the markets :) https://en.m.w…
Similarly, philosophy grads today tend to have higher lifetime earnings than other humanities majors.
(Though I think it's because the degree eventually confers the wisdom that an advanced degree in a different, marketable field would be a good idea. That's how it worked for me anyway.)
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffreydorfman/2014/11/20/surpri...
Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success
#34I'm probably decently smart, but I'm not rich at all. In fact I'm quite poor by most people's standards. I'm also really happy and work fewer hours per week than anyone I know. If there's one thing I worry about it's that I should be trying to be rich because I probably have the means to make that happen. I might be making 200k/yr if I worked full time. I might be able to start a successful company if I put my mind t…
I'm guessing you are single and not planning to have kids, right?
I'm not single, but you're right about the kids. In my world view having a kid is similar to an 18 year prison sentence.
Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success
#35Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success
#36I'm probably decently smart, but I'm not rich at all. In fact I'm quite poor by most people's standards. I'm also really happy and work fewer hours per week than anyone I know. If there's one thing I worry about it's that I should be trying to be rich because I probably have the means to make that happen. I might be making 200k/yr if I worked full time. I might be able to start a successful company if I put my mind t…
I own my own business and the company is worth some millions of dollars, so I am "rich" though by American standards, not really. My salary is rather low for being the founder. My partner has an equally low salary. Some employees make more than me.
I was formerly a data scientist with a salary 2x of what my current one is. I was miserable.
Today, I love work. I create things. I have two kids and a wife and she stays home with them and does actual tough work. I wear clothes from companies we partner with (sports science, so lots of universities give us free stuff) and company-logoed clothes only. I don't have expensive hobbies. My wife gets all of my money and I invest things at home like Blue Apron, a house cleaner, day care, etc, to make family life better.
Having a job I love and a company that fulfills my vision negated all need for tangible things in my life. When I was actually "rich" in regards to salary, liquid money, I was consumed by stuff. It was terrible.
Life's good now. I want for nothing expensive. I make this comment to tell you that you may be able to have both if your work is something that you truly enjoy.
Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm guessing you are single and not planning to have kids, right?
I'm not single, but you're right about the kids. In my world view having a kid is similar to an 18 year prison sentence.
I wanted kids. I believe your statement is still correct. In my case I subjected myself to prison because of biology ruling over my logical processing unit. Humanity goes on as a result of that, I am quite sure of it. :)
Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not single, but you're right about the kids. In my world view having a kid is similar to an 18 year prison sentence.
I wanted kids. I believe your statement is still correct. In my case I subjected myself to prison because of biology ruling over my logical processing unit. Humanity goes on as a result of that, I am quite sure of it. :)
I get that, but my friends are starting to have kids and I'm rather looking forward to being their crazy uncle and teaching them how to solder and take things apart etc. I love kids, I just don't want to be the one primarily responsible for them
Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wanted kids. I believe your statement is still correct. In my case I subjected myself to prison because of biology ruling over my logical processing unit. Humanity goes on as a result of that, I am quite sure of it. :)
I get that, but my friends are starting to have kids and I'm rather looking forward to being their crazy uncle and teaching them how to solder and take things apart etc. I love kids, I just don't want to be the one primarily responsible for them
I cannot fault you. Most days I wonder why I decided to have kids. I realize that I didn't decide it in any sort of logical manner that implies normal decision-making. If I went purely on logic and rational thought, I certainly wouldn't have done it. Alas, that wasn't in the cards. I wouldn't take it back, but I tell everyone who is on the fence about having kids to very strongly reconsider if they want to go through with it.
On its face, it's an incredibly dumb choice. But biology wins out, sometimes..
Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
Having a rich daddy is probably the largest influence in someone's chances of being rich themselves, at least in the US.
This is a common misconception. Most (balance sheet, not "appear to be") rich people are self made, and first generation rich. Kids of rich parents tend to just blow their inheritance away quickly.
This is a common misconception. Most of the self-made / "first generation" rich came from households that weren't poor to begin with. Bill Gates, for example, had a trust fund from his grandfather that gave him a cushion in case he failed. That gave some freedom for him to take calculated risks.
What you find is that you need the freedom to be able to take a risk and fail. If you come from a household living paycheck to paycheck and just barely scraping by, you start off with a very risk averse mentality and never really escape it. When the big opportunity shows up, if you were risk averse your entire life it is unlikely that you will take the shot.
https://despair.com/products/overconfidence sums it up best: "Before you attempt to beat the odds, be sure you could survive the odds beating you".