I don't understand why people so often say "success" when they mean "income". Those are different concepts.
IQ is only a minor factor in success
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Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
No, only about 10% of billionaires are self made, as in not having inherited wealth or come from wealthy families. And even this is a record high up from a more typical 3%. (and remarkably, these are numbers that forbes feels excited about) http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2014/10/03/there-a...
>In 2004, we had 59% of the Forbes 400 having made their own fortune, as opposed to 41% who inherited it.
Quote from your own source...
Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success
#73Interesting. I'm a 1%er and I have a piece of paper that says I'm pretty smart, but: > a personality trait marked by > diligence, perseverance and > self-discipline I see myself as pretty lazy, impulsive, and slap-dash, and tend to use my brain to brute-force lazy solutions to problems. I am too lazy and don't have the concentration span to pay attention much in meetings, but can generally utter something profound ne…
I can definitely relate. I'm not rich, but I do alright. I have a high IQ (according to "official" tests available), but I don't feel I'm smarter than anyone.
I however do feel that I'm lazy, and have "cheated" my way through life by cunning rather than legitimately solving problems the way they're "supposed" to. I guess that's a skill in its own right, but it's made it harder for me to actually learn new stuff because my brain wants to get by with as little work as possible.
Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success
#74Earlier 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.
Kids are great. I have 3 kids and to me it is nothing like a prison sentence. I love watching them grow up, it is taking me back to the happiness and carelessness of my own childhood every day. It also gives me a sense of purpose that I would have never found without kids and what I gave up in freedom is made up in love, affection and just plain fun.
Based on my experience I am 100% convinced that people that can't find joy in the happiness of others should remain single and even more important: never, ever have kids.
Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success
#75If we consider that there are different types of intelligence, say logical/analytical, artistic, physical (dancers, crafters) etc. Then the answer to the question becomes more complex. You may know the answers to most questions, or solutions to most problems, but that doesn't mean you will act on solving those problems, that requires will, passion, commitment, etc. There are a lotta factors that play into making money, including being at the right place at the right time.
Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success
#76In my psych classes they always explained IQ as a measurement of success in western culture. That it didn't really measure intelligence, because it is way to complex to measure that easily. But IQ was shown to correlate with basic success which is why it was useful. So if that is not the case it sounds like IQ is of no value.
Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success
#77Interesting. I'm a 1%er and I have a piece of paper that says I'm pretty smart, but: > a personality trait marked by > diligence, perseverance and > self-discipline I see myself as pretty lazy, impulsive, and slap-dash, and tend to use my brain to brute-force lazy solutions to problems. I am too lazy and don't have the concentration span to pay attention much in meetings, but can generally utter something profound ne…
>I'm a 1%er
Are you self-made or did you inherit it? No offense intended either way, I just mean that anyone can be "lazy, impulsive" etc. and be a 1%er if they have a trust fund. If you're self-made, odds are that you see yourself this way but actually aren't (similar to supermodels that call themselves fat or ugly), or you got this way after you made the money and now have the freedom to act any way you choose.
Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success
#78Getting rich, at least under our current system, has a lot more to do with luck (mainly being in the right place at the right time) than it does with being smart or even working hard. The reason perseverance (which is related to working hard, but is not quite the same thing) helps is that the more willing you are to keep playing the game without winning the more likely you are to eventually win. (You can see this dyn…
Getting rich is doing instead of thinking. Smart people tend to overthink to much.
Getting rich is having instead of being. Dumb people underthink.
Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
How do you spend most of your free time?
I'd say about a 50/50 split between useless things like: hanging out with friends playing video games, riding my bike in traffic in a semi irresponsible manner, smoking weed, climbing trees; and useful things like reverse engineering/modifying things, exploring programming languages, painting/drawing, doing 3D graphics/art, working on various side projects and building things that come to mind. Some examples of side…
> hanging out with friends playing video games, riding my bike in traffic in a semi irresponsible manner, smoking weed, climbing trees; and useful things like reverse engineering/modifying things, exploring programming languages, painting/drawing, doing 3D graphics/art, working on various side projects and building things that come to mind.
Eerily similar to me, except that I have spent less than 400$ a month for the past 4 years due to where I live. I've traded most every comfort (hot water, air conditioning, possessions in general), which I could not care less about, for the ability to practically never work. I have a laptop, speakers, a table, a chair, a mattress on the floor, two fans, art supplies, sports equipment, and that's about it. I will live like this forever and my only motivation to become very rich is to help other people.
Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success
#80I'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…
Diminishing returns for your personal enjoyment, sure. But there are plenty of ways any extra money you had could be spent to make a huge impact for other people: https://80000hours.org/career-guide/high-impact-jobs/#approa...