Intelligence is overrated

 ‘I wish I were as intelligent as him/her.’

‘It’s easy for him because he/she is so intelligent.’

You must have thought this at least at some point in your life, whenever you score average or low marks or fail at something.

If you think that you are not intelligent enough and that’s the thing which is holding you back from achieving great heights, then this post is for you.

According to me, intelligence is quite overrated. I’m not saying it doesn’t matter to achieve success. Of course, it matters, but not as much as people make it sound.

To succeed in life, there are more things than just intelligence.

Let’s categorize those.

In the first category, there are things which are beyond our control.

Like privilege, luck, talent.

The second category includes things which are in our hand.

Like hard work, discipline, persistence, will power, making the right decisions.

Let’s take the worst case in which you are born poor, have average intelligence and you don’t have any special talents. You may think that nothing can save you now from being unsuccessful and leading a miserable life.

But wait, the game is not over yet!

The first thing to do is, instead of ranting about your average intelligence or poor background, accept that these things are beyond your control. There’s nothing you can do about it. So just make peace with it and think about what you can do to make your life awesome.

Think about the things you are good at. If you find those things, then get better at it enough to turn it into your profession.

It’s highly unlikely that you can’t think of things you’re good at. We all have something in us which we are good at.

But let’s say that you can’t think of even one that thing. In this case, educate yourself. I’m not just talking about conventional education. I’m saying that educate yourself about the world around you. Read books, watch stuff that you find interesting. Doing this will broaden your horizon of thinking and you’ll find more options to explore.

When you feel like you are not intelligent enough to succeed, you can approach it in two ways.

1) You would think “I don’t have what it takes. Success is reserved for those only who are intelligent. I should never think of becoming successful."

2) You would think “It’s easier to become successful when you are intelligent. So what if I’m not that smart? Life has thrown a lemon at me so I would make lemonade. Acquiring intelligence is not in my hand but being disciplined and working hard is sure as hell in my hand. I will work so hard that people will use me as an example to work hard even if the odds are not in your favor.”

 

Here is a bell curve showing the percentage of the population and their IQ scores. You can see that more than 68% of the population has an average IQ (85-115). This is definitely not a small fraction.

Does this mean that no one from that 68% population will be successful?

A big NO!

But before you falsely interpret this, there is one more thing you should know.

Although it’s good to not get discouraged by your average intelligence, you should also keep in mind that in some professions, superior intelligence is not just an advantage but a necessity.

For example, if someone having an IQ of 90 thinks that ‘I want to become a great scientist.’ It’s highly improbable that he/she would make it. Science, Engineering, Programming, Law, Maths, etc. are the areas that are difficult to study for someone having average intelligence. (You can Google ‘Average IQ by profession’ to understand what I’m saying.)

So before you think of choosing your profession, you should check whether you have the required aptitude for it. By this, you can avoid many troubles beforehand.

 

Downsides of high intelligence

You must be wondering, ‘Is there even a downside of being highly intelligent?’

I would say yes.

• You can also see some smart people around you who are not successful or have wasted their potential. According to me, there could be two reasons behind it. 

1. From childhood, smart kids are able to grasp things easily without putting much effort. So they are not used to work hard from an early age simply because they seldom need it. But success requires hard work too. For those smart folks who have not worked hard very much, it becomes harder for them to develop discipline. (Note that I’m not saying all the smart people are like this. There are also people who work hard and are intelligent too.)
2. Smart people tend to overthink and analyze a lot. While people with average intelligence don’t think that much and just do it. As a result, they get the reward for the risk taken. 

• It is a known fact that it’s easier to hold conversations with someone who has the same intelligence level as yours. By analyzing the bell curve above, you can see that only about 15% of the total population has an IQ > 115 but more than 68% of the total population falls in the 85-115 bracket. This means that it becomes harder for you to meet people you can have interesting conversations with if you are intelligent.

Of course, superior intelligence can be beneficial but too much superior intelligence? I don’t think so.

• It’s harder for intelligent people to be happy (Or as they say, ignorance is bliss). Because they can see and understand things that are not generally known by other people. It's lonely at the top. Intelligent people are more likely to feel melancholy.

In the end, I want to say that it’s good if you’re intelligent but if you are average in terms of smartness then life doesn’t stop there. You can always do something and become successful.

I like this quote from Stephen Hawking.