Many people who have scored an IQ below 120 feel they are barred from the high paying professions by the limitations prescribed by their IQ score. They fail to recognize that IQ is merely a rough estimate of one’s intelligence that does not include measures of creativity, inventiveness, passion or tenacity–all qualities that play a prominent role in achieving success. Even for those of high IQ, financial success is often more prominent in those who have IQ’s below the stratospheric level. Larry Summers, former President of Harvard, once quipped, “At Harvard the A students become professors and the C students become wealthy donors.”
An IQ test is a brief snapshot of a person’s performance on one or more tests lasting an hour or less, and many factors, like speed of response affect the final score. Someone who takes time to carefully check their answers will likely complete fewer items and will have a lower recorded score. The graphs showing the predictions for job income and level of occupation corresponding to IQ are precise when reporting averages over a large demographic, but are quite variable at the individual level. Some outstanding physicians may have an average or slightly higher than average IQ, while many gifted individuals are living at a bare subsistence level. Famous physicist, Richard Feynman was reputed to have had an IQ of 125, yet he is regarded by many as one of the most intelligent physicists of the 20th century.
Imagine taking a foot race at age 14 and receiving a rating for athleticism. You might be in the midst of pubescent change, gangly, awkward and less capable than most others your age. You might be rated below average in athleticism. Yet, 3 years later when you reach young adulthood, you acquire your coordination, adult muscle, and hone these with practice. Your rating for athletic potential might now be significantly higher than the average person in your age cohort. Your athletic rating has increased dramatically relative to others. Yet, when hundreds of thousands of 14-year-olds are tested again at age 17, it is found that the estimates of their athleticism are relatively stable, i.e., the ratings for most people don’t change very much. Consequently the measures of physicality may be a good first approximation of an individual’s athleticism, but can change dramatically based on individual growth and effort.
In recent decades, research has revealed that a major part of human IQ is genetic. Yet recent studies in epigenetics suggest that certain genes may be “turned on” or “turned off” by environmental influences. This branch of neurology is still in its infancy, but we have many examples of people who were written off as incapable, but who surprised everyone by attaining the highest levels of success. In his book, Entrepreneurial Genius: The Power of Passion (Entrepreneurial Genius – Intelligence and IQ) psychologist Gene Landrum profiles some of the highly successful entrepreneurs, revealing the qualities that contributed to their success. Among these was business tycoon Richard Branson who founded Virgin Airlines and the Virgin Group. He had learning disabilities and dropped out of school at the end of grade 10, yet through unrelenting effort and risk-taking, was able to out-achieve people who could surpass him in an IQ test.
The “take-away” message is that IQ is the best measure of intelligence we have and it is strongly correlated to levels of occupation and choice of college major. However, we know that some individuals who take IQ tests at different periods of their lives can vary by as much as 20 IQ points on successive tests. So we must recognize that IQ is a rough estimate of an individual’s intelligence and an even less reliable predictor of an individual’s income level or level of success.
