Brendan Kelly Ph.D.

Brendan Kelly is Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto. He is author of over 50 books including the recent "Intelligence, IQ & Perception", and "Intelligence: Where we Were, Where we Are & Where we’re Going." He holds two doctorate degrees: a Ph.D. in Mathematics (Number Theory) from U. of T. and an Ed.D. in Computer Applications from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and he curates his site on Quora titled, “IQ & Intelligence.”

Why has Evolution not led humans to a higher Average IQ than we Currently observe?

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This question assumes that average human intelligence has not changed significantly during the most recent 200,000 years of human evolution. That may be true, but we have no way to measure directly how average human intelligence has changed during this period. Evolutionary change is glacially slow. It takes hundreds of generations for substantial changes in …

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Is there a Correlation between Reading Books and Intelligence?

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In countries where education is available to most people, we find that there is a strong correlation between intelligence and education. A large portion of those at the top of the intelligence spectrum pursue higher education, while few of those at the other end of the spectrum complete high school. Data collected by the College …

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Can a person be intelligent without any formal education? What abilities or skills might they possess that others may not?

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The short answer to this question is a resounding “yes”! There are many examples of people who have not had access to formal education, but who have made significant contributions to the world of ideas and innovation. One of the most interesting stories is that of Srinivasa Ramanujan. One morning in 1913, Godfrey Hardy, the …

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Is it possible for a person’s IQ to decrease from not using their brain as much?

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An evolutionary asset of the human brain is its adaptability. By the time you emerged from your mother’s womb, your brain contained about 100 billion neurons ready and waiting to connect with each other in response to the sensory experiences of your infancy. During your first two years on the planet, the neurons in your …

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What is the reason for society’s obsession with intelligence?

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Throughout history, human societies have been hierarchal with each individual holding a rank or status based upon variables such as wealth, physicality, intelligence or birthright. In the most primitive societies, physical contests determined who rose to tribal leadership and top status. Consequently, males were dominant and females were allotted lower status. As societies became larger …

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Can a Person Possess both high Intelligence and High Emotional intelligence? If so, how would their personality be described?

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The combination of intrapersonal and interpersonal skills, is said to constitute emotional intelligence (EQ). For those who have a high IQ, say 130 or greater, obtaining a correlation between IQ and EQ is mainly anecdotal because EQ is much more difficult than IQ to measure. Tests such as the MSCEIT, designed to measure emotional intelligence, are difficult to norm …

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How come some people are so smart and others not; is it genetic?

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Yes, research has revealed that some people do, indeed, have higher intelligence than others. This was established unequivocally by Bouchard and others during the 1990’s in their study of identical twins who were raised in different environments. Since the twins in Bouchard’s Minnesota study were raised apart, no part of the correlation in the IQ …

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Can reading too much fiction be detrimental to the brain?

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Reading, in itself, is a cognitive activity that involves the interpretation of script and its translation into concepts. So there is an inherent stimulation of the brain during the process of reading. Some recent research suggests that there is more mental activity involved in reading, than in the more passive observation of a television screen, …

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What causes some individuals to feel the need to vocalize their intelligence or skills? Do they believe others are unaware of their abilities?

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What follows is a long answer to a short question, but it may be needed to provide a perspective. To gain an insight into the underlying motivations in human behavior, it is useful to examine a predominant theory of our evolution as a species. In the early stages of our existence, we survived as hunter-gatherers …

What causes some individuals to feel the need to vocalize their intelligence or skills? Do they believe others are unaware of their abilities? Read More »

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