Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

It Turns Out That The Smartest People Do Run The US
Business Insider ^ | 05/01/2014 | JONATHAN WAI

Posted on 05/01/2014 7:17:25 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Does IQ correlate with power? How many powerful people in the U.S. are actually geniuses, and how much does intelligence really affect success?

In one of my research papers published last year, Investigating America's Elite, I set out to address these questions. I collected data on some key groups that greatly influence society: Fortune 500 CEOs, billionaires, federal judges, Senators, and House members.

Individuals were deemed to be in the top 1% of ability if they attended an undergraduate or graduate school that had extremely high average standardized test scores that put the typical person well within the top 1%. Researchers have determined that standardized tests, such as the SAT and ACT, give a reasonably good — yet of course imperfect — measure of a person's general reasoning capacity. For more detail on the method used, including its limitations, please read the full paper, published in the journal Intelligence.

Roughly 40% or more of billionaires, judges, CEOs, and Senators, and 20% of the House were in the top 1% of cognitive ability. Therefore, a large fraction of the U.S. elite are indeed smart and highly educated. This does not mean they are geniuses (I would reserve that term for someone who does mind-bending work like Albert Einstein); but they are really smart.

Moreover, it turns out that even within the highly select groups of Fortune 500 CEOs and billionaires, higher cognitive ability and education was associated with higher compensation and net worth, respectively, supporting the idea that brainpower has a payoff when it comes to certain forms of leadership and performance.

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Society
KEYWORDS: bullytactics; business; businessinsider; ceo; cognitiveability; cultureofcorruption; government; iq; ivorytower; lifeslottery; monopolies; peterprinciple; toobigtofail
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-36 next last

1 posted on 05/01/2014 7:17:25 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

2 posted on 05/01/2014 7:17:42 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (If at first you don't succeed, put it out for beta test.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

And the most corrupt.

Right off hand, how many people that you graduated from, can you name that’s been convicted of something?

Now, think of how many in government that you can think of that’s convicted of something or should have.


3 posted on 05/01/2014 7:20:05 AM PDT by MNDude
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Puff piece to legitimize the oligarchy?

“Us Big Guyz is Smarter Than Youz Little Guyz, So Knuckle Under”


4 posted on 05/01/2014 7:21:52 AM PDT by Regulator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Hmm.. So if I scored a 27 on the ACT in 7th grade, 2250 (if I recall correctly) on the SAT, and hit 99th percentile on the ASVAB, does that mean I can get a free Senate seat? Or are there any companies looking for a new (multi-million $$) CEO?


5 posted on 05/01/2014 7:21:59 AM PDT by Svartalfiar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Weird that the White House didn’t even make the graph.


6 posted on 05/01/2014 7:22:42 AM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (Obama's smidgens are coming home to roost.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Svartalfiar

People tend to confuse intelligence with wisdom.

We might have a lot of intelligent people at the top of our corporations or government, but not all of them are wise. In fact, I’d say many are FOOLISH.


7 posted on 05/01/2014 7:25:41 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (If at first you don't succeed, put it out for beta test.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

IQ does not automatically compute to competence in running the government or common sense. You could literally put every genius in the US into COngress and they would still have a political bent that could defy all odds of success. Being a genius does not mean that one knows all or can handle the task at hand. Besides, they are usually genius at one particular thing, not necessarily across the board.

Take evolution and global warming for instance. They are said to be geniuses, many of them, but refuse to look outside their political bent to see any facts that don’t give with their own. I’m not real impressed with the geniuses running our government. For all their supposed IQ power, they are running this country into the ground, and yet they can’t understand why it isn’t working? Some geniuses just aren’t all that impressive!


8 posted on 05/01/2014 7:26:26 AM PDT by Shery (in APO Land)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Smart does not make one competent. In fact, it may actually contribute to stupidity.


9 posted on 05/01/2014 7:26:37 AM PDT by mulligan (I)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Not buying it.

The proof is in what they say and do...and the saying and doing proves that the vast majority of these folks would have to work to qualify as cretins.

Junk science at its best.


10 posted on 05/01/2014 7:28:56 AM PDT by Da Coyote
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

11 posted on 05/01/2014 7:29:39 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (The new witchhunt: "Do you NOW, . . . or have you EVER , . . supported traditional marriage?")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

12 posted on 05/01/2014 7:33:55 AM PDT by outofsalt (If history teaches us anything it's that history rarely teaches us anything.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Shery

I myself have a very high IQ, but I take more pride in my common sense and the fact I can combine the two for Optimal solutions.

I have met people with supposedly higer IQs than myself and they coudln’t pour piss out of a cowboy boot if the instructions were printed on the heel.

Hell, one couldn’t even hook up a VCR, and she was supposed a psychologist, I wouldn’t trust this idiot with poking around in someone’s mind if they cannot hook up color coded VCR cables....


13 posted on 05/01/2014 7:36:51 AM PDT by GraceG
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: outofsalt

Obviously Sh!t, becasue I cannot tell Sh!t from Shinola....

(/s)


14 posted on 05/01/2014 7:37:42 AM PDT by GraceG
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Term limits: don’t let smart people stay long enough to be corrupted. There are plenty of other high IQ’s to take their place.


15 posted on 05/01/2014 7:39:15 AM PDT by SC_Pete
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Svartalfiar

You sound like a democrat. No, it means if you work your tail off, then maybe you can someday have that senate seat. Nothing is handed to you (unless you’re a Kennedy).

I don’t know why this is controversial or anyone is discrediting it. Smart people rise to high positions. Why should anyone be surprised by this?


16 posted on 05/01/2014 7:40:19 AM PDT by bigdaddy45
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: MNDude

“And the most corrupt. “

I am begining to think that common core is a “survival test” for the scary intelligent sociopaths, so they can stay cemented in power by weeding out all the decent smart folks and all the middle and below and demote them all to peasant level.

So pretty much, common core = intelligent sociopath selection process.


17 posted on 05/01/2014 7:41:17 AM PDT by GraceG
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Shery

What did Buckley say - I would rather be governed by the first 100 people in the phone book than by the faculty of Harvard - or words to that effect.


18 posted on 05/01/2014 7:43:10 AM PDT by 7thson (I've got a seat at the big conference table! I'm gonna paint my logo on it!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: SC_Pete

I prefer to be ruled by people who are smart enough not to be duped, but not so intelligent that they think they can run other people’s lives.


19 posted on 05/01/2014 7:44:19 AM PDT by GraceG
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: bigdaddy45

Yeah...and the REALLY smart ones know how to corrupt things to their advantage


20 posted on 05/01/2014 7:46:17 AM PDT by goodnesswins (R.I.P. Doherty, Smith, Stevens, Woods.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-36 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson