High IQ matters more than anyhing else:
- When Lightning Strikes Twice: Profoundly
Gifted, Profoundly Accomplished: "In a sample of 259 extremely high IQ adolescents (0.01%), 37% had doctorates, 9% had patents, 39% had peer-reviewed publications, along with various other accomplishments." (https://my.vanderbilt.edu/smpy/files/2013/02/Article-PS-Makel-et-al-2016-II.pdf)
- Study tracks 1,650 mathematically gifted children over 4 decades: 4.1% earned tenure at major universities; 2.3% were top executives at major companies; 2.4% top attorneys; authored 85 books; 7572 articles; 681 patents; secured $358m in grants. (https://gwern.net/docs/iq/smpy/2014-lubinski.pdf)
- Higher IQ gives hugely increasing benefits, all the way up the scale. https://cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-my/wp-content/uploads/sites/826/2013/02/05123527/Article-GCQ-Lubinski-Benbow-2020.pdf
- "In the extreme right tail of the talent distribution, small differences in talent are associated with sizeable differences in long-term achievements, including getting a PhD, number of mathematics publications and cites, and being awarded a Fields medal." (https://voxeu.org/article/invisible-geniuses-advancement-knowledge-frontier)
- Individuals who scored in the top 1% of the Math SAT at age 13 were followed up 25+ years later. Performance on the Math SAT had predictive validity even within the top 1% of scores (https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Beyond-the-Threshold-Hypothesis-Robertson-Smeets/1105167599ed8a1fe800f1039a858073fe7e7edb?p2df)
- Cognitive ability of top 5% more important for country wealth than mean cognitive ability. (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51093079_Cognitive_Capitalism_The_Effect_of_Cognitive_Ability_on_Wealth_as_Mediated_Through_Scientific_Achievement_and_Economic_Freedom)
- High IQ provides a significant advantage in science. (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51093079_Cognitive_Capitalism_The_Effect_of_Cognitive_Ability_on_Wealth_as_Mediated_Through_Scientific_Achievement_and_Economic_Freedom)
- Higher IQ at age 11 predicts lower mortality 68 years later from all major causes of death (N = 65,765). (https://www.bmj.com/content/357/bmj.j2708)
More here: https://twitter.com/XiXiDu/status/1173233053650608128
-- Alexander Kruel