Re: IQ versus common sense

From: Charles D Hixson (charleshixsn@earthlink.net)
Date: Sun Aug 05 2001 - 12:56:28 MDT


On Sunday 05 August 2001 10:46 am, you wrote:
> Cryonet Message #17199 From: Ettinger
> Subject: Free will and responsibility
>
> ...
> This experience forced me to make a clear distinction between
> IQ and common sense. If the entire population suddenly acquired
> ten extra IQ points, nothing much would change. If the entire
> population suddenly was gifted with 10 extra common sense points,
> our society would be transformed overnight.
> ...
This isn't true either. (Well, the common sense part might be.)
But ten extra IQ points would make a significant difference.
People would be much more prone to argue. People would create
wilder theories to explain what was happening. Certain classes of
problems would tend to be solved quicker. As a side effect,
certain classes of problems would tend to be even more ignored than
they are now.

So things would be different. And they would change, in certain
ways, even more quickly. Whether they would be any better ...
Well, perhaps not. OTOH, I do think that there is a tendency for
those with higher IQs to average less violent (this is also true
for those with markely lower IQs, however, so perhaps its an effect
of being a social outlier).

-- 
 Charles Hixson
 
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