Why doesn't IQ rating correspond with everyday smarts? (I.E. Common Sense?)

[MichaelD]

IQ...Common Sense...the two don't seem to be related at all.

This has been a source of great contemplation for me lately.

For example, my coworker. 10 years my junior, he knows pages worth of UNIX and other programming languages by rote. He can read a chapter of some programming book and know it.

But yet he can't plainly see Spyware on his desktop. He hasn't the faintest idea how his car works...and doesn't care...couldn't change the oil if his life depended on it. And frankly, he's a dangerous driver; completely oblivious to the world (and traffic!) around him...he's almost as bad as a female driver.

Yet he's perceived as "really smart." I don't necessarily DISagree...but there seems to be so much "missing."

Discuss.

 

[TwiceOver]

I have run into quite a few people that are "Books Smart" but can barely take care of themselves.

 

[Schadenfreude]

They just don't have a exposure to social events . . . and no one likes them. I know of plenty of people like this. They're a pain in the ass to work with.

 

[Deeko]

I don't know anything about my car, and I don't want to. Why should I? I am intellgent, a good programmer I like to think(for my age anyway), I have plenty of 'street smarts', but I don't know anything about machinery, and I don't want to. Why would I when morons who couldn't get into college will do it for me?

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: Deeko
I don't know anything about my car, and I don't want to. Why should I? I am intellgent, a good programmer I like to think(for my age anyway), I have plenty of 'street smarts', but I don't know anything about machinery, and I don't want to. Why would I when morons who couldn't get into college will do it for me?

Hmm. I work w/several guys that have a DOCTORATE and do all their own automotive maintenance and tinkering. Explain that. (I am not a PhD...else I would be able to pay someone to post on AT for me....but still, that's a hell of a generalization!)

I am shy of a 4-year degree but have about 75 credits and do my own tinkering...does that mean I'm ignorant or a caveman?

Besides...aren't you the drunk college kid that gets dumped by every girl he takes out when she finds out you're a dorm rat and can't hold your liquor?

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: Deeko
I don't know anything about my car, and I don't want to. Why should I? I am intellgent, a good programmer I like to think(for my age anyway), I have plenty of 'street smarts', but I don't know anything about machinery, and I don't want to. Why would I when morons who couldn't get into college will do it for me?

Wow. What a hideously shallow perspective you have on people.

 

[Deeko]

Good for them, I didn't say if you know anything about cars you're stupid. Apparently you missed those reading comprehension classes, eh? I said I know about plenty of other things, I have no desire to learn about that kind of thing, and I see nothing wrong with that.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: Feldenak

Originally posted by: Deeko
I don't know anything about my car, and I don't want to. Why should I? I am intellgent, a good programmer I like to think(for my age anyway), I have plenty of 'street smarts', but I don't know anything about machinery, and I don't want to. Why would I when morons who couldn't get into college will do it for me?

Wow. What a hideously shallow perspective you have on people.

MichaelD insults, I insult back. So is the world.

 

[Rainsford]

I think of "smart" as being more about intelligent about many things, not one special area. The Unix geek who can program with his eyes closed but can't cross the street is just as "stupid" as the jock at the bar who can talk the girls up but couldn't figure out the 4th side of a square given the other 3.

There's all sorts of different kinds of dumb, IQ only measures one unfortunitly.

 

[Heisenberg]

Originally posted by: Rainsford
I think of "smart" as being more about intelligent about many things, not one special area. The Unix geek who can program with his eyes closed but can't cross the street is just as "stupid" as the jock at the bar who can talk the girls up but couldn't figure out the 4th side of a square given the other 3.

There's all sorts of different kinds of dumb, IQ only measures one unfortunitly.

Hmm...never thought of it that way. You make an interesting point.

 

[ActuaryTm]

Originally posted by: Deeko
Why would I when morons who couldn't get into college will do it for me?

Have to agree with MichaelD on the generalization implied above, even though I have little knowledge or skill with anything mechanical. If forced, I could perform basic maintenance (sold my car a few years ago, so it isn't something I necessarily have to deal with often any longer), but typically choose not to as my time is better utilized elsewhere. I certainly have an interest in mechanical areas, but that interest is not backed by one of my natural talents.

We all have our gifts, and those areas where we are certainly not so gifted. Do not believe one should offer criticism of those who are talented in other arenas.

 

[DrPizza]

Let me see if I understand you correctly. Your coworker has a high IQ, but no common sense. However you seem to be implying that you have common sense, but not a high IQ.

However, had you any common sense, you'd have realized what you were implying and would have chosen your words more wisely.

 

[Colt45]

Originally posted by: Deeko Why would I when morons who couldn't get into college will do it for me?

this is why some mechanics love to rape the shite out of you.


i think if a person is unable to do at least basic maintenance they should be barred from driving. Its not safe.

 

[onza]

i hate the world.

 

[Deeko]

I can change my oil and other fluids. I can change a tire. What, beyond that, should I be "required" to know? How is it unsafe for me to not?

 

[EyeMWing]

I've coded an entire production-level software package.
I've tuned 3 cars, one of them extensively modified.
I've got more than 400 computers to my credit, built, set up and configured.
I've been told that I've got a ton of common sense.
I've had... a few girlfriends. All of them abused me to the point of insanity and left me.

I suck at the wimminz and r0xx0r at everything else. Everyone has their shortcoming. Some of us just feel it a lot more than others, whether it's because we end up getting hit by a bus, or feel like we've been hit by a bus.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

It's an interesting quandary, and I've been thinking a lot recently about what exactly it is to be "smart" or "intelligent" or "adept," etc.

Intelligence is defined as the ability to know and/or understand. Therefore, you could be intelligent about cars (or anything else), since you know about and understand them, while still being an all-around idiot. I would almost say that IQ means "academic aptitude," but then, what about a guy like me, who is acknowledged as being "intelligent" in the IQ sense, but not a very good student?

As far as I can tell, the whole issue is a can of worms.

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/IQ

 

[Gurck]

Some purport the theory of different aspects of intelligence... For a while I agreed with that camp, but something didn't sit right with me - why is the stereotype of people with high IQs that they're socially awkward? Wouldn't it stand to reason that someone with a high IQ would also be above average in other aspects of intelligence, ie. social intelligence? Further, the average millionaire has an IQ of about 120 - why not higher? I started thinking that maybe those in the best positions socially and financially are a cut -- and no more -- above the rest. This gives them an edge, but they're not so far removed that they can't relate to Joe Average. I'm definitely considered socially awkward, for example - but in a society where the average IQ was 20-40 points higher, I wouldn't be. Succeeding socially and financially depends on relating to the average person.

Einstein was notoriously absentminded. When he went grocery shopping a clerk had to follow him around and tally up his purchases for later billing, since he'd simply walk out of the store with his food.

 

[acemcmac]

Originally posted by: Gurck
Some purport the theory of different aspects of intelligence... For a while I agreed with that camp, but something didn't sit right with me - why is the stereotype of people with high IQs that they're socially awkward? Wouldn't it stand to reason that someone with a high IQ would also be above average in other aspects of intelligence, ie. social intelligence? Further, the average millionaire has an IQ of about 120 - why not higher? I started thinking that maybe those in the best positions socially and financially are a cut -- and no more -- above the rest. This gives them an edge, but they're not so far removed that they can't relate to Joe Average. I'm definitely considered socially awkward, for example - but in a society where the average IQ was 20-40 points higher, I wouldn't be. Succeeding socially and financially depends on relating to the average person.

Einstein was notoriously absentminded. When he went grocery shopping a clerk had to follow him around and tally up his purchases for later billing, since he'd simply walk out of the store with his food.

I like the way you think. I like your sig too. I see these issues as one in the same. My problem is with people who are incapiable of free thinking and independant rationalization. I know too many of these people and they scare me.

 

[SagaLore]

Because "real life" is not in those books. He probably isolated himself from typical social contact throughout his childhood so he never developed that common sense.

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: Feldenak

Originally posted by: Deeko
I don't know anything about my car, and I don't want to. Why should I? I am intellgent, a good programmer I like to think(for my age anyway), I have plenty of 'street smarts', but I don't know anything about machinery, and I don't want to. Why would I when morons who couldn't get into college will do it for me?

Wow. What a hideously shallow perspective you have on people.

I wonder what his political affiliation is.

 

[randomlinh]

its funny you post this, I've always found this to be the case. I know plenty of book smart people. I've lived w/ some. And it boggles me at some of the common sense stuff they do not understand. Take microwaving styrofoam for instance.... or aluminum foil...

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: lnguyen
its funny you post this, I've always found this to be the case. I know plenty of book smart people. I've lived w/ some. And it boggles me at some of the common sense stuff they do not understand. Take microwaving styrofoam for instance.... or aluminum foil...

...

Are you not supposed to microwave styrofoam?

 

[Mo0o]

There is no complete definition of intelligence , so as a result there isn't a test that fuly measures it IQ itself is very ambiguous as a test. It has poor validity as to exactly WHAT it is measuring. However, studies have shown that IQ scores do have correlation between success in life, better performance ratings at jobs and overall better quality of life. IQ doesn't only measure concrete intelligence, it also measures fluid intelligence and problem solving abilities that doesn't require knowledge of esoteric subjects before hand.

 

[mugs]

a. Changing your [edit: OWN] oil is not "common sense."
b. The idea that intelligent people lack "common sense" or "everyday smarts" is perpetrated by people of lower intelligence to help themselves feel superior.