By The Way...

Tuesday, August 14, 2007
8:14:00 AM EDT
Hearing Nothing at the moment
More proof that being smart isn't always what it's cracked up to be: a report on a study that shows that smart people don't get much -- if any -- financial boost from their brains:

... when it comes to financial distress, smarts are no help at all. People with 140 IQ scores (a score of 100 is average) missed payments and maxed-out their credit cards more often than their lower IQ counterparts. They went bankrupt at a rate, 14.1%, close to the rate of people with an IQ of 80, 15.2%. "Only among people slightly above-average does an increasing IQ score lead to a reduced chance of financial distress," says the study. "The survey provides no data to explain why this occurs...

This doesn't surprise me much, for the reason I note in the headline: Even smart people can do dumb things. This is the thing that always gets me about perceptions of smart people: that brains alone will keep them from making the same stupid mistakes others make. They don't; smart people have the same sort of irrational desires and ability to model poorly as anyone else, plus they have the delusion that they're smart enough not to get themselves in trouble. Bad mix.

My solution as a reasonably smart person who would occasionally find himself staring at a third notice on a electricity bill was simple: I married someone who was more financially responsible than I am, and hand over my money to her. Smartest thing I could have done.


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This entry has 5 comments: (Add your own)

• #5 Comment from houckorama 
  8/16/07 4:09 PM | Permalink

  I think there is a correlation between being really smart (scary smart) and being somewhat socially defective.  I wouldn't be surprised if a study found a link between high IQs and autism, showing that those with the highest IQs are really just functional autistic savants.
  
  Or maybe not...
• #4 Comment from janiece65 
  8/16/07 1:16 PM | Permalink

  "I married someone who was more financially responsible than I am, and hand over my money to her."
  
  That's funny - my husband did exactly the same thing.  If it was up to him, we'd be up to our ears in fine watches and fabulous guitars (with accessories), but have no money in savings.  
• #3 Comment from psychfun 
  8/14/07 11:45 PM | Permalink

  Dan is too funny & the other comment on "potential" is quite true & it is about potentiating it. Also it depends on specific abilities. The Weschler test will show where strengths & weaknesses are. As I tell my students you can have three people with 100 IQ & the following scenario:
  
  #1 Performance 50   Mental 50
  #2 Performance 20   Mental 80
  #3 Performance 80   Mental 20
  
  Now all three of these people have avg IQ but when you see them in everyday life you would never guess they did because they will behave & think very differently! And this difference can make the difference in paying bills etc. It also brings into the conversation the idea of "what is common sense"? I talk with my students on this also. What is common sense for someone in the inner city of Chicago is not necessarily the same thing as someone from a rural area or in China etc.
• #2 Comment from dpoem 
  8/14/07 1:58 PM | Permalink

  In these days of the ensuing energy crunch, I find it's better for the environment if I keep my IQ at a comfortable 65.  
  
  -Dan
  http://thewisdomofadistractedmind.blogspot.com/
  
• #1 Comment from hewhocodes 
  8/14/07 12:25 PM | Permalink

  High IQ isn't the same as "smart".  IQ measures the ability to do well on a certain set of narrow intellectual problems.  I've met plenty of high IQ idiots and plenty of wise people with average IQs.