THREAD: 12 Things Everyone Should Know About IQ

1. IQ is one of the most heritable psychological traits – that is, individual differences in IQ are strongly associated with individual differences in genes (at least in fairly typical modern environments). https://t.co/3XxzW9bxLE

2. The heritability of IQ *increases* from childhood to adulthood. Meanwhile, the effect of the shared environment largely fades away. In other words, when it comes to IQ, nature becomes more important as we get older, nurture less. https://t.co/UqtS1lpw3n
3. IQ scores have been increasing for the last century or so, a phenomenon known as the Flynn effect. https://t.co/sCZvCst3hw (N ≈ 4 million)

(Note that the Flynn effect shows that IQ isn't 100% genetic; it doesn't show that it's 100% environmental.)
4. IQ predicts many important real world outcomes.

For example, though far from perfect, IQ is the single-best predictor of job performance we have – much better than Emotional Intelligence, the Big Five, Grit, etc. https://t.co/rKUgKDAAVx https://t.co/DWbVI8QSU3
5. Higher IQ is associated with a lower risk of death from most causes, including cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, most forms of cancer, homicide, suicide, and accident. https://t.co/PJjGNyeQRA (N = 728,160)
6. Higher IQ is associated with lower rates of most forms of mental illness. https://t.co/0jX1og7xHV (N = 1,049,663)
7. More generally, IQ tests are among the most reliable, predictive measures in psychology – one of the field's crowning achievements. https://t.co/a9z9GPQYuD

If IQ isn't a valid concept, no concept in psychology is valid.
8. Despite this, many people are allergic to the concept of IQ. Ironically, this includes many intellectuals. https://t.co/ThPkVT8apc
9. Perhaps as a result, there's some evidence that researchers are less likely to publish studies showing a link between IQ and grades – the reverse of the usual publication bias for positive findings. https://t.co/gTiKmmarTB; although see https://t.co/sYEgBnaJkO
10. The antipathy to IQ is unfortunate. IQ predicts all things good. Interventions to boost IQ (such as salt iodization) could greatly enhance human well-being. https://t.co/LHVqClN2kE

Conversely, IQ-denial could cause real harm by stalling the development of such interventions.
11. IQ testing has other potential benefits as well. One of my favourite studies of the last few years found that universal IQ screening boosts the number of poor, female, and minority students in gifted education. https://t.co/5at8wNjKe8

Figure: https://t.co/fogF8GyO8Z
12. Last but not least, here's a list of ten common myths about IQ. https://t.co/DOTDWhMoyS HT @StuartJRitchie

More from Life

“We don’t negotiate salaries” is a negotiation tactic.

Always. No, your company is not an exception.

A tactic I don’t appreciate at all because of how unfairly it penalizes low-leverage, junior employees, and those loyal enough not to question it, but that’s negotiation for you after all. Weaponized information asymmetry.

Listen to Aditya


And by the way, you should never be worried that an offer would be withdrawn if you politely negotiate.

I have seen this happen *extremely* rarely, mostly to women, and anyway is a giant red flag. It suggests you probably didn’t want to work there.

You wish there was no negotiating so it would all be more fair? I feel you, but it’s not happening.

Instead, negotiate hard, use your privilege, and then go and share numbers with your underrepresented and underpaid colleagues. […]

You May Also Like

I think a plausible explanation is that whatever Corbyn says or does, his critics will denounce - no matter how much hypocrisy it necessitates.


Corbyn opposes the exploitation of foreign sweatshop-workers - Labour MPs complain he's like Nigel

He speaks up in defence of migrants - Labour MPs whinge that he's not listening to the public's very real concerns about immigration:

He's wrong to prioritise Labour Party members over the public:

He's wrong to prioritise the public over Labour Party