Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Much Sorry with Delays
Birth, Death and All That Stuff in Between
How to Honor Labor Day, Every Day
My Yom Kippur Miracle (Repost from 2010)
Good intro to fly casting
Peach update, with pie
NYC update
Easy for you to say: To the elites on mass immigration
For NYC on 9/11, Sailors' Snug Harbor
Pickled Peaches
Water Shoes
Labor Costs in U.S.
Your "identity"
Good news about The Great Courses
Uses of Hot Pepper Jelly/Sauce, Chutneys, and Jams
A Saturday Drive to Litchfield County, CT
How to Pick a Kayak
Civilized: Fruit forks and knives
Loads of kayaking on Cape Cod
Psychology Experiments' Questionable Results

Categories


All categories

Quicksearch

Links

Blog Administration

Open login screen

RSS Readers

Add to Google

Subscribe with Bloglines

Saturday, May 19. 2018

The IQ problem in modern societies


IQ was less important in pre-post industrial societies. In personal experience, many people with below-average IQ have excellent common sense, work ethic, wit, and practical knowledge in abundance. Often, less interest in abstractions.


I'll admit that IQ below 80 is a handicap, but I see far more life difficulties produced by character flaws, maladaptive traits, and annoying or unsettling eccentricities than by IQ shortages. 




Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss in Psychology, and Dr. Bliss at 14:25 | Comments (15) | Trackbacks (0)

Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments
Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

If you identify as American instead of black, then good character is taken as the relevant marker, and you're just part of the normal spread.
#1 rhhardin (Link) on 2018-05-19 14:25 (Reply)
One of the most terrifying statistics ever come across was one detailing that half of all people have below average intelligence.
#2 Zachriel on 2018-05-19 14:30 (Reply)
We have three interlocking issues.

As AVI ablely explais, we're rapidy reaxhing the point where more than half our jobs will require above average IQ. We're eliminating them via robotics.

We are not accepting that genetics has a significant impact on IQ. so we continue to treat unemployability in a job of choice as a discrimination issue.

We have twits like yoiu who not only treat the situation as a joke.
#2.1 Christopher B on 2018-05-20 03:26 (Reply)
Christopher B: As AVI ablely explais, we're rapidy reaxhing the point where more than half our jobs will require above average IQ. We're eliminating them via robotics.

The obsolescence of humans has been predicted since the dawn of the industrial age. That doesn't mean the doomsayers will never be right, but you would have to explain why they were wrong before, but correct this time.

Meanwhile, after a nine year economic expansion in the U.S., nearly everyone who wants a job has a job. Human workers are still in very high economic demand, even in the most technologically advanced nation in the global economy.
#2.1.1 Zachriel on 2018-05-20 09:22 (Reply)
^ Peak robotics is probably when the Clattering Site Robot(s) demands of sentients why the pre-robotics age didn't produce robots while thinking itself(s) sentient.
#2.1.1.1 Meh on 2018-05-20 16:12 (Reply)
the most terrifying thing about this video is how Petersen keeps appearing from left then right then left
#3 Alex on 2018-05-19 15:50 (Reply)
It's worse than this. The military may accept some down to the level of 83, but 90 is a closer approximation to their lower limit. One of my Romanian sons just squeaked in to the USMC as a driver. Peterson is right that the military mirrors the larger society somewhat in terms of complexity of jobs. There are still jobs that can be performed successfully by people with IQ's below 90 in the larger society, but they are slowly leaking out.

There is a lower threshold IQ for all jobs. It is true that above that threshold, other abilities become more important. Discretion, determination, endurance, charm, physical coordination, even-temper and a dozen other things can each be more important in any job. They are not trivial abilities. But Peterson is also correct that 6 years is not better than 6 months for teaching most things.

It is depressing. America has succeeded by expecting everyone to do their bit, rewarding those who do better, and not rewarding those who don't. We are coming to a world where an increasing number of citizens will not be able to provide something productive for the society, no matter how much we yell at them or how hard they try. It is a great weakness that both liberals and conservatives pretend this is not so. The day is near when 30% of the country will be fighting over 10% of the jobs, because they can do no other.
#4 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2018-05-19 18:30 (Reply)
Assistant Village Idiot: The military may accept some down to the level of 83, but 90 is a closer approximation to their lower limit.

Today's IQ of 90 is yesterday's IQ of 100.

Assistant Village Idiot: America has succeeded by expecting everyone to do their bit, rewarding those who do better, and not rewarding those who don't.

It will continue to do so. In the most primitive settled societies, farmers produced most everything they needed on the farm. In industrial economies, farmers moved into urban factories, the highly intelligent and lowly intelligent working side-by-side, replaceable cogs in the machine. That was America yesterday, and is China today. In the new economy, people will be matched as individuals into jobs, with skill-sets and work closely matched in order to maximize individual production and satisfaction.
#4.1 Zachriel on 2018-05-20 09:31 (Reply)
To the degree that it is reasonable, I support a diverse economic base for this very reason, and not just for the 1 in 10 with an IQ below 83. I am leery of technological feudalism.
#5 Exasperated on 2018-05-20 07:04 (Reply)
Hum, on army bases do they still paint the pretty row of rocks beside the walkways to the barracks white?

I'd think a GI with an IQ of 70 or so could easily handle that job.

Seriously though, I suspect there will always be work, in the military and in the outside world that can be done be people with low IQs but that have good work ethics instilled, perhaps even better than by ones with above average IQs.

Just picking up the trash alongside our highways as an example. Not a lot of glory in trash picking but it's honest work and it would make the world a better place.
#6 Jim in Alaska (Link) on 2018-05-20 13:54 (Reply)
> Hum, on army bases do they still paint the pretty row of rocks beside the walkways to the barracks white?

Many of the tasks that were (in my day) performed by soldiers are now performed by contractors, or punishment details.

Mowing lawns, cleanup, even in some cases gate guards and perimeter security.
#6.1 William O. B'Livion on 2018-05-20 22:36 (Reply)
High IQs are nice, but there's far more evil done in the world by the smart guys than the numbnuts.

We could have built a world that accommodated everyone. That could have been part of the specifications used to invent modernity. It is in some places.

Instead we made over half the population superfluous. Nice. Everybody who thinks they're smart should keep in mind that there are a lot of guys smarter than you, and given the current economic model, you'll be superfluous too soon enough.
#7 jack on 2018-05-20 22:24 (Reply)
All of these commenters have been very kind to the less gifted in our society. Perhaps they have not (likely) been exposed to the less gifted. I have. Most of them have been quite lovely to be around. But they are very limited in their capabilities, their understanding of the world around them, and their limted ability to to provide value to the world around them. Do they have value as human beings? Of course they do. Mostly, they are wards of the state.
#8 Jeffersonian on 2018-05-20 22:45 (Reply)
And your point is?
#8.1 jack on 2018-05-21 16:17 (Reply)
Hi Birddog.

Last week, the Munk Debates in Toronto featured the remarkable Jordan Peterson on a debating team with the eloquent Stephen Fry who took the opposing side of the statement that " Political Correctness is Progressive". The pro side of the debate featured Michael Eric Dyson (Georgetown Prof) and Michelle Goldberg (NYT writer). A treat to watch - heated moments and some witty banter - go to www.munkdebates.com. Bring popcorn...
#9 Nicole Brown on 2018-05-21 22:32 (Reply)

Add Comment
(Your e-mail will not show in your comment)

By commenting on this site you agree to the site rules listed here. Email
addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for email notifications.

Quick reference guide: [i] italics [/i], [b] bold [/b], [u] underline [/u],
[url] (web address) [/url]. More tips here.

Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (*word*), underscore are made via _word_.
E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications.

To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.
CAPTCHA

BBCode format allowed
 
 
A Chris Southern Consulting website.