In this video I will help you to understand
the connection between IQ and becoming a genius.
If you want to know who has a chance to become
a genius, come with me!
Let me tell you an example based on real life
story from the first half of the 20th century
in the United States.
There were two very good friends.
Let’s call them William White and Luis Walter
Alvarez.
They spent their free time together and learnt
a lot.
Maybe many would call them go-getters, they
really loved learning.
One day their teacher recommended them to
take part in a new experiment.
A man called Lewis Terman started a research
based on the assumption that genius is related
to high IQ scores and their teacher found
both of them very talented.
They were very excited when they got the tests.
When the clock started ticking, they felt
that this day will be important in their lives.
After getting the result, William felt like
in heaven, but Luis Alvarez was really disappointed.
He did not reach the minimum level by Mr.
Terman.
The researcher chose only children with IQs
over 140 then tracked them for several years.
After this event their friendship was not
the same anymore.
A few years later William was a biology researcher,
but after 10 years of research he didn’t
get the breakthrough what he aimed for.
And Luis Alvarez became experimental physicist,
inventor.
One day in 1968 William read excited the newspaper
searching for the Nobel prize winners.
He was shocked when he saw his old friend
shaking hands at the Nobel Prize ceremony.
The earlier myth of IQ proved to be wrong.
Luis Walter Alvarez, William Shockley, Richard
Feynman.
They are great example becoming a genius without
having an exceptional high IQ.
And what about our fictional character, William
White?
These children, called the “Termites”
performed well in academic fields, but produced
little in the way of true genius.
The conclusion is that intelligence and creativity
are only slightly related.
And higher education not necessarily leads
to be a Genius.
21 years later it was not a huge surprise
when László Polgár wrote his genius theory
and claimed that it is a huge mistake to make
a conclusion about the genius of your child
based on IQ.
But does this mean that you have to completely
forget about general intelligence?
Not necessarily.
As Malcolm Gladwell summarizes the research
of Arthur Jensen in the book Outliers, you
need approximately 115 IQ to get into university.
And in general higher IQ leads to higher education
with several other positive side effects like
higher longevity, better health condition,
and higher average salary.
Research suggests that there is a minimum
level of IQ (120 IQ) to be a genius in specific
areas.
But reaching this threshold is not warranting
to become a genius.
“IQ differences in this upper part of the
scale have far less personal implications
for success.
More important is personality and character”.
However, according to the genetic professor
Dr. Czeizel Endre, the low level of general
intelligence is a barrier, so that specific
skills can’t manifest themselves.
And there are a few exceptions also from this
rule.
There are certain areas, where general intelligence
plays not a dominant role like visual arts
and music.
One of his favorite examples is Pablo Picasso,
the Spanish painter genius.
Picasso suffered on a small brain injury,
so that the left part of his brain did not
get enough oxygen.
He was only able to learn to read when he
was 10 with the help of a special visual method
educated by a private teacher.
One of the sons of Johann Sebastian Bach was
unfortunately mentally retarded (G. Heinrich),
however his father could teach him to play
the organ up to par, and he played this instrument
on Sundays in the church.
So the conclusion is:
Higher IQ leads to simply higher education
Being a Genius needs a minimum level of IQ
After a certain point not IQ is critical whether
you will become simply a well-educated person
or a genius
And there are some exceptions like Music and
Visual arts where IQ is not a critical precondition
for being successful.
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