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Does A Person's Intelligence And Material Wealth Related?
Posted by islanddweller • 10/15/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: financial rewards, intelligence
I usually heard this theory that intelligence has something to do with amassing material wealth.
Is there a correlation?
User Comments
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No. -
No! it's just wealth can almost buy anything in the world.. -
I think not necessarily. There are different types of intelligence, but recently on MPR there was a discussion with an economist prof from Harvard/Yale/Major Ivy League, and the interviewer said something like: I bet all the best and brightest in your classes ended up on wall Street and are making a killing.
And the prof answered: actually no. by far the best and brightest from my classes did NOT end up on wall street making millions, but chose other careers. People looking to make that kind of money were not necessarily my brightest students.
: moral of story... not only are the best and the brightest staying away from wall street, but wall street attracts a different breed... while intelligent, are not necessarily the Most intelligent. -
If you parents are not rich, it probably helps to be smart...-
I thought all it takes to be rich is to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps! Problem is, my hooker boots have zippers.
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Nope you can't buy a smart brain
Some smart people are not rich at all-
I think intellect alone is not at all the factor to amass wealth. Factors such as environment, how the person was nurtured as a kid and family background matters.
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Being smart does not indeed always make you rich.
But being dumb never does it.
Except if you're the lucky type, that is...
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No. While having money may offer more opportunities to develop themselves they may not have the wits or the willingness to do so. -
No.
e.g. politicians -
Nope, there are so many wealth individuals out there with very little intelligent, unbelievable!
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No as someone stupid and have inheritance -
There was actually a study on this some time within the past couple of years that indicated just the opposite. That there was no correlation at all, or perhaps a slight negative correlation. There are a lot of reasons that it makes sense to me that there wouldn't be any correlation; I can't recall who did the study but I'm going to see whether I can find it.
Edit: researchnews.osu.edu/archive/intlwlth.htm-
Interesting. That study says those of above average intelligence tend to earn more than the rest.
The results confirmed research by other scholars that show people with higher IQ scores tend to earn higher incomes. In this study, each point increase in IQ scores was associated with $202 to $616 more income per year.
But in terms of overall wealth, it's pretty average.
But when it came to total wealth and the likelihood of financial difficulties, people of below average and average intelligence did just fine when compared with the super-intelligent.
There are various contradictory findings in this field. This book claims that the national income tends to correlate strongly with IQ:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_and_Global_Inequality -
So that seems to indicate that people with higher IQs earn more but don't accumulate any more. That actually makes a lot of sense to me, because I think that (on average, obviously there are exceptions) people with higher IQs are less risk-averse because they feel that there are always options and they can work things out if problems arise, that people with higher IQs are less disciplined because they never had to work at things in the early years when the other kids were learning that it took discipline and focus to get through homework and study for tests and such, and that people with higher IQs are more accustomed to processing things very quickly and not so prone to detail work or long-term planning. Thus, they make more money but don't hold on to it very well. That's purely anecdotal, but it makes a lot of sense to me.
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Makes sense to me too.
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whomever you heard that theory from must have been flat broke.
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Becoming very wealthy is about opportunity and the disposition to take advantage of said opportunities. Many intelligent people will find all the good reasons not to leap... someone else might not.
Just a theory though. I'm neither wealthy nor particularly brilliant so I really have no frame of reference. -
Ask yourself: How did a fool and his money get together in the first place?-
Perhaps in the movies, like the accidental millionaire - Forrest Gump. Luck!
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I believe those with overall wealth, or the direct ability to establish that wealth is likely intellect related, but quite possibly those with brains do not always pursue wealth as a means to an end.-
That's correct! I think the psychological make-up of the person matters and how the child was nurtured.
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No..
Inheriting a rich parent's wealth doesn't usually require intelligence. -
Bill Gates.. Sergey Brin.. Larry Page.. ring any bells?-
Yeah!
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Most of the richest people in the world are actually self-made billionaires and did not inherit their wealth. Many of them had very modest beginnings.
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That's true!
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It takes a lot to make it rich. Intelligence helps but hard work and determination are more important. Desire to be rich is also critical. -
Correlation? Perhaps. Is it always true? No. -
No, I think it all has to do with financial intelligence and realizing that to gain wealth you have to live below your means and have some sort of entrepreneurial spirit. It doesn't take a PHD to figure out how to milk the system. I think anyone can do it but not everyone has the guts to go against the norm. -
theres maybe some sort of correlation but thats an error as there are TOOO many factors to determine wealth. intelligence can or cannot help, it all depends on too many variables!
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