Does being smart matter?

[erebusii]

I think we are. Genetics give you the size of the glass to fill up (your potential) and willpower will determine how full it gets (how close you get to the upper end of the potential). Most people, seem to only develop themselves to the bare minimum because after all "being responsible and working is unpleasant".

[Young Athlete]

Can't little things change IQ height like playing music in the babies sleep ect., So it's probably partly environmental?

[Love_Deadlifts]

Can't little things change IQ height like playing music in the babies sleep ect., So it's probably partly environmental?

I don't know if that actually works or not, but yeah environment plays a large role in it as well.

[wrenchhands]

What determines both "cup size" for brain and brawn? Joint size? Brain/skull size?

[Young Athlete]

So I would say it's Genetic and Environmental... if your missing one component you won't reach your potential

[MikeD]

They say that one of the best thing for overall brain development is to play an instrument early. But I wonder what "kind" of intelligence that develops.

[Love_Deadlifts]

They say that one of the best thing for overall brain development is to play an instrument early. But I wonder what "kind" of intelligence that develops.

Right brain related functions i would guess.

So I would say it's Genetic and Environmental... if your missing one component you won't reach your potential

Exactly, Nature and Nurture

[erebusii]

What determines both "cup size" for brain and brawn? Joint size? Brain/skull size?

Don't know. I'm not a geneticist. lol

[DoctorJohn]

Answer to the OP. No, it doesn't matter. Well i dont think so. What constitutes smart anyhow? :s

Anyhow, I am quite well-educated. I have finished University and completed my doctorate last year. How has completing a doctorate helped me in my current line of work? stuff all really. I agree with a lot of what has been said, you can be too smart for your own good and i think it leads to social problems. I totally over analyse everything. I think it's why i actually prefer to hang around people who aren't as intellectual as i am. One of my best friends at the moment didn't even finish high school.

[treunlneiss]

Definitely, being smart has its highs and lows. Pros are that most problems aresolved quickly and easily once you get down to thinking about it, cons are that i can make a problem out of everything so all day long you can just figure out how to makethings better that really don't need improvement. Also, being the smart kid in high school does tend to contribute to lack of study skills as i never studied until i entrered college, and was still 3rd in my class. This however won't work in many colleges and from experience i can tell you it does not work in engineering. The math is simple, but applying said math correctly is difficult without long hours of practice and studying..

Social situations for many smarter folks tend to become awkward, since many of us didnt learn social skills in high school and earlier. Thankfully though, social skills are something that can be learned. I personally outgrew my shyness and am now learning how to have a decent conversation with anyone at anytime, about just about anything. The trick to it for me has been to shut my brain off.. just go wherever the conversation leads me.

[Mehdi]

Definitely, being smart has its highs and lows. Pros are that most problems aresolved quickly and easily once you get down to thinking about it, cons are that i can make a problem out of everything so all day long you can just figure out how to makethings better that really don't need improvement. Also, being the smart kid in high school does tend to contribute to lack of study skills as i never studied until i entrered college, and was still 3rd in my class. This however won't work in many colleges and from experience i can tell you it does not work in engineering. The math is simple, but applying said math correctly is difficult without long hours of practice and studying..

Social situations for many smarter folks tend to become awkward, since many of us didnt learn social skills in high school and earlier. Thankfully though, social skills are something that can be learned. I personally outgrew my shyness and am now learning how to have a decent conversation with anyone at anytime, about just about anything. The trick to it for me has been to shut my brain off.. just go wherever the conversation leads me.

Good post.

Read "social intelligence" by Daniel Goleman. When everyone has a similar IQ range within a group, it's their Social IQ that will determin how successful they become.

[chris88]

I am smart, but unfortunately it ruined me.It teached me being lazy and putting in a effort once in a while is enough, and I am still trying to recover from it

haha same here, 20/80 rule 20% of the things I do get 80 procent results, if not the case I won't do them or will find a way so they get done with less effort...

[JacobJ]

What does the word "smart" mean anyways?

When you think about what goes on in your head. About the kinds of thoughts you have, and how you know those thoughts are actually there...It's not so simple...

You might notice that each of your thoughts is represented through one of your five senses. You might have an internal dialog you hear. Or imagine the way things look. Your thoughts can even be represented by a myriad of different physical feelings.

You might also notice that your thoughts might bounce around from one sense to another. Like, when you hear someone's voice on the phone, you might 'see' their face in your minds eye. Or even if you just think of them, you might hear their voice in your head, and then imagine what they look like, and then get some kind of physical reaction (warm and tingly if they're sexy )

The point is...all that goes on in our head is a process. People who are good at spelling have a different process than people who are bad at spelling. Kind of like how you can waste a bunch of time weight-lifting if you're going about it the wrong way.

The funny thing is, we don't tend to 'choose' the processes that our thoughts run through. We don't tend choose how we think. It just kind of happens. Some people end up with really effective processes for thinking. Some don't. With most people, it varies.

Fortunately, our minds are pretty flexible, and can learn new processes pretty quickly in the right circumstances.

Of course, there is probably some variability in the 'equipment' used to generate thoughts. But its really the thoughts that count. The patterns of thought we tend to use in various situations.

If you're interested in learning more about this, check out some books on NLP.

[vivek]

Whats is really weird is the number of people on this thread that have expressed that they wished they could trade their smarts for a little more work ethic. Ie that smartness has been a problem in their lives. Go ahead and count. Its really amazing.

Interesting right ?

Anyway I sincerely believe that if you think your too smart and that you've coasted then the problem is that your not challenged. And the reason your not challenged in your current line of work is that you dont care. You owe it to yourselves to find something your really passionate about it and pursue it. Actually you owe it to society and the community. Especially if you really are very smart.

[wrenchhands]

Well, stronglifts has taught me a thing or two about work ethic and discipline, FWIW.