Why do high IQ people so often amount to nothing?

Says who?🤔

@great-big-stees said
Says who?🤔

Stees how the hell does he know I amounted to nothing?

We need to identify experts who agree with what we think and then cite them.

@great-big-stees said
Says who?🤔

Someone on the internet who knows more about it than I do.

@fmf said
Someone on the internet who knows more about it than I do.

Someone? Kind of nebulous.🤔

@badradger said
Stees how the hell does he know I amounted to nothing?

Perhaps the “someone” he referred to in a later response?👍

@great-big-stees said
Someone? Kind of nebulous.🤔

No. Something nebulous would be in the form of a cloud. Take that to the Star Trek thread, spanky. I'm talking about a human.

@fmf said
No. Something nebulous would be in the form of a cloud. Take that to the Star Trek thread, spanky. I'm talking about a human.

My use of the word was more as vague, than scientific.

@fmf said
You present me with more questions than answers.

I’m testing your IQ

@great-big-stees said
My use of the word was more as vague, than scientific.

Every human being is unique, marvellous and very detailed. To suggest that one of them is "vague" is very callous.

@fmf said
Sorry, forgive me for contemplating my navel and lamenting the pitiful circumstances of my life. Indulge me, please. Why do so many people with very high IQs amount to nothing?

Only the people you know fmf amount to nothing! 🙂 😛

-VR

@ghost-of-a-duke said
“Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.”

Thomas Edison

And the electrocution of an elephant.

@fmf said
Sorry, forgive me for contemplating my navel and lamenting the pitiful circumstances of my life. Indulge me, please. Why do so many people with very high IQs amount to nothing?

Paralysis by analysis.

Fools rush where Angels fear to tread.

Pick the cliche.

Smart people tend to overthink things. At least in my circles, the people that become the real estate tycoons and the nursing home owners and the like got their starts often as not by making wild, unsound investments. 80% of them didn't work out, but then they hit on a few lucky ones and were off the races.

Personally, I'm never going to be super-rich as I'm never going to take the risks necessary to become super-rich. I'm content to be comfortable and, while my skills and intelligence put me in a pretty good position to achieve it (though everyone is subject to bad luck, of course), I don't take gambles that I'm not confident in their soundness. That's why I'll never be a flamboyant chess player and also why I'll never really be rich.

I think many smart people suffer from similar limitations.

@fmf said
Sorry, forgive me for contemplating my navel and lamenting the pitiful circumstances of my life. Indulge me, please. Why do so many people with very high IQs amount to nothing?

Smart people make dumb mistakes, just like everyone else. EQ counts for something, too, and some smart people neglect this aspect of social arrangements.

Go to amazon and search on "why smart people make dumb mistakes" -- there is some research on this topic. I suspect that some smart people over-estimate their smarts, but there are surely other factors involved too.

@fmf said
Now that I do know, my memory of what I knew previously is unreliable.

We have a long running thread on here that may be able to refresh your memory 😉 😛