Does IQ actually matter?

What really is iq and is it good if you have a really high one?

IQ, or intelligence quotient, is a measure of a person's reasoning ability. It is intended to gauge how well someone can use information and logic to answer questions or make predictions. IQ tests measure short- and long-term memory, as well as how well people can solve puzzles and recall information they've heard, and how quickly they can do so. However, IQ tests do not measure every important mental faculty, and they miss some of the most important aspects of real-world decision making. 

IQ tests can predict how well people will do in particular situations, such as thinking abstractly in science, engineering, or art, or leading teams of people. However, extraordinary achievement depends on many things, including ambition, persistence, opportunity, the ability to think clearly, and even luck. Intelligence is not an inoculation against any of the sources of dysrationalia. 

Although IQ tests are widely used, they have been criticized for not measuring all the key human faculties. Critics of intelligence tests have been making the point for years that IQ tests do not measure all the important mental faculties. For example, Robert J. Sternberg of Cornell University and Howard Gardner of Harvard talk about practical intelligence, creative intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, and the like. 

IQ scores are partly a measure of how motivated a child is to do well on the test, and harnessing that motivation might be as important to later success as so-called native intelligence. Researchers have long debated what IQ tests actually measure, and whether average differences in IQ scores--such as those between different ethnic groups--reflect differences in intelligence, social and economic factors, or both. 

In conclusion, IQ is a measure of a person's reasoning ability, but it does not measure every important mental faculty. IQ tests can predict how well people will do in particular situations, but extraordinary achievement depends on many things, including ambition, persistence, opportunity, the ability to think clearly, and even luck. IQ scores are partly a measure of how motivated a child is to do well on the test, and researchers have long debated what IQ tests actually measure.

Citations:

[1] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rational-and-irrational-thought-the-thinking-that-iq-tests-miss/

[2] https://www.snexplores.org/article/what-iq-and-how-much-does-it-matter

[3] https://www.onecentralhealth.com.au/therapy/psychology/what-is-iq/

[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6927908/

[5] https://www.cnn.com/2014/02/19/health/iq-score-meaning/index.html

[6] https://www.science.org/content/article/what-does-iq-really-measure