There are smart people. They think better. How?

Brain power includes many elements.

Thought requires language. Some people are better with their native language. Others learn and use several. That means they are  smarter but it’s not necessarily a linear correlation with IQ.

Wealth requires knowledge and the ability to use it. Wealthier people are usually but not necessarily smarter.

Entertainers are wealthier and often dumber. There are exceptions. Sharon Stone; James Woods.

Sports professionals are wealthier but not always smarter. Some are barely literate.

Some countries are full of people smarter than those in other countries. Hong Kong for example where people seem to have an average IQ of 108 is the country with the highest average IQ. There are 47 countries where people have IQ’s between 92 and 108 so they cluster around 100. None are above 108 but the rest of the world, roughly 150 countries have people with low IQ’s. Those countries tend to be more poor that the other 47.  .

Brain speed is positively correlated with IQ and cats brains along with birds have fast brains but they don’t have high IQ’s. It’s pretty easy to catch vats and birds. Zoos are full of them. 

One important unknown element in IQ is the working neural network. An IQ test tries to measure that but the measurements aren’t perfect.

Education improves intelligence but not enough to conclude for example that a college education increases IQ a certain number of points. College makes people smarter but it doesn’t do that by increasing their smartness, i.e., their IQ.

Language increases intelligence because words are needed to think. More words means faster processing which means faster answers. 

What about country of origin? Makes a difference but it’s correlated with other elements that in turn correlate to IQ. Immigration usually means lower capability people changing their location. Wealthy people tend to stay put.

The conclusions are that IQ improves wealth and wealth improves IQ but not necessarily fast enough to make a difference in the IQ of the individual who acquires the wealth. OTOH wealth can and does make people smarter.  Confused? Re-read carefully. It’s not confusing. It’s just not settled yet. 

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