I.Q.

Today I was sitting with Martin. I had seen Martin's wife a couple of times and she complained that he seemed preoccupied. He hadn't been paying as much attention to her and the children as he usually did. He was staying out late more often and she was worried.

Martin came in and told me that she shouldn't worry. He was very attached to his wife and family. It would help, he said, if she wouldn't worry, and if she didn't ask too many questions.

Martin is a good looking man with flashing dark eyes. He is thin but strong looking. He is very direct and very engaging when he talks. As our conversation continued it became clear that Martin was very involved in finding was to support his family financially. However, due to his background, educational opportunities, and employment history, Martin's career path has not been the kind that I would have designed for my son. While my son is now working for a small start-up company, and that involves some career and financial risks, with the hope of career and financial rewards, Martin is reaping some financial rewards, with the risk of ending up in jail.

But this was not the first time I had seen Martin. He seemed to like talking to me because no one had ever really discussed options with him. Because of family circumstances he had become very independent at a very early age, and he had learned to figure things our for himself. He had learned how the world works.

One thing was very clear, Martin was smart.

Now, what does that mean? When a psychologist says that someone is smart it means something because the field of useful, clinical psychology came into being during WWII by helping he Army determine who was smart and who wasn't. That determined who would give orders, and who would get shot. Psychologist are the ones who invented, refined and then widely distributed the idea of intelligence through-out the land.

Now there are lots of test of I.Q. and most of them are designed to show how people's relative abilities fall into the pattern of a bell-shaped curve. I.Q. is measured by asking questions and giving such tasks as puzzles, analogies, math, vocabulary, and social sequencing. The idea is that if you can do well at these tasks you can do well in school, or in life.

After years and years as a psychologist, I don't believe much of that.

First, I don't really believe in the bell-curve idea. From my (completely unscientific) experience, I feel that 97.5% of the people start with about the same native abilities. Some people may have some special talents, like better physical coordination, or a quicker mind for math or spelling, and certainly people have different temperaments. But, basically, with structure and discipline and practice, people can learn to be just about anything they want. Anyone.

Two per-cent have bad brains and can't do it. Half a per-cent have some amazing talent and are off the charts at the top.


I also think that intelligence, I. Q, come down to only one thing: The ability to anticipate what is coming next. The better you can do that, the better you will do in life. If you can get out of the street before the bus comes around the corner, it's better for you. If you can figure out where the fish will be biting, that's an advantage. If you can tell where your enemy will attack, you have a better chance of surviving. If you learn which seeds are more likely to produce a good crop, you will not be hungry. If you can tell what will make your customer happy, then you will make many sales.

Anticipate. That's what smart people do. See what's coming, prepare for it, make it work for you and your family.

That's what Martin is able to do and it keeps him out of jail. He can tell who to trust. He knows how far is too far, and how much is too much and he stops before he reaches those points. Because of things that have happened to him, and also things that he has seen that have happened to others, he has learned what the odds are of what will happen next.

I have, in my almost upper-middle-class way, tried to persuade Martin that he is smart enough to do well at other endeavors, ones where the risks are not as great. He laughs at me and asks if he should apply for a job at the bank.

He would be very good at determining where to invest money. But what about that tattoo?