Posted on 01/18/2007 3:50:02 AM PST by Pharmboy
Those with superior intelligence need to learn to be wise.
If "intellectually gifted" is defined to mean people who can become theoretical physicists, then we're talking about no more than a few people per thousand and perhaps many fewer. They are cognitive curiosities, too rare to have that much impact on the functioning of society from day to day. But if "intellectually gifted" is defined to mean people who can stand out in almost any profession short of theoretical physics, then research about IQ and job performance indicates that an IQ of at least 120 is usually needed. That number demarcates the top 10% of the IQ distribution, or about 15 million people in today's labor force--a lot of people.
In professions screened for IQ by educational requirements--medicine, engineering, law, the sciences and academia--the great majority of people must, by the nature of the selection process, have IQs over 120. Evidence about who enters occupations where the screening is not directly linked to IQ indicates that people with IQs of 120 or higher also occupy large proportions of positions in the upper reaches of corporate America and the senior ranks of government. People in the top 10% of intelligence produce most of the books and newspaper articles we read and the television programs and movies we watch. They are the people in the laboratories and at workstations who invent our new pharmaceuticals, computer chips, software and every other form of advanced technology.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Final in the series...
The encouragement of wisdom requires being steeped in the study of ethics, starting with Aristotle and Confucius. It is not enough that gifted children learn to be nice. They must know what it means to be good.
Amen. And so I taught mine at home. The Eldest was "gated"; and I found the program unfortunately, not very useful. What my children needed was a "gate" program full-time; not just once a week, couple of hours.
The problem also with having kids like this in the pub ed program? The schools kept trying to use my kids for their own "political/agenda" purposes. In one example? Holding my child back a grade so she could be a peer "teacher" in a grade lower, and I quote "until her age-classmates could catch up to her intellectually". In another example, putting another of my children in charge of the the only group of non or limited-English proficient students in the class, so she could teach them English, and they her, another language in the age of "cooperative learning" curriculum. This child was in 2nd grade. In another example: my son, they worked hard to label as "add/adh" and shuttle him off inside special "classrooms" where teachers kept asking me why he was there and in that category. System was again attempting to USE my child as a "model" and example. Let me translate: To pinion my children into positions whereby they could be resented and scorned by their classmates; and to learn, ultimately, that society held no respect or like for them.
In the process, of my kicking the snot out of the system, my children learned by example, that water should always seek its own level; and they came home to school with me.
If Mr. Murray is arguing for a full-time type of program for students like these, then yes, he's right: there needs to be schools like this. But the only way it can happen is with School Vouchers.
My theory on why teachers--in general--do not do well with kids in the >120 IQ range is that they are jealous of them.
Do you have a link to the second one handy? I missed that.
Second, research has shown that whatever IQ measures, is remarkably consistent over the lifespan.
Jealous, insecure, and *threatened*. As a bright former kid I can tell you it is great fun to answer questions faster than the teacher can think of them and ask questions they have no way to answer. That kind of thing can get you labeled as a behavior problem in no time. As a bright former teacher who taught advanced and AP sciences, I can tell you, breaking bright kids of their inclination to play "stump the chump" with the teacher is not easy. The author is quite correct that these kids need extreme challenges to they can come face to face with their limitations. It is a vital life lesson to learn you actually have them.
Thanks, and bump.
I've met the "jealous" types of teachers - they usually become heads of departments and committees at academic institutes, or deans. I've also met another kind: those who cannot recognize intelligence. Given the dictates of political correctness, anyone not fitting the cookie cutter mold of "moldable" is classified as "deficit". And so any child out of average is categorized as "disabled". Pity.
It is not a biggie. By the way, some long years ago I posted on FR a book review on the "Bell Curve"; it was pulled since it mentioned differences between races. Murray and Herrnstein, at that time, were very unpopular in every trophy college and were routinely labeled as "racist."
How times have changed. Eventually, we will find the courage to discuss IQ and national origin. It will come as a shocker to the quarter educated types who run this country and make its policies. But why cause trouble on a nice day no matter how cold?
I hope I don't get pulled!
Your point is well made; however, Charles Murray is addressing the issue of the importance of humility amid and awash a culture of pub ed dictates of "positive self-esteem". I can tell you upfront now, that most of what he addresses in re teaching of the Classics is simply not attractive to students not inclined towards the bent of the mind. This in no way implies that these students wouldn't become a future John Galt. The "ed" Leviathan is so huge, one realistically can only focus upon an aspect at a time, IME.
Unfortunately, there are issues which often prevent, or discourage those talents and gifts from blooming and blossoming into realities.
John Gotti – Franklin K. Lane High School’s drop out who reportedly had a 160 IQ was the also known as the “The Teflon Don” for beating numerous murder and racketeering charges. At 26, he did a yearlong stint in prison in which time his wife and their three kids went on welfare. That gave him the drive that led his life. Gotti took over the underworld after killing Paul Castellano in 1985.
I make this point to people whenever I hear talk like this:
Intelligence and Wisdom are NOT the same thing.
Definitely. Even the intelligence as ability to solve the IQ test is also different from real life intelligence.
You can meet people who are a little slow on the uptake, but are quite wise, you see people who are geniuses at solving puzzles (like IQ) and cannot figure out everyday problems and you meet shrewd bright practical types who are as far from wisdom as possible like con-men for example ( sorry neocons you belong to the previous nerd type).
And there is such things like emotional intelligence, artistic intelligence and more ...
When my daughter was about ten, parents in our city demanded a program for the gifted. They tested her over and over in an attempt to exclude as many children as possible. Then I went to a parents meeting and the gifted teachers commisserated with us for having such gifted children. They promised to do their best to help them become normal. It seemed to me that the teachers themselves were not gifted. Later, when we moved, my daughter swore me to secrecy. She did not want anyone in her new jr high to know that she was gifted. Her teachers had persecuted her.
I think you criticized Murray for speaking in generalities, that it's the particulars that are the rub; I'll just say that this issue/particulars of "selfless obligation to the good of others" has been the cause of about 100 million deaths over the last 100 years.
The non-IQ intelligence of successful people is usually referred to as "street smarts." I have one relative in particular who fills that niche: had a hard time graduating from high school, but is a remarkable businessman. With that being said, IQ does measure important stuff (for example, it is exceedingly rare to find doctors, engineers, molecular biologists, PhDs in english or history, etc., below a 125 IQ score).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.