This is one of those questions that the current incarnation of the media and school system will inevitably say no to.

"Indeed, IQ is just an outdated and inaccurate system for measuring only one aspect of ability that fails to consider all the other factors that gives a complete picture of a person's ability to succeed in life. Binet's theories, older than those of Freud, are increasingly seen as a harmful, self-esteem reducing measurement that should be banned."

That's pretty much the current politically correct theory about intelligence and IQ. What concerns me is, what will be the next important human trait to fall to unimportance? Will it be hardworkingness, altruism, law-abidingness?

I can't believe I'm answering this... but:

IQ doesn't matter. Intelligence does matter, but IQ fails to measure intelligence accurately. You didn't cite your quotation, but wherever it's from, it got that right.

However, there's no reason to suppose that the choice to dismiss IQ as an inaccurate measurement system is in any way a step towards the belief (by either a large or a small number of people) that various entirely unrelated virtues are no longer important.

I'm sure someone had this same discussion about alchemy a few hundred years back. I can imagine it now:

Me: Alchemy Doesn't Work.
Watertowers: I offer no evidence one way or another. But what concerns me is that you'll soon say that metallurgy isn't worth pursuing either!

-Fooglmog
Guy with no clue.

IQ is a partial indicator of some kind ability just like how fast you can run 100 yards is. It's not really the complete picture just like how far you can throw a football is not. It doesn't mean it should be dismissed outright. It's also not a complete guide to problem solving ability or ability to do math/read or whatever because the test has inherit cultural biases in it.

As an aside, there is a seemingly double standard in schools (and the media and society) between academic achievement vs athletic achievement. Then you read articles complaining about things like the lack of math skills or whatever vs places like asia (as well as the lack of high achievers). Unlike high school sports teams, there seems to be a lot of effort placed on helping the bottom end succeed versus the top end excel. Oddly in schools it's called: "developing well rounded students" "learning to work with different kinds of people". In the adult world it's called "communism" :)

i don't think IQ matters anymore. most of the jobs have been dumbed down enough to where they can be done by computers or robots.

well my job 20 years ago was replaced by computers. however that just lead to my job being expanded to that the computers do a part and more is expected of me.
Computers increased my capacity to do stuff, but it also increased the expectations placed upon me. Fair enough.

Having a high IQ is not enough to be successful, there is a whole approach to being successful that lies outside any of the means we currently have to quantify.

A good work ethic produces highly successful people, but it also can produce highly productive people that can be easily taken advantage of.

It's all in the attitude. A good attitude can take you places that a high IQ or willingness to work very hard cannot.

There are numerous examples of virutal idiots that have achieveed high position, I'm not going to cite them for you, I'm sure anyone that has been paying attention for the last 20 years knows who the references would be.

think we can find those virtual idiots on facebook or twitter.

it's fine for paradigms like these to shift. IQ was once considered an accurate indicator of intelligence, now there is recognition that this rating doesn't necessarily take into account all factors which make a person intelligent.

So long as changes in the intellectual paradigm are made based on evidence and proven fact, then its perfectly fine that they change. Scientific theories are never immutable, there's always things we don't understand or cannot effectively measure. No need to bemoan change, are world is far more dynamic than we like to admit.

The thing you have to understand about IQ is that it measures how much you know based on other people of your age group, which determines your score. Trouble Is that the group of kids that you are tested against are privileged middle class white children. It doesn't take into account if you come from a less privileged family. If you have to work 10 hours a day as a child so your family can eat then ofc your iq will be lower than the over privileged white kid who's never worked a day in his life. White supremists have been using iq scores to justify their prejudice since the tests creation.

should people be having the kids if they're going to make them work 10 hour days just to support them?

stfu Sauron.

I was on my own or in and out of foster care during my early years. I had little formal education until the age of 12. In no way do I think anyone would classify my childhood as privileged or middle class.

I was tested for IQ before being adopted. I scored very high. Privilege and hardship have very small affects on IQ. I am not saying it is an excellent indicator of intelligence by any means. But I am telling you to get off your racist soapbox unless you have something meaningful to contribute.

That's a very nice anecdote there legion but unfortunately its completely irrelevant. of course what I'm talking about is AVERAGE scores, I thought that was blatantly obvious. Clearly there will be exceptions. But it is a well documented fact that iq tests are racially biased.

I too had a less than privileged childhood as a Canadian aboriginal person and was bounced to 10 different foster homes as a child but my iq score is like 40 points higher than my peoples average. Does that mean that every one with a similar background would be able to have "good" iq scores regardless of how bad an upbringing they had? Ofcourse not, it would be stupid to think that and you can scream every insult at me you want until you're red in the face but it won't disprove the evidence that shows ON AVERAGE. Unless you are a middle class white kid your iq score probably won't be very high. And that has nothing to do with if you are "intelligent" or not.

IQ certainly does matter and it has observable and measurable affects on the way people perform certain tasks. What people fail to realize is that IQ is sort of analogous to money. You don't need more, you only need enough. If we look at IQ as a weekly income, then the majority of tasks and jobs and skills etc. what we need in our lives cost around around $100 per week. You might have $140, but for the majority of items all you need is that first $100. Sure you are able to do some things differently than others, but for the most part those things are either not necessary for the majority of individuals or there are alternate ways of achieving them.

What I'm saying is that yes - IQ matters, but as long as you've reached a certain benchmark you're not disadvantaged over somebody who has also reached that benchmark but has surpassed it by more than you.