Richard Haier: IQ Tests, Human Intelligence, and Group Differences | Lex Fridman Podcast #302

Richard Haier is a psychologist specializing in the science of human intelligence. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:

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PODCAST INFO:

OUTLINE:
0:00 - Introduction
0:43 - Measuring human intelligence
15:11 - IQ tests
37:59 - College entrance exams
46:36 - Genetics
52:35 - Enhancing intelligence
1:00:04 - The Bell Curve
1:12:35 - Race differences
1:31:48 - Bell curve criticisms
1:40:57 - Intelligence and life success
1:50:34 - Flynn effect
1:55:26 - Nature vs nuture
2:22:19 - Testing artificial intelligence
2:34:23 - Advice
2:38:30 - Mortality

SOCIAL:

[lexfridman]

Here are the timestamps. Please check out our sponsors to support this podcast.
0:00 - Introduction & sponsor mentions:
0:43 - Measuring human intelligence
15:11 - IQ tests
37:59 - College entrance exams
46:36 - Genetics
52:35 - Enhancing intelligence
1:00:04 - The Bell Curve
1:12:35 - Race differences
1:31:48 - Bell curve criticisms
1:40:57 - Intelligence and life success
1:50:34 - Flynn effect
1:55:26 - Nature vs nuture
2:22:19 - Testing artificial intelligence
2:34:23 - Advice
2:38:30 - Mortality

[UncleHam]

Just googled IQ test and spend 30 minutes doing the test. Before getting the results, it asked for money. I guess the result was that I am stupid :D

[gilfiazon]

Kudos to this man for having the courage to speak honestly without fear. Kudos to Lex as well for having him on.

[-iz]

I had an IQ of 126 as measured when I was 13 years old with particularly high verbal ability and particularly low spatial ability (I don't remember the specific terms for the test components so these may be wrong). I graduated college at 18 years old with a 3.933 GPA from a flagship state school in a STEM major, and am now 21 and getting my PhD in a neuroscience subfield. However, I have always noticed around me a significant difference in the abilities of students to solve certain problems and to make connections to "get to the next step" in understanding. I have tried to help certain students understand problems that I myself easily understood and they were incapable despite seemingly hours of focused and determined effort. Yet still, I found problems that I myself couldn't comprehend (especially in the exercise sections of math textbooks) where I learned the prerequisite material but couldn't find a solution, but there were certainly others that could. A striking example of this was in an upper level undergraduate neuroscience class where we had to take weekly quizzes which were a sizeable portion of our grade. They were often so convoluted and difficult that people took them together to guarantee a high score. But one week, everyone got together in a study room and we still managed to get one wrong. But when I talked about it with this one girl (who was always getting the quizzes 100%, by herself) she explained why the answers were the way they were and I realized that I never would have been able to make that connection, but she did with the same amount of exposure to the material (and trust me, I studied very, very hard but so did she).

I think there is some major limiting factor in people's ability to make associations between informational components of the problems they are interfacing with, and this is mainly a function of something like intelligence. You know it when you are facing a tough problem and it requires a creative, novel solution. Some people just see deeper relationships that allow them to solve those problems and others don't see those relationships. And it's not for lack of effort.

[melissaradaker]

As a teacher, I find it fascinating to hear conversations like this. It is devastating to work with students who either cannot see their lack of ability, or worse, those who can see it and know they can't compete.

[timothymchugh]

I worked in a group home for mentally disabled adults, from 1998 to 2004. The men that I took care of were full grown adults ranging from 25 to 60 in age, but their emotional and mental development was that of a toddler to preteen. The bureaucracy that ran our state funded agency was very keen on terms like diversity and inclusion even back then. The reality is that the people I took care of were only capable of so much, and normal opportunities did not apply. These people were never going to grow up and become adults that could take care of themselves. Some of the people that manage the homes we’re really concerned that we make it look like these people had opportunities like the rest of us, even though persuing those opportunities caused a lot of trouble, pain and confusion. Being retarded is hard enough without people placing false expectations on your potential to participate in society as “normal” people. It was all in the name of inclusion, but that was not the result at all. Policy makers need to be prepared to drop their lofty ideals when reality provides ample evidence that things aren’t going as planned.

[maxdurbin]

One of my favorite qualities Lex brings to discussions is his calmness/patience. I feel like less things are dismissed and overlooked because he gives thoughts their time rather than slamming ideas back and forth for sport.

The combative approach to discussion that filters for the quality of thoughts produces some great results, but I imagine it also kills ideas that would have been interesting to let live a moment longer too.

[j.c.jeggis]

I remember in Grade 9, I had a friend who was just smarter than me, full stop. I'd always been a "gifted kid" and picked up concepts faster than my peers, but this girl was able to logic things out just a hair faster than me. I always thought that intelligence was just about paying attention and "using your brain", but it was the first time I viscerally felt that someone's brain was just plain better than mine, as if she was running on better software.

I don't know if IQ or grades really capture this, though. But it's very apparent if you pay attention to people when they're challenged intellectually.

[erikgarfinkel]

What I love about Lex and his interviews is that he takes the time with each guest. In todays world we never take the time for deep conversations.

[CaptainFights]

Above and beyond all other hosts, Lex brings us the absolute most interesting conversations. This is my tribe.

[RussianBotLvl]

Believing biology isn’t a big part of intelligence is like saying anyone can be a pro NBA player with enough training.

[jamespistorino]

I almost never comment on videos but I have now watched a couple of Lex' interviews and I want to congratulate him. He has incredible guests and asks thoughtful, intelligent questions that are not one sided. The long form of the interviews really lends itself to a full discussion of the issues and Lex does a great job of seeing multiple sides of an issue and asking questions from/exploring those perspectives. Too often, even 30 or 60 minute interviews are superficial, agenda driven presentations searching for sound bites rather than acknowledging the complexity/tradeoffs in various topics. So, kudos to Lex. Whether you agree or disagree with his guests, Lex is doing a fantastic job interviewing them. Let's have more of this.

[JK-ffzc]

My oldest son, then about 12, made a computer game of number sequences that the player had to replicate. Turned out my youngest daughter, then about 3, was super at this. She blew the rest of us away. Yeah, now middle aged, she designs, manages huge, complicated data bases for a very large company including complex images, blue prints, etc.

[dannybrown]

As usual Lex, you have stimulated my G factor

[matthewkelly]

47:50, why I love Lex. He's a high status intellectual with empathy. I forget who said it, but there's a quote/core principal that goes: "In every path I discover someone who is better than me in some way, and from whom I can learn."

[andrewzadel]

Lex: I am deeply uncomfortable with the idea that general intelligence is genetically inherited.
Also Lex: My father is an award-winning plasma physicist, and I got a PhD from MIT and became a machine learning researcher.

[cashmerefire]

Ive actually listened to this one twice now. Pure gold

[antiquatedchaos]

Watching lex talk about the anxiety he gets from testing, and the fact he didn’t know what regatta meant, made me love him that much more. He’s human. And a wonderful human at that

[Richard-ulyz]

If the group differences in intelligence are kept hidden it will continue to exacerbate the belief that the disparities in outcomes are due to racism. Teachers are condemned unfairly.

[anthonyl]

You should interview Robert Sapolsky. He is a Stanford professor of neurology and has a lecture on human behavioral biology with millions of views that helps people understand what science can say about nature, nurture, and chance in shaping human behaviors