From: usenet@baradel.demon.co.uk   
      
   In message   
   , David   
   Friedman  writes   
   >In article ,   
   > Helen Hall  wrote:   
   >> Also   
   >> other factors, such as a person's motivation, family background and   
   >> teachers' expectations can have far more impact than just having a high   
   >> IQ.   
   >   
   >Surely true in individual cases. I'm more sceptical that, if you had the   
   >data, you would discover that the factors you describe had a larger   
   >effect on career success, controlling for IQ, than IQ does, controlling   
   >for those factors.   
   >   
   Let's forget the extremes for a moment. It is clearly demonstrable   
   (certainly in the UK education system) that a child of average   
   intelligence will do far better if born into a middle-class,   
   well-educated family than if that same child had been born to a single   
   parent living on benefits in a sink housing estate. It takes the   
   disadvantaged child a lot of effort to just reach the starting point of   
   the middle-class child. It's like a Formula one driver trying to win a   
   race when the preliminary laps have put him right at the back of the   
   starting grid. The driver of equal ability who started in poll position,   
   though not guaranteed to win, definitely has an advantage.   
      
   Looking at the extremes, well... Perhaps I knew more "smart" or bright   
   or clever people (which is what I would call someone who scored highly   
   on IQ tests) who after initially shining at school and college, totally   
   failed to achieve anything much in terms of a career or family life.   
   They soon got overtaken by those who have the motivation to work hard   
   and the determination to get back on the horse after a failure.   
      
   The really successful people are the ones who are bright and who work   
   damned hard, but they're not all that common and another danger is that   
   they can totally burn out because they set themselves unrealistic goals.   
      
   So once you start to look at all these factors, one single marker like   
   how well someone scores on an IQ test pales into insignificance.   
      
   Helen   
   --   
   Helen, Gwynedd, Wales *** http://www.baradel.demon.co.uk   
      
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