The Intelligence Trap

david robson – the intelligence trap – why smart people make dumb mistakes have you ever met a really smart person who nevertheless said really stupid things?

consider scientist cary mullis, who was awarded the nobel prize in chemistry.

mullis' achievement places him alongside the likes of marie curie, albert einstein, and francis crick.

yet mullis was also a devoted believer in astrology and astral travel, and denied that aids is caused by the hiv virus.

the scientific community universally refuted these claims.

so, why not mullis?

mullis was likely a victim of the intelligence trap, a paradox in which smart individuals can be more prone to certain cognitive errors than people of more modest intellect.

that's because such persons often struggle to learn from mistakes, resist advice, and tend to become entrenched in their own views more easily than most.

fortunately, there is a way around this trap.

evidence-based wisdom is a new field that focuses on qualities like cognitive reflection, intellectual humility, and emotional awareness.

crucial for wise decision-making, these skills can be developed regardless of one's iq.

and in this mini-chapter, we'll begin to explore the basic ideas behind the intelligence trap and how to escape it.

the trap on june 17, 1922, on the beaches of new jersey's atlantic city, a seemingly supernatural occurrence tested the friendship of magician harry houdini and author arthur conan doyle.

jean, doyle's wife, was a fervent believer in spiritualism, and she hoped to contact houdini's deceased mother through a séance.

though houdini was a skeptic, he was still open-minded enough to agree to the séance.

during the session, doyle was entranced by his wife's seeming possession, the way she furiously beat the table and scribbled across sheets of paper.

houdini, however, was less than impressed and pointed out several inconsistencies.

why had his mother professed to be a christian when she was actually jewish?

how was his mother able to write in perfect english, even though she'd never learned the language?

this episode illustrates the concept of dysrationalia, which describes how even highly intelligent individuals can fall prey to irrational beliefs.

dysrationalia is evident in doyle's unwavering belief in spiritualism, despite his logical prowess as the creator of super-rational sherlock holmes.

dysrationalia may explain smart people's susceptibility to paranormal beliefs and conspiracy theories.

these tendencies are usually fairly innocuous.

however, dysrationalia can become dangerous when people use their intelligence to justify pre-existing beliefs while ignoring objective truth.

additionally, intelligent people often have a slightly larger biased blind spot than less gifted people.

that is, they're aware of their cognitive abilities and believe themselves to be unbiased, which can lead them to justify prejudiced opinions or rationalize toxic relationships.

dysrationalia may also be behind polarization on political issues.

intelligent people on both sides use their knowledge to marshal evidence for their positions, rather than weighing it objectively.

intellectual pride and identity further entrench biases.

as such, intelligence and expertise don't guarantee wise judgment and action.

the solutions to begin our pursuit of avoiding the intelligence trap, let's look at three key concepts.

cognitive reflection, intellectual humility, and emotional awareness concerning cognitive reflection, it's crucial to always try to apply a technique called moral algebra to situations.

this means that when weighing a major decision, it's important to create a sheet listing the pros and cons.

next, carefully contemplate each item on a list and assign it a numerical value based on importance.

after reviewing your list, simply cross out any equally weighted pairs to reveal the balance and arrive at a decision.

by objectively analyzing the decision from all angles, you can slowly and carefully separate reason from passion.

approaches like this and techniques like that labeled considering the opposite can help mitigate reasoning errors.

they both involve actively challenging yourself to consider why your initial judgment may have been wrong.

cognitive reflection is measured by the ability to question intuitive but incorrect answers to simple problems.

people with higher cognitive reflection skills are less prone to believe in conspiracy theories, more resistant to misinformation, and better at identifying the truthfulness of news headlines.

when trying to assess the truthiness of a piece of information, be sure to ask critical questions about the source, the motives, and how the claims are presented.

who's making the claim, and why might they want you to think it's true?

what were your initial assumptions about the claim, and how might they be flawed?

are the claims presented in a way that's trying to make them seem truthy?

ultimately, the fight against misinformation is about how we engage with information.

developing critical thinking skills and cognitive reflection is key in a world full of complex and often misleading information.

next, let's look at intellectual humility.

a good example of this occurred during a research trip that university of michigan grad student james stigler took to japan.

there, he observed a fourth-grade lesson that deeply challenged his perception of learning.

one day, students were learning how to draw three-dimensional cubes.

one student's drawings were particularly sloppy, and he was the one the teacher chose to go to the blackboard and demonstrate his technique to everyone.

stigler was baffled.

this seemed more like a humiliating punishment than a lesson.

while harsh by western standards, this approach reflects a different learning philosophy prevalent in east asian education systems.

there, you aren't considered to be learning if you aren't struggling a bit, and focus is placed on fostering skills like intellectual humility and independent thinking.

as a result, east asian students often outperform their western counterparts in global education assessments.

contrary to common western beliefs about education, studies show that confusion and struggle are integral to learning.

neuroscientists robert and elizabeth bjork's concept of desirable difficulties support this.

implementing learning challenges such as pre-testing—asking students to solve problems before they've actually learned about them—may impair performance at first, but in the long term, they lead to deeper understanding and better recall.

extending these insights into western education could transform student learning.

simply extending waiting times after posing a question can encourage students to think more deeply.

introducing ambiguities like showing multiple ways to solve a math problem promotes open-minded thinking.

and encouraging students to imagine a historical article from various viewpoints or consider counterfactuals fosters complex, reflective thinking.

by incorporating these principles, western education can evolve, cultivating a generation of learners who've beaten the intelligence trap.

finally, let's look at emotional awareness and the importance of collective intelligence in corporate teams.

researcher anita williams-woolley found that a team's success at a practical task was only modestly correlated with a member's average iq.

a much stronger and more consistent predictor of success, she found, was a team's overall social sensitivity.

teams in which members are attuned to each other's emotions and participate equally tend to perform much better than teams that are dominated by one or two people.

so if you're trying to recruit a smart team, hiring people with social skills should be a top priority.

leadership also plays a pivotal role in harnessing a team's collective intelligence.

leaders who embody humility, encourage open communication, and value each team member's contribution can significantly boost a team's performance.

leaders who act as servants rather than as authoritarian figures foster a more productive and cooperative environment.

the main takeaway of this mini-chapter to the intelligence trap by david robson is that high intelligence doesn't automatically grant immunity to irrational thinking or poor decision-making.

in fact, it can sometimes be the cause.

fortunately, embracing intellectual humility, exploring different perspectives, and recognizing our biases can significantly improve our capacity to reason wisely and make informed decisions.

this is crucial in a world plagued by misinformation and hoaxes, and vital to improving a western education system that doesn't set students up for success as well as it could.

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