Can true intelligence improve most jobs?

Post Reply New Topic

I am on the verge of college and thinking about majors. I am interested in some hard sciences, arts, humanities, soft sciences, and history. I have special interests in several of these categories, such as civil engineering and Latin America.

I sometimes think that if I choose history over, say, chemistry, I will seem less intelligent to people. However, I have recently begun toying with the idea that in most jobs, intelligence will help you out regardless. Taxi cab drivers need to be able to read maps well. Cosmetology requires good understanding of certain chemicals and a solid grounding in calculation. Most businesses, even small ones, take a level head when it comes to managing finances, employees, etc.

This can be expanded to academia. You don't have to be brilliant to be a historian, author, or social scientist, but if you are, it would surely show.

This is something to keep in mind when choosing a job: What you do matters, but so does how you do it.

Or do you disagree?

If you have an affinity towards engineering, I'd go for it.

I LOVE history---but it won't pay the bills until you become a tenured professor of it.

If you have an affinity for biology, why not go for medicine? Or maybe Nurse Practitioner?

Engineering degrees are very useful because it shows potential employers that you are willing to work hard.

But, in retrospect, I probably should have taken a few more intro courses to have a more rounded background.

Intelligence can help a lot of jobs in which intellectual ability is useful and critical for the job.

Sounds like you already know what you want, go for it.

Most businesses, and especially the ones you have listed as examples, require a very solid grounding in 'people 101'. Cosmetology, for example, requires a willingness and ability to gossip, make your client base comfortable and have them like you, and be available as a shoulder to cry on. You're also expected to be understanding when they come in wanting to look like Salma Hayek but are actually more reminiscent of Rodney Dangerfield after a sex change. Taxi drivers must figure out who to pick up at all, as some people are not 'safe', and they need to be constantly aware of who they are carrying. An ability to excel in academic persuits, which is what is typically measured in a standard IQ test, doesn't really apply here. In fact, being seen as *too* smart can put people off. They are more comfortable with people 'just like them' or 'regular folks'.

You need serious social skills in academia, to get a tenured position. There are a lot of interpersonal politics in play in institutions, including those of 'higher learning'. A *less* intelligent person may actually do better than a very bright one who does not or cannot keep his/her talent from pissing off the lesser lights in the group, especially the tenured and senior ones.

While it is true that people skills are important, that does not mean that brains are not. In fact, you can make up for one with the other. My thesis was not that you couldn't be a good but stupid cosmetologist. My thesis was that intelligence could be exercised it that job.

Taxi drivers, too, are best when they're people friendly. However, spatial reasoning is still an asset, and intelligent doesn't equal pretentious; one of my closest friends purports to be "an average guy", and has practically our whole school in his friend roster, but is clearly extremely bright. He can sound smart yet approachable with ease.

As for academia, yes, again, but "may" does not mean "will". Also, one of my special interests is the discovery of the double-helix, and Rosalind Franklin, while profoundly brilliant, did not succeed in discovering the truth not out of a lack of brains but a lack of teamwork. However, she could not have done anything she did without being smart, so even in her case, intelligence helps. Ditto for "softer" academia.

Depends on what you want to do for the next 20+ years. Many skilled white collar careers in areas such as engineering, tech, medicine/chemistry/biology/physics/etc. *require* a degree or three (BS, MA, DR) in the field. Others that are less specialized and less siloed do not necessarily require such a targeted education and still others require only a degree. And of course, there are all those careers that don't require a degree at all yet pay well and be enjoyable & satisfying.