It’s interesting speculation but it assumes that people use all of their current intelligence. There is still the problem of akrasia—a lot of people are perfectly capable of becoming ‘smarter’ if only they cared to think about things at all. Sure, they could still go mad infallibly but it would be better than not even trying.
Are you implying that more IQ may help in overcoming akrasia?
All other things being equal, increasing IQ will make people better at telling the difference between rational argument and sophistry, and at understanding marginally more complex arguments.
Decreasing akrasia for the general population is a different issue; the first thought that comes to mind is that increasing people’s IQ with fixed motivation ought to improve things.
It’s interesting speculation but it assumes that people use all of their current intelligence. There is still the problem of akrasia—a lot of people are perfectly capable of becoming ‘smarter’ if only they cared to think about things at all. Sure, they could still go mad infallibly but it would be better than not even trying.
Are you implying that more IQ may help in overcoming akrasia?
All other things being equal, increasing IQ will make people better at telling the difference between rational argument and sophistry, and at understanding marginally more complex arguments.
Decreasing akrasia for the general population is a different issue; the first thought that comes to mind is that increasing people’s IQ with fixed motivation ought to improve things.
Related post and discussion over at OB—http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/06/lazy-hurt-less-than-stupid.html
Not a sure thing. More intelligent population may get better at sophistry as well.