What About Brains?

An average IQ score is 100. Those who shine in college and post-grad programs usually score between 100 and 120. But having an IQ above 120 doesn't seem to give any additional advantage as far as worldly success goes. "A mature scientist with an adult IQ of 130 is as likely to win a Nobel Prize as one whose IQ is 180," says Gladwell.

Case in point: a man named Chris Langan is probably the smartest man in the US, with a IQ of 195. That's 195, folks, higher than Einstein, Bill Gates, or even Donald Trump (ok, that last one is sarcastic). He's a wonderful and sad example of how intellect and achievement are NOT perfectly correlated. He's brilliant. While growing up in an impoverished, chaotic household he dreamed of becoming an academic. Instead, he made his living as a bouncer in a bar until he won $250,000 in a game show. Now he owns a tumbledown horse farm in the middle of nowhere. In his spare time he studies philosophy, mathematics, and physics while perfecting his manuscript on his "Cognitive Theoretic Model of the Universe." But he never expects to see it published, and doesn't even try. Why did Chris Langan not realize the potential his enormous intellect seems tailor made to achieve? Because he doesn't possess the practical knowledge to read opportunities and take them. (See the sidebar re Sternberg's theory of practical intelligence.) No one taught him as a child to speak up for himself, to interact comfortably with those in authority, to expect to be treated with fairness and respect. Consequently, he could not surmount obstacles that presented themselves during college (he dropped out ) or in adult life. He gave up.

Chris Langan's predicament highlights a crucial advantage that children of upper (and sometimes middle) class families receive from their environment. They are raised with a sense of entitlement, they learn how to get their way in the world, how to work things to their advantage. In contrast, the children of the lower classes are generally taught to be fearful (and resentful) of authority, to avoid making waves, to accept only what is offered.

...And yet, in a future chapter, Gladwell will show us how even chidren raised in poverty can be inspired by the coping skills of their parents and succeed.