And they tend to be much more glaring at lower levels. This literally holds true in almost anything – from waterfalls to basketball.
IQ Differences Are Most Noticeable at Lower Levels
And at higher levels, it’s hard to see the difference.
Let me give you an example. Say we have a guy with a 125 IQ like commenter Tulio. My IQ is 1.5 standard deviations above his. That’s a very extreme difference. However, realistically, we have 125ish IQ people on this site, and it’s hard to say that I am much smarter than they are. I regard them as very bright and they make some unusually perceptive comments. If differences are there, they are so fine-grained that they are hard to see.
Now let us look at another 1.5 SD variation. A 100 IQ person and an 78 IQ person. That is the exact same spread between me and the 125 guy, but here the difference will be vast and profound. Even at 107 and 85 – once again, a 22 point spread – the differences will be quite glaring. The 85 IQ people will seem literally stupid to even a 107 IQ person.
It holds true as we move up. A 112 and 90 IQ person have a 1.5 SD spread, and you will indeed see some important differences in intelligence. The 90 IQ people will not seem stupid to the others – instead, the 112 people would describe the 90 IQ people as “not that smart.” That phrase means something a lot different from calling someone stupid. It means they are not stupid at all, but on the other hand, they are not real smart either. They are smart enough to get by and function, but you get into anything remotely intellectual, and can you their eyes start swimming. You are literally talking to a wall or talking to yourself. That 90 IQ will barely understand what you are saying.
You will have to keep defining words, events, concepts, etc. so much that the conversation will start to break down, as the smarter person feels tried, and the slower person starts to feel the other is making them feel stupid.
What I am trying to say here is that as you go up IQ-wise, the differences tend to wash out. Often you can barely even see them even if they are there. If there are any differences, they are between high achievers and super-achievers or super-achievers and ultra-super-achievers, and those differences barely seem to matter.
Compare an Olympics event. Sure, some will take home the Gold and Silver, but even the losers are fantastic athletes. They are all great athletes, but even greats sort out between greats and ultra-greats.
This bleeds over into other things.
Cars, Waterfalls and Brewers
What’s the difference between a Mercedes and a Jaguar? Some might say the Jag is a lot better, and perhaps that is true. But does it matter? A Mercedes is a fantastic car. Perhaps a Jag is super-fantastic, but who would care about the differences other than a real car snob?
Let us look at natural things like the waterfall example below. I am sure you can line waterfalls up in terms of superiority. I have some lineups like that. You might make a case that Niagara Falls is qualitatively superior to Bridalveil Falls in Yosemite, and the analysis is surely technically correct. But does it matter? Niagara Falls is stunning. But you have ever seen Bridalveil or better yet, Yosemite Falls? They will take your breath away.
At the same time, differences are lower levels are more glaring.
The gap between an average waterfall (I consider even these to be a bit spectacular) and a lousy waterfall (not sure what that is, but it probably exists) is probably quite noticeable.
The gap between an average car, say a Ford, and a real beater like a Chevy Vega is quite extreme. The average car will destroy the low quality car in terms of functionality. The beater will literally break down after 30-60,000 miles and you will need to buy a new engine, transmission, or car.
You can expand this to coffeemakers, microwave ovens, can openers, or all sorts of things. I’ve had some low-quality coffeemakers and can openers and they were pretty bad. The brewers quickly break and go dirty when they are failing, and the can opener never did work well.
But if you compare a high end coffee maker, say a Keurig, with say a Brics, you won’t see much difference. Maybe the Keurig is a bit cooler, but I would love to have a Brics brewer. You won’t see much difference at the high end. A good brewer is a good brewer. A comparison between a good brewer and a great brewer is not very important to anyone but coffee snobs.
