The most intelligent people I know are not mathematicians or physicists, but............

 The most intelligent people I know are not mathematicians or physicists, but businessmen and politicians. (Not all of them!)

IQ exams are designed to test rapid abstract reasoning, very closely related to mathematical ability. People who score high on such tests are typically people with those skills, and those are the skills that can lead to careers in math and physics. So it is natural that physicists and mathematicians score high on the standard IQ tests, since they were developed to test math ability. That does not make them more intelligent than those who score low.

The tests do not test many things. Among these are:

1. Intelligence in understanding complex phenomena. (This is very important for business and military leaders and many others. How high do you think Warren Buffet’s intelligence is?)

2. Musical intelligence. This is the kind displayed by Mozart. How did he know how to write music that we would want to listen to?

3. Social intelligence. Important in almost every field; it often develops late. Can you read body language? Can you judge who is “solid” and reliable; who tells the truth; who fools you; who fools himself?

4. Evaluation of real-time motion. Key for fighter pilots, nintendo players, and football and basketball players.

5. Large picture intelligence. This is related to the complex phenomena aspect. It is exemplified by our greatest political leaders, those who not only had “vision” but could follow through on it.

This list is just made off the top of my head by thinking about the numerous people I know who are not in math/physics but whom I consider to be more intelligent than I am. I could extend the list much farther, but this is long enough to make my point.

-Richard Muller