Maybe Being Smart Isn’t Everything
And maybe having a lot of money doesn’t mean you’re smart.
He brings it all together.
Photographer: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images
LeBron James will go down in history as perhaps the best to ever play his sport. Does that make him the smartest person to ever set foot on a basketball court? Tyler Cowen says that what makes LeBron so exceptional is his ability to bring his individual talents to work in tandem, not excellence in one particular skill. There’s a lesson in there for economists and the business world, Tyler says, citing recent studies that show the link between IQ and earned income simply isn’t that strong. “If you are looking to hire the best people, don’t obsess over their smarts,” Tyler writes. “What really matters is a person’s ability to synthesize his or her skills — not excellence in a single skill.” So if you ever find yourself wondering why your genius neighbor isn’t rich or why the billionaire in the news doesn’t seem all that smart, it might be better to wonder what it is that brings each of them meaning in their lives.
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