Should countries be ran by smart people?

LMAO, IQ basically measures your ability to solve puzzles and play Tetris. Believing it accurately measures one's intelligence, or making a correlation between IQ and business success/income, like @Auron_ is doing is pseudoscience. Like, astrology-level pseudoscience. I consistently score quite high on IQ tests since my youngest age, and trust me, you do not want my income, or to give me the keys of your country. And I wouldn't want the jobs that provide a high income, or the keys of any country either...

While it's generally accepted that really low IQ is a somewhat decent predictor of low income, there is much debate regarding the use of high IQ as a predictor of high income or financial success, and I'd eat my hat if there was a study somewhere proving that high IQ (or financial success) leads to more competent gestion of a country. The whole "high IQ = successful people = better working society" is bullshit dangerous eugenist crap that leads to creating permits for procreation based on IQ and physical tests to create a super race. And while I'm not totally, completely, 100% against it from a cold, utilitarian PoV if someone can bring me overwhelming evidence that it will lead to a better world, the evidence is simply not there. Because while high IQ = successful individual in society = good leader that works towards a better society is like, two leaps of faith, there is more and more evidence than sociopathic traits are more common at the top of the food chain in capitalist societies, or in some high income jobs.

So by all means, if you want leaders that have no empathy, a propension for risky behavior, and a chronic inability to assume responsibility for their own mistakes (all sociopathic traits), extrapolate their intelligence and qualities as leaders from their financial success. Or if you want leaders that can wreck your ass at Tetris, give'em an IQ test with a minimum requirement to pass. Will they be BETTER leaders? I'll let you be the judge, but just remember there were probably more "intelligent" leaders than "dumb" leaders through history, and it got us exactly where we're at rn. As the philosopher would say, "the best of all possible worlds"...

@Deathko Every demographic has its bad apples but I think OP's point is that the propensity for error is lower w/ individuals who score high in IQ than those who don't. People w/ high IQ are the ones driving STEM and technological advancement at the end of the day.

@Deathko Every demographic has its bad apples but I think OP's point is that the propensity for error is lower w/ individuals who score high in IQ than those who don't. People w/ high IQ are the ones driving STEM and technological advancement at the end of the day.

Could you tell a bit more of your first-hand experience? Not gonna argue or whatever, I don't give a shit about politics, only following financial news. Kinda interesting how all this buzz affects people's daily life though.