Have you ever wondered whether you have an undeveloped capacity for genius? Are you intelligent enough to become wealthy? Are graduates of the Ivy League universities any smarter than average, or do they merely work harder than everyone else? These are the questions that Professor Brendan Kelly receives every day from people of all ages throughout the world on the Quora site: Intelligence and IQ.

Comments and confessions from visitors to this virtual “water-cooler” forum have revealed a host of myths and misconceptions that undermine individual self-worth of many, discouraging young people from pursuing their dreams, or older people from embracing new ventures. Addressing these misconceptions, Intelligence, IQ & Perception: Unpopular Truths about Popular Myths, brings to light the discoveries from cutting-edge research that debunk these popular myths and shed light on the remarkable adaptability of our brain.

In the first of two parts, this book addresses a variety of questions, including:

• How can we recognize intelligence?

• Is your IQ inherited or acquired?

• How can you change your IQ?

• When does your intelligence reach its peak?

• Does talent exist or is talent a myth?

• What is the difference between high IQ and genius?

• Does EQ (emotional intelligence) trump IQ in the workplace?

• Are smarter people wealthier?

• Are male and female brains different?

In recent decades, science has revealed that much of what we see, hear, and perceive is an illusion. An investigation of some of our prominent, yet invisible, misperceptions is undertaken in the second half of this book, providing insights into our visceral selves, our motivations, and the evolutionary factors that shape our behaviors. These insights emerge as answers to a variety of key questions, including the following:

• Are what you observe and what you think you observe the same?

• Where does our tribal bias come from and how is it manifest?

• When can you trust expert opinion?

• How reliable is your “gut feeling?”

• How can you identify a highly intelligent person?

• What is the difference between high intelligence and wisdom?

• How can you attain wisdom?

In broaching these questions, Professor Kelly peers through the lens of our evolutionary development to gain a greater understanding of the tribal instincts that drive us toward the polarization that we see today in attitudes and beliefs. In a 20-20 hindsight view of the 2020 US election, fraught with vitriol and intense acrimony between those of opposing ideologies, we see a replay of the ingroup-outgroup bias that has launched wars in virtually every generation of modern human history. Meanwhile, as we observe the application of artificial intelligence to the development of highly sophisticated technology, we see ourselves moving helplessly like lemmings to a point of no return. Anticipating this irreversible trend, Isaac Asimov lamented, “The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” As our cognitive powers leveraged by our technologies continue to expand, they remain housed in a brain bearing the instincts and emotions of primitive man.

The last three chapters of this section investigate wisdom at the individual level. Through brief biographical sketches, we provide examples of those who are wise and those who are otherwise, by exploring the reflective habit of mind as the path to wisdom. The final chapter finds hope in the acquisition of wisdom through the judicious mixture of visceral and cerebral ways of knowing. Assessment tools are provided to help you acquire the self-awareness that forms the foundation of enlightened perception.