The Intelligence Paradox

Satoshi Kanazawa's Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters (written with Alan S. Miller) was hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "a rollicking bit of pop science that turns the lens of evolutionary psychology on issues of the day." That book answered such burning questions as why women tend to lust after males who already have mates and why newborns look more like Dad than Mom. Now Kanazawa tackles the nature of intelligence: what it is, what it does, what it is good for (if anything). Highly entertaining, smart (dare we say intelligent?), and daringly contrarian, The Intelligence Paradox will provide a deeper understanding of what intelligence is, and what it means for us in our lives.

• Asks why more intelligent individuals are not better (and are, in fact, often worse) than less intelligent individuals in solving some of the most important problems in life—such as finding a mate, raising children, and making friends
• Discusses why liberals are more intelligent than conservatives, why atheists are more intelligent than the religious, why more intelligent men value monogamy, why night owls are more intelligent than morning larks, and why homosexuals are more intelligent than heterosexuals
• Explores how the purpose for which general intelligence evolved—solving evolutionarily novel problems—allows us to explain why intelligent people have the particular values and preferences they have

Challenging common misconceptions about the nature of intelligence, this book offers surprising insights into the cutting-edge of science at the intersection of evolutionary psychology and intelligence research.

Introduction 1

What Do People Want? 3

A Brief Word on the Data 8

1 What Is Evolutionary Psychology? 13

Four Core Principles of Evolutionary Psychology 15

Two Logical Fallacies That We Must Avoid 19

2 The Nature and Limitations of the Human Brain 23

The Savanna Principle 23

3 What Is Intelligence? 37

Common Misconceptions about Intelligence 38

How Did General Intelligence Evolve? 49

Cognitive Classes 54

4 When Intelligence Matters (and When It Doesn’t) 55

The Savanna-IQ Interaction Hypothesis 55

From the Hypothesis to the Paradox: The Intelligence Paradox on Individual

Preferences and Values 71

5 Why Liberals Are More Intelligent than Conservatives 73

What Is Liberalism? 73

Are Liberals More Intelligent than Conservatives? 76

If Liberals Are More Intelligent than Conservatives, Why Are Liberals So Stupid? 78

IQ and the Values of Nations 84

6 Why Atheists Are More Intelligent than the Religious 87

Where Does Religion Come From? 87

Is It Natural to Believe in God? 92

Societal Implications 95

7 Why More Intelligent Men (but Not More Intelligent Women) Value Sexual Exclusivity 97

Humans Are Naturally Polygynous, Not Monogamous 97

Are More Intelligent Men More Likely to Be Faithful? 101

Intelligence and Marriage Institutions 110

8 Why Night Owls Are More Intelligent than Morning Larks 113

Choice within Genetic Predisposition 114

Night Life Is Evolutionarily Novel 115

So Are Asians Really More Nocturnal than Others? 122

9 Why Homosexuals Are More Intelligent than Heterosexuals 127

What Does It Mean to Be Homosexual? 128

Evolutionary Novelty of Homosexual Identity and Behavior 130

Intelligence and Homosexuality 133

10 Why More Intelligent People Like Classical Music 141

Evolutionary Origins of Music 144

Intelligence and Tastes for Music 148

Evolutionary Novelty or Cognitive Complexity? 152

11 Why Intelligent People Drink and Smoke More 157

Brief Histories of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drugs 158

Intelligence and Substance Use 160

Intelligence and Criminality 173

12 Why Intelligent People Are the Ultimate Losers in Life 177

Reproduction Is the Ultimate Goal of All Living Organisms 177

Intelligence and the Value for Children 178

Intelligence and the Number of Children 181

Heritability of Fertility: An Evolutionary Puzzle 186

Possible Societal Consequences 187

13 Other Possible Consequences of Intelligence 191

Coffee 192

Vegetarianism 192

Crime and Punishment 198

Representative Democracy 199

Conclusion: Intelligent People Are Not What You Think 205

Notes 209

References 221

Index 243