Should Presidents Be able To Spot Three Move Forced Checkmates? - Page 8

Lestat · #71 10-09-2007, 06:24 PM

.... it can be argued that smart people who believe dumb things are even less qualified to be president than dumber people who are more rational. That is because the former type of person can do more harm. 

YES! YES! YES! This is what I was trying to say! But I wasn't smart enough... [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

IronUnkind · #72 10-09-2007, 07:03 PM

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No. A 10 point difference is rather small compared to where they stand on the issues, but I would lose a lot of respect for them BOTH.

I don't think it's 100% necessary for an average president to be a genius, but I suspect that all of the best presidents are (not just talking about the US here either).

Edit: I don't have any data to support this, but it just seems crazy to allow anyone that is not a genius to be the leader of the free world. We aren't talking about a member of the city council here. We've got hundreds of millions of candidates to choose from. Let's be a little picky.

Anyone that thinks there isn't a huge correlation between intelligence and ability to be a good president is just plain wrong.

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ZJ -

What's the IQ threshold for "good" presidents? What is your IQ?

chezlaw · #73 10-09-2007, 07:14 PM

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 .... it can be argued that smart people who believe dumb things are even less qualified to be president than dumber people who are more rational. That is because the former type of person can do more harm. 

YES! YES! YES! This is what I was trying to say! But I wasn't smart enough... [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

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That's what I thought you meant but the claim isn't that all people who can do the chess problems would make better presidents than all people who can't.

chez

Splendour · #74 10-09-2007, 07:43 PM

What does being able to spot a three moved forced checkmate say about a person's decisiveness...I've seen one or two exceptionally smart people who almost become paralyzed about making a decision because they seem to have difficulty weighing options and cutting to the heart of a matter...What you most likely need in the White House is someone like JFK that can handle a pressure cooker situation like the Cuban Missile Crisis...Would this move test in any way indicate a president's ability to handle a crisis and act decisively?

ZeeJustin · #75 10-09-2007, 08:09 PM

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No. A 10 point difference is rather small compared to where they stand on the issues, but I would lose a lot of respect for them BOTH.

I don't think it's 100% necessary for an average president to be a genius, but I suspect that all of the best presidents are (not just talking about the US here either).

Edit: I don't have any data to support this, but it just seems crazy to allow anyone that is not a genius to be the leader of the free world. We aren't talking about a member of the city council here. We've got hundreds of millions of candidates to choose from. Let's be a little picky.

Anyone that thinks there isn't a huge correlation between intelligence and ability to be a good president is just plain wrong.

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ZJ -

What's the IQ threshold for "good" presidents? What is your IQ?

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There is no magic IQ number.

My IQ is well above the average, (high enough that I know answering your question with an actual number is a recipe for disaster) but low enough that I can reasonably expect the leader of the free world to have, on average, a much higher IQ than mine. I think the fact that I'm almost definitely smarter than our current president is a complete joke.

I'm smart, but I wouldn't pretend for a second that I'm smart enough to be the leader of the free world.

evolvedForm · #76 10-09-2007, 10:36 PM

The idea that the president should score off the charts in IQ seems completely wrong. I would much rather have a leader of above average intelligence, with a good education (grad degree), and excellent life skills (people skills, ambition, organization, etc) than a "genius." Have you ever met a genius? Geniuses are usually too concerned with what's going on in our own minds to give everything up for figurehead status. In addition they are usually extremely good at one specialized thing and terrible at practical matters. I won't even mention the giant list of geniuses who have gone insane and/or committed suicide.

Things like diplomacy require tact, not uber-intelligence.

ZeeJustin · #77 10-09-2007, 10:56 PM

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good education (grad degree), and excellent life skills (people skills, ambition, organization, etc)

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Huge correlation between those and intelligence obviously.

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In addition they are usually extremely good at one specialized thing and terrible at practical matters.

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Meh. All "renaissance men" have always been geniuses.

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I won't even mention the giant list of geniuses who have gone insane and/or committed suicide.

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Yeah, obv. I'm not saying that IQ is the lone measure. There certainly are a ton of idiot savants, and eccentric geniuses out there that would obviously suck at being president.

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Things like diplomacy require tact, not uber-intelligence.

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Maybe I'm just naive, but I'm under the impression that Jefferson, Lincoln, JFK, Churchill, and Ghandi were all "uber-intelligent".

andyfox · #78 10-10-2007, 02:48 AM

I agree that there is a relationship between intelligence and the ability to be a good president. All things being equal, we should prefer a more intelligent person to a less intelligent one. And probably insist upon a certain basic level of intelligence as a minimum. But al things are, in real life, rarely equal. An intelligent person can have terible ideas. He's less likely, perhaps, to have them, than a less intelligent person but being intelligent is no guarantee of good policy.

Lestat · #79 10-10-2007, 09:32 AM

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[ QUOTE ]
 .... it can be argued that smart people who believe dumb things are even less qualified to be president than dumber people who are more rational. That is because the former type of person can do more harm. 

YES! YES! YES! This is what I was trying to say! But I wasn't smart enough... [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

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That's what I thought you meant but the claim isn't that all people who can do the chess problems would make better presidents than all people who can't.

chez

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I know, but why do I always feel like DS touts intelligence the way a Jehova's witness touts their cause...? -lol

adios · #80 10-10-2007, 10:49 AM

I don't agree. Deductive logic is not that important IMO in being astute about and adept at politics which is what makes a "good" president IMO. Maybe we should discuss what being a "good" president is all about.