E.O. Wilson on Introversion, the Limits of IQ, and Where Ideas Come From
<i>It has occurred to me, after meeting so many successful researchers in so many disciplines, that the ideal scientist is smart only to an intermediate degree: bright enough to see what can be done but not so bright as to become bored doing it.</i><p>And:<p><i>There is also an introversion in the innovator that keeps him from team sports and social events. He dislikes authority, or at least being told what to do. He is not a leader in high school or college, nor is he likely to be pledged by social clubs. From an early age he is a dreamer, not a doer. His attention wanders easily. He likes to probe, to collect, to tinker. He is prone to fantasize. He is not inclined to focus. He will not be voted by his classmates most likely to succeed.</i><p>This is not the type of person the elite universities are looking for. Whether it&#x27;s Harvard, Stanford, Sorbonne, Beida, IITs, etc., they&#x27;re looking for high-scoring, blindingly bright geniuses for undergraduate and many graduate programs, too. If they&#x27;re confident extroverts, i.e., &quot;natural leaders,&quot; even better.<p>Are they doing it all wrong?