Intelligence, Morality, and the Burden of Gifts

Intelligence does not equate to moral worth, as moral character often transcends cognitive ability.

### The Complex Relationship Between Intelligence and Morality
* 🧠 People often associate morality with personality traits such as **conscientiousness and agreeableness**, viewing those who are **diligent and caring** as more moral.
* 🤝 Conscientiousness may be seen as a **conservative virtue**, while agreeableness aligns more with **liberal ideals**, reflecting different dimensions of **moral character**.
* 📊 Notably, there is **no correlation between intelligence and morality**, emphasizing the need to **separate intellectual capacity from moral worth**.
* ⚖ The disparity in cognitive abilities raises questions about fairness, as individuals with **lower IQs may struggle** while those with **higher IQs often find greater opportunities**.
* 😇 However, high intelligence can lead to the temptation of pride, as individuals may mistakenly equate their **cognitive gifts with moral superiority**.
* 💔 In clinical practice, some individuals with lower cognitive abilities displayed **admirable resilience and kindness**, challenging the assumption that **intelligence equates to goodness**.
* 📖 Religious teachings suggest that gifts, such as intelligence, come with responsibilities; **misusing such gifts can lead to negative consequences**.
* 🔍 Ultimately, the narrative warns against the **worship of intellect alone**, advocating for a balanced view that recognizes the **moral obligations tied to one’s abilities**.

if you look at the personality attributes the two or three that you would most associate let's say with morality Like It's Tricky and there's not a one-to-one relationship and I'm not implying that but generally speaking people regard those who are

conscientious diligent hardworking reliable industrious as moral now that's not the only dimension of morality because you also have agreeableness when and more people who are more agreeable in our society at least are also deemed more moral because they're more caring

more empathic they're more polite and so you could even see conscientiousness as the conservative virtue and agreeableness as the liberal virtue if you wanted to it doesn't matter those are the places where virtue seems to be captured to some degree in the

personality models there's zero correlation with IQ like zero and so another way and it's very important to discriminate intellectual capacity let's say or Merit from moral worth because it's also the case that the intelligent have their temptations the evil figures

of Mythology are always Stellar intellects gone spectacularly wrong that's why it's always the evil scientist in the modern mythologies right all the enemies of the superheroes are evil scientists they're all Evil Geniuses and that's because General

cognitive ability is not only not associated with morality per se it's worse than that in a sense I think because it is definitely the case that higher General cognitive ability confers upon you a tremendous advantage in a complex society cuz you can learn faster

and the differences are not trivial, it's the biggest single difference between people: general cognitive ability. And it's an appalling literature to familiarize yourself with to some degree because it does seem to violate the principles, on first glance, of universal cosmic justice. It's like, why is it fair

for some people to be born with an IQ of 85, which barely makes you competent even to be a member of the Armed Forces, regardless of what role you're in, or to have an IQ of 145, which opens the doors, let's say, to places like Harvard and investment

banking as a career strategy? The cards are dealt out in a relatively arbitrary way. Well, that's a very bitter pill to swallow, but it is also the case that those who are intelligent have the temptation of Lucifer, essentially, if you think about it mythologically, because

it's very easy to worship your own intellect and then to worship intellect per se, and that's a very, very dangerous thing to do, to develop that sense of wounded intellectual if people aren't bowing at your feet or even the presumption that merely because

you've been gifted with intelligence, it's not something you earn, you've been gifted with intelligence, that means that you're of stellar moral character. I was really shocked in my clinical practice, you know, quite regularly because I had some people in my practice who were

definitely in the lower quintile of intelligence, let's say, very, very impaired, unable to read, certainly unable to use a computer, virtually unemployed, lovable, regardless of how much effort was poured into that, yet often unbelievably admirable in their ability to bear up

under the complex and stressful conditions of their life without being bitter or resentful while still being of service to other people it was really shocking to me to watch that and a reminder that just because you're intelligent doesn't mean you're good and

that's what we do in our culture and the leftists are particularly egregious in this regard I would say to casually equate cognitive ability with moral worth I you know if you have a materialist viewpoint that's a very easy thing to do it's a very easy thing to do it's a hard

thing to fight against our society does differentially award people with high general cognitive ability because our society is very complex and rapidly changing so we differentially devote resources to the cognitively skilled and our culture is set up so that that's more and more the

case but then there's another issue too that I think is equally relevant you see the worship of of the intellect in and of itself has this danger of pride that's associated with it and it's a very big danger so the way we should be conceptualizing intelligence is the

manner in which gifts are portrayed in the gospel accounts for example so one of the things Christ says two things that are in some ways contradictory one of them is that to those who have everything more will be given and from those who have nothing everything will

be taken okay so that's the Matthew principle that's what the economists call it and it is a pointer to the fact that regardless of the discipline resources accrue in the hands of a few it's and that's what Marx observed when he said

that capital would accrue in the hands of fewer and fewer people that's true it happens all the time it happens in every society it doesn't matter whether it's a capitalist society or socialist society by the way and so he attributed that to

capitalism which meant he misdiagnosed the problem because it's way deeper than capitalism but it is the case that rewards are differentially distributed and that those in the higher echelons of the cognitive distribution are more likely to accrue those rewards but there's

another statement there that's also relevant which is that to those who have been given much much will be required like a gift that you misuse turns into your enemy and this is more to the Justice elements like you might be rewarded like your IQ is stellar thank

your lucky stars does that make you privileged absolutely does it make you unfairly privileged it depends on what you do with it like if you bore a responsibility that was commensurate with the talent then you've paid existentially for your gift and the

classical warning in deep religious texts is that if you misuse a gift that you've been granted it will become an unbearable burden and turn itself against you

When High IQ Turns Luciferian | Jordan Peterson

Jordan Peterson Lessons

Correlation between personality traits and morality

Conscientiousness, diligence, reliability, and industriousness are often associated with morality.

Agreeableness, characterized by caring and empathy, is also linked to perceived morality.

Conscientiousness might be seen as a conservative virtue, while agreeableness as a liberal virtue.

Lack of correlation between intelligence and morality

There's no correlation between IQ and morality.

Mythological and modern depictions often portray highly intelligent individuals as villains.

High general cognitive ability provides significant advantages in complex societies.

The unequal distribution of intelligence raises questions of fairness and justice.

High intelligence can lead to the temptation of intellectual pride and the belief in inherent moral superiority.

Clinical observations show that intelligence doesn't guarantee moral character.

Individuals with lower intelligence can demonstrate admirable moral qualities.

Society often equates cognitive ability with moral worth.

Resources are often disproportionately allocated to those with high cognitive abilities.

The Gospel's perspective on gifts and responsibility

The worship of intellect can lead to pride.

The Matthew principle describes how resources accrue to those who already have them.

Those with great gifts have a commensurate responsibility; misusing gifts can turn them into burdens.