Hive Mind: How Your Nation's IQ Matters So Much More Than Your Own

Hive Mind: How Your Nation's IQ Matters So Much More Than Your Own by Garett Jones

Countries with a higher average IQ tend to be more prosperous. This book explores the topic and analyzes reasons why. One concern that jumps out is test bias. This is brushed aside as irrelevant. Even if the tests are hugely biased, a group that excels on the test tends to show attributes that lead to success. Those with higher IQs tend to be more patient and have greater analytic skills. They can plan for the future and build out structure for long term improvements. The crowd effects lead others to follow the positive crowd. Immigration also tends to help these countries. People in the high-IQ countries work on more complex tasks. Even if lower-skill people come, they free up those working in low-skill tasks to migrate to the complex ones, increasing the overall economy of the country. The high-IQ people tend to be less likely to accept garbage and corruption from politicians because they understand what is going on. The book contains some stats and analysis. It rambles on a bit, but it is pretty short and presents a fairly solid argument for the "aggregate" rather than the individual.