INTELLIGENCE AND ITS USES

BY EDWARD L. THORNDIKE

Professor of Educational Psychology, Teachers College. Columbia University

i the last hundred years the civilized aging human nature; and menof affairs
world has learned to trust science to are realizing that the experiments and
teach it how to make the powers of wind measurements and formule of the scien-
and water, the energy of chemicals, and tific man mayturn out to be the most
the vibrations of the ether do man’s will “practical” things in the world.
and serve his comfort. Physical forces As a sample to illustrate both what
are being conquered by science for man. the scientific study of personnel has done
We mayhope that man’s own powers of and what it has to do, we maytake the
intellect, character, and skill are no less problem of intelligence and its uses.
amenable to understanding, control, and Men talk freely about intelligence,
direction; and that in the next hundred and rank their acquaintances as having
‘years the world mayimprove its use of very little, little, much, or very much
»man-poweras it has improved its use of of it. If, however, they try to state just
-earth-power. whatit is, and how it is to be measured,
_ Not only philanthropists and philoso- there is difficulty. One says, “It is
‘phers, but hard-headed, practical men of thought-power; and it is measured by
affairs in business, education, and gov- the person’s ability in school and in life.”
ernment, are now looking to psychology, Another retorts, “What is thought-
the science of human behavior, to pro- power?” and calls attention to the fact
vide principles for human engineering— that ability in school and ability in life
for the efficient private and public man- are different things. Smith declares that
agement of man-power or “personnel.” *Tntelligence is ability to learn,’ and
For example, the Secretary of War and when asked, “To learn what?’ adds,
Adjutant-General McCain, in seeking “To learn anything.” A teacher present
specialists to help ‘‘(1) secure a con- then observes that one of the slowest
tented and efficient army byplacing boys at learning Latin whom he ever
each enlisted man where he has the op- knew made record progress in learning
portunity to make the most of his talent to swim, skate, and play ball. Jones,
and skill, (2) to commission, assign, and who has turned to the dictionary, says:
promote officers on merit, and (3) to This suits me, ‘Readiness of com prehen-
simplify the procedure of discovering sion’! I call a man intelligent who can
talent and assigning it where most understand questions—see the point.
needed,” intrusted the task to psycholo- Give me fifteen minutes’ interview with
gists. The co-operation between psy- a man and J can give you a measure of
chologists and business men in the or- his intelligence.” Some one at once ob-
ganization that resulted (the Commit- jects that a man maybe slowand in-
tee on Classification of Personnel in the correct in responding to questions, but
Army) made clear to each group how quick and sure in locating the trouble
much it had to learn from the others. with an automobile, or in seeing a bar-
And, in general, to-day, science is eager gain, or in sizing up the temper of a mob
to make use of the practical experience of strikers
of men and women who succeed in man- The facts of every-day life. when
228 HARPER’S MONTHLY MAGAZINE

inspected critically, indicate that a man adapted to all these. The general f

——
Le
has not some one amount of one kind of may be kept in mind in the form of
intelligence, but varying amountsof dif- diagram like Fig. 1. The continuous —
ferent intelligences. His ability to think line represents the intelligence possessed »
with numbers maybe great; his ability by individual A, the height of the line »
to think with words small. He may be representing the amountof intelligence. »
a successful student of history and a The dotted line tells the same story for »
failure at learning physics. Compare B. The dash line tells the same for C. §
Grant’s intelli- A is ontheaverage |
gence in using an the more intelli- /
army with his in- gent, and C the »
&
%
telligence asa busi- least; but B sur-
S
w
ness trader. In

Pusiness
Machines
passes A in several

Chtldren
Sctence

Adults
our ratings of men S= respects, and €
Moral
Tools
we unconsciously Ss surpasses Ain two, =
strike a sort of A perfect de-
average of his abil- scription and —
ities in learning, measurementof Ine =
thinking, and act- telligence would »
ing. The source involve testing the —
or cause of this man’s ability to
average ability is think in all pos- F
what we really
havein mind when
sible lines, just as
a perfect descrip-
,
we speak of his
tl
tion and measure- wl
intelligence. ment of the min- a
Numerous scien- FIGURE 1
eral wealth of a#
tific investigations The shaded area represents the average intelligence state would in4
of humanintellect- : of the adult American
volve adequate

eH
ual abilities con-

i eet
testing foriron,|
firm and extend this view. No manis copper, gold, silver, lead, tin, zinc, anti- ©
equally intelligent for ali sorts of prob- mony, petroleum, platinum, tungsten, /
lems. Intelligence varies according to the iridium, and the longlist of rarer metals. ©
life situations on which it works. A man For ordinary practical purposes, how- *
so feeble-minded in most matters that he ever, it suffices to examine for three «
is confined in an asylum is found to play “intelligences,” which we may call me- ©
a first-rate game of chess. Aman whoin chanical intelligence, social intelligence,
his day was famous the country over as and abstract intelligence. By mechan- |
editor, speaker, and executive never was ical intelligence is meantthe ability to —
able to pass freshman mathematics in learn to understand and manage things
college. Such extreme cases are, of and mechanisms such as a knife, gun,
course, found rarely. There is a general mowing - machine, automobile, boat, —
rough correspondence or correlation, lathe, piece of land, river, or storm. By
such that a man notably intelligent in social intelligence is meant the ability |
one respect will usually be above the to understand and manage men and |
average in others also. But the correla- women, boys and girls—to act wisely in
tion is far from perfect. Shakespeare was human relations. By abstract intelli-
successful as a business man, and doubt- gence is meant the ability to understand
less would have made a good record as a and manage ideas and symbols, such as
lawyer, farmer, statesman, navigator, or words, numbers, chemical or physical
grammarian: but no competent person formule, legal decisions, scientific laws
believes that his intelligence was equally and principles, and the like. Mechanical
 INTELLIGENCE AND ITS USES 229

intelligence and social intelligence refer characterizes each; how this and that
to thought and actiondirectly concerned form of training influences it; how much
with actual things and persons in one’s of it is required for success in any given
hands and before one’s eves. When the occupation, and how it is related to
/ mind works with gencral facts about things other desirable qualities, such as mental
and people, as in the study of physics and health, cheerfulness of disposition, lead-
chemistry, or history and sociology, its ership, industry, honesty, determination,
actionis referred to abstract intelligence. public spirit, loyalty, and co-operative-
Within any of these intelligences a ness,
man displays relatively great consist- The greatest progress has been made
ency. The man wholearns carpentering in the case of abstract intelligence. If
quickly and well could commonly have the reader will, without any preparation,
done nearly as well as a mason, sailor, turn to the four tests and spend exactly
plumber, millwright, or auto-repair 90 seconds on A, 180 seconds on B, 180
man. The man who succeeds as a poli- seconds on C, and 480 seconds on D, he
tician would commonly have done well will have experienced a fair sample of a
as a salesman, hotel clerk, confidence measurementof abstract intelligence. Hi,
man, or, if provided with certain acces- instead of these four “‘tests,’’ he had
sory traits, as a parish priest or school done the ten or twelve of which theyare
principal. The boy who cannot learn a sample; and if, instead of doing only
algebra, history, and sciences will prob- one formof each, he had done five or six
ably be unable to learn law, engineering, forms on five or six days taken at ran-
philosophy, and theology. dom so as to represent his average con-
i

Between one and anotherof the three dition of alertness; and if he had been
there is relatively great disparity. The brought up by English-speaking parents
a

best mechanic in a factory mayfail as a with the average opportunity of a child

foreman for lack of social intelligence. in America to-day—thenhis score would
The whole world mayrevere the abstract be an approximate measure of his ab-
intelligence of a philosopher whose me- stract intelligence. If he had had special
chanical intelligence it would not employ opportunities, or previous practice with
at three dollars a day! the tests or others like them, a discount
ee

In recent years much progress has would be necessary before his score
been made in devising means to measure would represent his ability. Conversely,
intelligence, with the result that we can if he had had less than ordinary advan-
discover how individuals and races and tages. The score would be only approxi-
the sexes differ in the amountof it which mate because anylimited series of tests

TEST A
If the two words of a pair mean the same or nearly the same, write “‘s”’ opposite
them. If they mean the opposite or nearly the opposite, write ‘‘o”’ opposite.
1 wet—dry. 21 repress—restrain.
2 in—out. 22 bestow—confer.
3 hili—vailey. 23 amenable—tractabie.
4 allow—permit. 24 avert—prevent. |
® expand—contract. 25 reverence—veneration,

6 class—group. 26 fallaey—verity.
7 former—latter. 27 specifie—general. |
8 confess—admit. 28 pompous—osteniatious.
9 shy—timid. 29 accumulate—dissipate.
10 delicate—tender. 30 apathy—indifference.

1] extinguish—quench. 381 effeminate—virile.

12 cheerftul—melancholy. 32 peculation—embezzlement.
13 accept—reject 33 benign—genal.
14. eoncave—conves. 34 aeme—climax.
1d. laxs—strict. 35 largess—donation.

16 assert—mainiain. 36 innuendo—insinuation.
17 champion—advocate. 37 vesper—matin.
18 adapt—conform. 38 aphorism—maxim.
debase—exalt. 39 abjure—renounce.
20. dissension—harmony. 40 encomium—eulogy.
 230 HARPER’S MONTHLY MAGAZINE

can test intelligence only as it operates mate measure of an individual’s abstract

in certain limited ways with limited intelligence, at least during childhood |
problems. If Joan has devoted his mind and youth. Schools find them useful as ?
chiefly to thinking with words, while a meansof grading pupils; employment
James has devoted himself chiefly to managers find them useful in hiring and :
thinking with chemical and electrical placing employees; the army found it’
symbols, John will be overrated and profitable so to test nearly two million of
James underrated by the series of four its recruits.
tests in our illustration. Also, if Mary When an individual is measured by
has devoted her mind almost exclusively any of the standard tests, he is given a
to one subject, say music, while Jane score in such terms as makeit convenient
has devoted hers about equally to a to compare him with other individuals

kas
meh
thousand subjects, any dozen short tests and with various requirements. For ex- °

mi 4
are likely to give Jane a better chance ample, John Smith, aged 15 years, 0 :
than Mary. If the test were, “Choose months, may he reported as: ‘Mental -
the thing you know most about and tell age 12 yr., 0 mo.,” or as, “Intelligence ©
what you know about it,’ Mary would quotient (or I Q) 80,” or as, “A 7-per- |
have an unfair advantage. Also, if an centile intelligence,” or as, “Int. = —1.5
individual possesses a very high degree S. D.” Mental age, 12 yr., 0 mo., -
of intelligence, the tests may be too easy means that John did as well in the tests
and the score may represent the speed as the average child of 12 years, 0
with which he can think rather than the months. I Q=80 means that John’s
total efficiency of his thinking. mental age as shown by the tests was

=
Other limitations will occur to the 80 per cent. of his chronological age. |
critical reader. The fact remains, how- A 7-percentile intelligence means that 7 |
ever, that, life being as it is, all the per cent. of the population (white) of age —
limitations do not prevent a well-chosen 15 years, 0 months, will do worse than °
series of tests, if used with ordinarydis- John in the series of tests in question,

ein
cretion and interpreted with ordinary and 93 per cent. will do better. Int.=
common sense, from giving an approxi- —1.5 S. D. means that John is below

a
TEST B
In each of the lines below, the first two words are related to each other in some way.
What you are to do in eachline is to see what the relation is between thefirst two
be SD mine

words, and underline the word in heavy type that is related in the same way to the
third word. Begin with No. 1 and mark as many sets as you can in 180 seconds.
{ sky—blue :: grass— table green warm big 21 success—joy : : failure—sadness successfail work.
Sameies{ fish—swims : : man— paper time walks girl 22 hope—despair: : happiness—frolic fun joy sadness.
23 pretty—ugly :: attract— fine repel nice draw.
| day—night : : white— red black clear pure 24 pupil—teacher :: child— parent doll youngster
obey.
gun—shoots :: knife— run cuts hat bird.
COhWNe

25 city—mayor : : army— navy soldier general pri-

ear—hear :: eye— table hand see play. vate.
dress—woman :: feathers— bird neck feet bill.
handle—hammer :: knob— key room shut door. 26 establish—begin :: abolish— slavery wrong abo-
shoe—foot : : hat— coat nose head collar. lition end.
27 PeeIeENBEY :: last— least worst month
water—drink : : bread— cake coffee eat pie. rst.
io
SCOONOD

food—man: : gasolene— gas oil automobile spark. 28 giant—dwarf large— big monster queer
eat—fat :: starve— thin food bread thirsty. small.
man—home :: bird— fly insect worm nest. 29 engine—caboose : : beginning— commence cabin
go—come :: sell— leave buy money papers. end train.
—_

380 dismal—cheerful : : dark— sad stars night bright.

11 peninsula—land : : bay— boats pay ocean Massa-~ 31 quarrel—enemy: : agree— friend disagree agree-
chusetts. able foe.
12 hour—minute : : minute—man week second short. 32 razor—sharp :: hoe— bury dull cuts tree.
13 abide—depart :: stay— over homeplay leave. 33 winter—summer: : cold— freeze warm wet Janu-
14 January—February :: June— July May month ary. :
year. 34 rudder—ship :: tail— sail bird dog cat.
15 bold—timid :: advance— proceed retreat cam- 385 granary—wheat :: library— desk books paper
paign soldier. librarian.
16 above—below : : top— spin bottom surfaceside. 36 tolerate—pain : : weleome— pleasure unwelcome
17 lion—animal : : rose— smell leaf plant thorn. friends give.
18 tiger—carnivorous :: horse— cow pony buggy 37 sand—glass :: clay— stone hay bricks dirt.
herbivorous. 38 moon—earth :: earth— ground Mars sun sky.
19 sailor—navy :: soldier— gun cap hill army. 39 tears—sorrow :: laughter— joy smile girls grin.
20 picture—see :: sound— noise music hcar bark. cold—ice :: heat— lightning warm steam coat.
 INTELLIGENCE AND ITS USES 231

the average for his age to an extent of Convenient tests of social intelligence
114 times a certaim standard amount. are hard to devise. A child’s wit in read-
| Thus, the adult inmates of asylums for ing facial expression might perhaps be
the feeble-minded are mostly under measured byhis success in selecting from
9 years, 0 months, in mental age. Chil- such photographs as those in Fig. 2
dren with I Q’s of 60 or be- when asked, “Which lady
low later fill such asylums. would you ask to help you?”
An I Q of 100 means average
intelligence. Unless he has
“HU “Which lady is thinking?”
“Which lady is worried?”
extraordinary energy and de- B () L£\ * Which lady is saying ‘I will
Bl

votion, a boy whose I Q is not’??? and the like. It is

ln

under 100 will be unable to doubtful, however, whether

a

1
graduate from a reputable A pictures can be safely used in
=

American college. Children place of realities. And for

“XX &X
selected by competent ob- most of the activities of in-
servers as extremely intelli- telligence in resporise to the
gent will be found to have I behavior of human beings, a
Q’s from 120 to 160.
Measurements of mechani- “AVS genuine situation with real
persons is essential. Social
eal intelligence havere- intelligence showsitself abun-
4
ceived much less attention me
dantly in the nursery, on the
from psychologists and are playground, in barracks and

oo
not yet standardized, but 5 factories and salesroom, but
they are under way. ‘Two it eludes the formal standard-
samples from a set of such ized conditions of the testing
tests may be briefly illus-
‘Oa O
laboratory. It requires hu-
trated. The first is a series man beings to respond to,
of dismembered objects to be time to adapt its responses,
put together. It begins with
something the average child ‘OU U and face, voice, gesture, and
mien as tools.
of four can do, such as to put Whether we consider one
a nut on its bolt, and progress-
es by graded steps to some-
“AtV of these intelligences or the
composite of the three, it

| \
thing which only the $0-per- appears that each human be-
centile adult can do without ing is equipped by nature
special training, such as to with a certain degree of in-
put together the pieces of an
electric pull-socket, or of a
very intricate lock. The sec-
“O00 telligence, much as he is
equipped by nature with a
certain strength of body or
TEST C
ond consists of a set of mate In lines 1 to 10 draw a form of finger-prints. Indi-
rials out of which the individ- fourth figure in each
series such that the
viduals differ by original
ual tested is told to make fourth figure is to the nature in intelligence as in
third as the second is
something, or to make as to the first, as shown stature or eye color or coun-
in examples A and B
many things as he can in an tenance. It is true that good
hour, or to make as good a training improves and bad
cart, derrick, and boat as he can, or to training injures the mind,as it does the
use the material in some other prescribed body; that nature’s gift may belost byac-
way. The merit of the product which cident or decreased by disease, neglect,
he produces is estimated in comparison and misuse. As things are in America to-
with certain average performances of 6- day, however,the net effect of these dis-
year-, 8-year-, and 10-year-olds, and so turbing factors does not greatly disar-
on, under similar conditions. range the order or decrease the differences
232 HARPER ’S MONTHLY MAGAZINE
a

of individuals in respect to intellect. A dren who seemed essentially dull were

boy whois the brightest of a thousand at only growing slowly; and these maycatch
the age of five w'!l usually be in the top up in adult years, and someofthe chil-
fifty of the thousand at the age of dren with high I Q’s at 10 or 15 may
ten. The child who is at the lowest have merely “got their intelligence”
of a thousand at ten will almost never early, as some children get their teeth
rise above the bottom hundredatfifteen. early; these may sink back relatively.
Kelley and others have traced the rec- It mayalso be that the new trends of
ords of the same children year after year mind due to sex and adult ambitionswill
in school and found that in general a act differently on different individuals,
child keeps about the sameposition rela- stimulating intelligence in different de-
tive to other children in late as in early grees and even subtracting from it in
vears. ‘Terman’s measurement of the some cases. As a rule, however, those
abstract intelligence of the same children who progress most rapidly go farthest;
(over a hundred of them) at two periods and those who have the mostintelligence
five years or more apart shows verygreat are least likely to have it lessened by the
constancy. Intelligence grows with gen- distracting force of sex or display or
eral growth from early childhood to rivalry. Intelligence probably does not
adult years, but its growth is in propor- fluctuate very much more from fifteen
tion to what it already is. A child holds to fifty than from five to fifteen. An
his place in comparison with other chil- individual’s intelligence compared with
dren nearlyas closely after five years as that of other individuals of his age is,
after five days. within limits, a stable, permanent char-
Because of the recency of the science acteristic of him. It can be at least
of mental measurements, we lack tests roughly measured and the measurement
of the same individual at 16 years of used to prophesyanddirect his career.
age, 18 years of age, 20, 22, 24, and so If we take a group of individuals and
on. It maybe that certain of the chil- measure their successin life, as students

TEST D
On each line of dots write the word or words that make the best meaning. Each
sentence completed with entire correctness counts 3. A substantially correct com-
pletion will count 1. 2 will be subtracted from your score for each foolish or irrele-
vant completion of a sentence.
VA body of ........ ccc ec cece sees entirely surrounded by........cccccccccccces is called an...........00. a

rn stoUS mis us. « « «+ « hloleieieieielele that a full-grown man should...............0.. & Bhost.....-eccceeccee he is... am

3. His friends,............... wished to dissuade him from this undertaking, asserted that.........eeeeceees 4
he followed their advice..............002: would withdraw their support.

4. The struggle for............ among the lower............ has.......eeeeeee a commonplace of modern scien-
tific thought.

5. Two... cee eeeee of practical efficiency may be applied to the............ of the city: What does it provide
for the people and what..........6. It... ccc eee aee the people.
6. And now.......... all.......... introduction.......... US EO.....00.. at our question.

7. History... ...ce0e cecccccees assisted and recorded memory.

8S. Ideas distinguish............ from all animals, and all.......... significant in .......... history... ....2 ae .
be.... cece eee back to ideas.
9, We know that power. ....cceeeseeecees purify men in despotic governments, but we talk...........2.eeee 4
it.......... 0. oe 9S. eee so in free........+.. ae El: -E

10. The laws of nature are ZiVen..... cece eee e eee eee eee my wishes.

11. Want of uniformity in private law and methods of.............. IS AD CVI... cc cece eee eee eee teres .
minds will.............. by different........00cee00
12, Let the class that.............. itself to transportation, for example,.............. working and the disas«

trous....... eer to the rest of the.............. can searcely...........8. imagined.

 INTELLIGENCE AND ITS USES 233

in school, or as money-makers, or as ters is Just beginning; and it is a matter

lawyers, or as carpenters, or as teachers of great difficulty and expense to meas-
of children, and then measure their in- ure the intelligence of, say, a thousand
tellect by somesuitableseries of tests and clergymen, and then secure sufficient
observations, we can determine how evidence to rate them accurately for
closely success in any line goes with the their success as ministers of the Gospel.
degree of intelligence shown bythetest- Consequently, one can report no final,
score. perfectly authoritative results in this
For example, consider the significance field. One can only organize reasonable
of abstract intelligence estimates from the
for suecess im school- various partial inves-
work. If we take a tigations that have
thousand children been made. Doing
twelve years old we this, I find the follow-
may measure the suc- ing:
cess of each in school- Intelligence and_ suc-
work by the grade he cess In the elemen-
has reached and bythe tary schools, r=+
quality of work he is 80.
doing in that grade. Intelligence and suc-
If we measure these cess in high-school
same children with an and colleges in the
adequate series of tests ease of those who
made up of giving the go, r= +.60; but if
opposites of words, all were forced to
supplying missing try to do this ad-
words in sentences. vanced work, the
solving practical prob- correlation would
lems, following direc- be +.80 or more.
tions, and putting facts Intelligence and_ sal-
in their proper rela- ary, r=+.30.
tions, we have as a re- Intelligence and suc-
sult a diagram which cess in athletic
shows the resemblance. .. FIGURE 2 sports, r= +.25.
or correlation between Intelligence and char-
intelligence score and successin schoolin acter, r=-+.40 or more.
the individuals in question. The amount Intelligence and popularity, r= +.20.
of the resemblance—thecloseness of the Whatever be the eventual exact find-
correlation—is measured with great ex- ings, two sound principles are illustrated
actitude by a coefficient of correlation, by our provisional list. First, there is
called 7, a number derived by suitable always some resemblance; intellect al-
calculation from the thousand pairs of ways counts. Second, the resemblance
scores. This number varies from +1.00, varies greatly; intellect counts much
or perfect correlation, to —1.00, perfect more in somelines than in others.
antagonism. Such coefficients of correla- Thefirst fact is in part a consequence
tion are the shorthand in which science of a still broader fact or principle—
sums up the extent to which two things namely, that in human nature good
go together. The significance of in- traits go together. To him that hath a
telligence for success in a given activity superior intellect is given also on the
of life is measured by the coefficient of average a superior character; the quick
correlation between them. boy is also in the long run moreaccurate;
Scientific investigations of these mat- the able boy is also more industrious.
VoL. CXL.—No. 836.—30
234 HARPER’S MONTHLY MAGAZINE

There is no principle of compensation anybody who gets in his way and toall
whereby a weak intellect is offset by a innocent bystanders.
strong will, a poor memory by good Exact and complete knowledge about
judgment, or a lack of ambition by an the correlations of mental traits will be
attractive personality. Every pair of of enormous importance for the utiliza-
such supposed compensating qualities tion of man-power by schools, churches,
that have been investigated has been employers, and the state. When we have
found really to show correspondence. such exact knowledge, we shall be able
Popular opinion has been misled by to make upa bill of specifications of the
attending to striking individual cases sort of intellect and character required
which attracted attention partly because for a certain job, select men efficiently
they were really exceptions to the rule. instead of haphazard, and train them
The rule is that desirable quahties are according to their individual needs in-
positively correlated. Intellect is good stead of indiscriminately.
in and of itself, and also for what it The present waste is great, both in
implies about other traits. eficiency and in happiness. W. P.,
The second fact—that intellect varies whose I Q is 83, is being forced through
in utility according to the work to be high-school to college by his father. W.
done—has permitted a very wide diver- P. gets nothing but confusion and misery
sity in opinions about its utility. Ordi- from his high-school work andis growing
nary observation of life is beset by such a little more inactive, sullen, and idle
variety and complexity that persons of each year. He wants and has wanted to
generally good judgment can be found be a gardener, and could probably suc-
who will! rate the importance of intellect ceed and be useful to the world as such.
for success 1n, say, business, or art, or There is not one chance in a hundred
politics, almost all the way from 0 to 100 that he will graduate from college or get
per cent. Only the painstaking investi- any good from college studies. L. C.
gation of each such problem can give was promoted to be foreman of the shop
the correct answer. merely because he was the mostskilful
The correct answers will put an end workman. He possessed very little
to numerous superstitions and fancies social intelligence and was unhappy and
about human achievement. About a inefficient in the new job. The manage-
generation ago America was obsessed by ment, realizing that it was to blame,
the superstition that money-making had continued him at a foreman’s salary,
a correlation of from +.80 to +1.00 but gave him a special mechanical job.
with general intelligence and good-will, P. S., a field salesman of extraordinary
so that to get a representative of the success by virtue of his great popularity,
people in Congress, or a trustee for a energy, and personal tact in face-to-face
university, or a vestryman of a church, conferences, was promoted to be in
or a member of a commission on public charge of planning sales campaigns and
health or charity or schools or play- selecting and directing the staff of sales-
grounds, you should look about for a men. Hefailed, being only mediocre in
man who had made a great deal of general intelligence, and unable to un-
money. ‘To-day the world is being as- derstand the plans of the manufacturing
sailed by the much more foolish super- department or teach his subordinates.
stition that money-making is correlated In selecting these, also, he sometimes
0 with general intelligence and about mistook ‘‘sportiness”’ for popularity and
— .80 to — 1.00 with good-will, the maker pleasant manners for real tact.
of great profits being no morefit intel- Knowledge of the correlations of men-
lectually to run his business than his tal traits will also be a protection against
barberis, and being diabolically eager to many unsound,impracticable theories of
amass dollars at the cost of misery to business and government. Consider, for
 INTELLIGENCE AND ITS USES 235

example, the correlation between intel- shocked if Wilham James had given up
lect and character. Dickson and Terman psychology to establish a lucrative or-
found, in the case of little children, that ganization of spiritualistic mediums over
the I Q of abstract mtelligence had cor- the country, or tf the Mayo brothers had
relations with the teachers’ ratings for relired from medicine to direct a chain of
persistence, conscientiousness, Co-opera- Mayo drug-stores!
tiveness, industry, courage, dependabil- The peasants of France did not them-
ity, and unselfishness of from +-.30 to selves extort democracy from Louis’s
+.50, with an average of +.41. Chassell autocracy. They were led by intelligent
has found, in the case of college students, aristocrats. The Russian serfs did not
correlations between intelligence and un- secure their own freedom. Africans did
selfishness, loyalty, justice, courage, self- not abohshthe slave-trade. In at least
control, rehability, and activity for so- three out of four social reforms the re-
cial welfare, averaging +.40. Woods, formis initiated and put through largely
rating some six hundred members of by leaders from above, men of high in-
European royal families for intellect and telligence who act, often against their
for character, finds a correlation of own selfish interests, for the common
about +.40. No impartial student of good. Many men of great intelligence
the matter has found any contrary re- will, of course, be unjust and cruel
sult. The abler persons in the world in tyrants; the correlation is .40 or .50,
the long run are the more clean, decent, not 1.00; the direction of the world’s
just, and kind. affairs by men who were guaranteed to
To this feature of human nature which be both of great ability and of fine
has tied good-wiil toward mento ability, impersonal devotion to the world’s wel-
a large proportionof the blessings which fare, would be best of all. But, in the
the common man enjoys to-dayare due. long run, it has paid the “‘masses”’ to be
The brains and ability of the world have ruled byintelligence. Furthermore, the
been, and still are, working for the natural processes which give power to
profit of others. If Pasteur had been of menof ability to gain it and keep it are
mean and brutal nature he could have not, in their results, unmoral. Such men
kept his first discoveries as a tradesecret, are, by and large, of superior intelli-
extorted a fortune in fees, and lived in gence, and consequently of somewhat
sensuous idleness, leaving the world superior justice and good-will. They
without his still more important later act, in the long run, not against the in-
work. Flexner or Carrel could poison terest of the world, but for it. What is
their enemies and rivals except for the true in science and government seems to
tradition of justice and generosity which hold good in general for manufacturing,
the positive correlation between intel- trade, art, law, education, and religion.
lect and morality has made a part of It seems entirely safe to predict that the
scientific work, and which their own world will get better treatment by trust-
natures gladly maintain. ing its fortunes to its 95- or 99-percentile
The correlation between intellect and intelligences than it would get byitself.
character has in fact within a few hun- The argument for democracyis not that
dred years produced so strong a bodyof it gives power to all men without dis-
customs that the world rather expects a tinction, but that it gives greater free-
gifted man of science to be a_ public dom for ability and character to attain
benefactor. It would have been greatly power.