A lot of people obsess about intelligence testing and IQ tests. But why does intelligence matter? And what are the limitations of what intelligence testing can tell you?
The Limitations of Intelligence/IQ Testing
Accumulative Advantage: Why Some People Succeed (Outliers)
at is accumulative advantage? Why does it make such a difference in a person’s success? Learn about the opportunities of accumulative advantage in this excerpt from Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.
The Matthew Effect: The Rich Get Richer (Outliers)
What is the Matthew Effect? Why does it determine if someone is successful or not? Learn about why the Matthew Effect suggests the rich get richer, and the poorer get poorer.
Convergent vs Divergent Thinking: Which Is Better?
IQ and intelligence are one thing. But how you apply this power is just as important. There are two types of thinking – convergent thinking, and divergent thinking. Which one is better? Which one leads to more long-term success? Learn more about divergent vs convergent thinking.
Relative Age Effect: When You’re Born = Success
What is the relative age effect? Why does when you’re born affect how successful you are later in life? Learn how your birth date affects your later outcomes, because of the relative age effect.
Analytical vs Practical Intelligence: Which Is Better?
The kind of intelligence measured by IQ tests is called analytic intelligence. But extraordinary success in life is often the result of practical intelligence. Let’s look at what distinguishes the two:
The Rebel Tendency (From The Four Tendencies)
What is the Rebel tendency from Gretchen Rubin’s Four Tendencies like? How do they behave, and what’s the Rebel Personality? Learn more about Rebel here.
What Are the Four Tendencies? Each One, Explained
Life is full of expectations, ones we have for ourselves and ones other people have for us. How do you respond to expectations? Do you fulfill them, or resist them? When, and why?
Gretchen Rubin has developed The Four Tendencies, a simple yet powerful personality test based on expectations. What are the Four Tendencies? What does it mean to be each tendency? We’ll explain it all here.
The Four Tendencies Quiz: Which One Are You?
Want to figure out which of Gretchen Rubin’s Four Tendencies you are? Take our version of Rubin’s Four Tendencies Quiz here.
This chapter contains our adaptation of the quiz Gretchen Rubin offers in the book and on her website. When answering these questions, choose the answer that is most generally true for you: don’t look for exceptions to the rule or focus on one area of your life.
Negativity Bias: Why You’re So Negative
Is the world really getting worse? Are things really as bad as they seem? The negativity bias makes us think so. But what is the negativity bias? And how do you overcome it? Find the definition of negativity bias, with plenty of examples and statistics, here.