Yes but... the level you are at is not just or mainly a function of IQ. I cannot evaluate the quality of a structural engineer who is much more skilled than me

Yes but... the level you are at is not just or mainly a function of IQ. I cannot evaluate the quality of a structural engineer who is much more skilled than me. Their cool new structural ideas could be brilliant or just terrible; I can't tell. A key issue here is how one responds to not knowing how good those ideas are. Dangerous responses: "I can't tell so they must be crazy" or "I can't tell so they must be brilliant." Accepting that one doesn't know mitigates the risk.