> Why do we celebrate athleticism, musical talent, and other forms of ability in others, yet also feel so fiercely insecure about other people's IQ test scores

> Why do we celebrate athleticism, musical talent, and other forms of ability in others, yet also feel so fiercely insecure about other people's IQ test scores that we have to co-opt the term "intelligence" itself? Possibly because we see intelligence as the ultimate limiting factor to any kind of success. It's not entirely untrue, but it doesn't paint the entire picture. My IQ isn't even above 100 and yet I'm making over thrice the average American income as a software engineer, drawing PCBs, making hardware devices, and debating people online every day over things like Typescript; the idea that IQ is everything doesn't ring true to me. As a counterpoint, something like musical talent can be highly subjective. An artist can make a piece of music that is "perfectly" composed and performed, but the guy who used Garageband with some unique samples can get more plays on Spotify. Athleticism is no exception either, as anyone who has watched the Olympics has seen how ridiculously subjective the judges are (especially in gymnastics and skating). Measures of either sports or musical ability predict very little outside of their respective domains, whereas IQ is correlated with many things.