Point 1 is easily attacked so I will. Definitely not a waste of time. Suppose you don't deliberately study "raw intelligence" but are interested in autism. The

Point 1 is easily attacked so I will. Definitely not a waste of time. Suppose you don't deliberately study "raw intelligence" but are interested in autism. There are a bunch of genes related to the manifestations of autism. You have a relatively low-functioning empathy circuit, for example. You develop obsessions with numbers, for example. This could be a malfunctioning orbitofrontal circuit (which is also dysfunctional in OCD patients). It is not a coincidence that some people with superior memories exhibit very similar symptoms as autists, but retain most of their social ability, and there you go, innate, genetic intelligence, almost as a side effect of an impartially developed disorder. What's the benefit of researching Viagra outside of pleasure? It was an accidental discover during heart research (IIRC). You don't even have to be curious about discovering what genes are responsible for "superior" mental functions. That's almost like trying to solve a puzzle with the expectation that you only connect the pieces that you consciously set out to connect.