#effective-iq

#effective-iq

The assumption that difficulty with reading or writing signals lower intelligence or diminished leadership ability is not supported by evidence. Decades of research show little to no correlation between dyslexia and lower general intelligence.

Before you can even get the opportunity to impress a human interviewer, you will first need to impress the algorithm! More recently, AI has also been used to assist current employees in doing their jobs and then to help their employers evaluate how well employees are performing in those jobs.

You know that sinking feeling when you realize you've been using a phrase that makes you sound less intelligent than you actually are? I had one of those moments a few years back during a pitch meeting for my startup. I was presenting to potential investors, and I kept saying "I think" before every point I made. "I think our user acquisition strategy will work."

On platforms like TikTok and Instagram, instead of sharing clothing hauls or skincare routines, creators are sharing their book stacks or media diets promising to make their viewers "disgustingly educated" in a matter of minutes. For further optimization potential, take note of these brain hacks to improve memory (so that your time cracking open Plato's Republic won't go to waste).

I can't offer reassurance or tell you that you shouldn't feel under threat, but I can try to give you tools to meet the moment and help you understand that your most durable skills are cognitive, not technical. We'll cover five reflective practices you can use to become a sharper, more nimble, and more astute thinker in any external environment.

In 2013, when Meredith O'Connor was 16, the music video for her debut single "Celebrity" went viral. Afterward, she channeled her own stardom into championing childhood mental health: As a hyperactive kid, O'Connor says she was often the subject of bullying, and when her music career gave her a platform, she was eager to use it to advocate on behalf of other victims. "I knew my fan base was younger, but I didn't know how many people would resonate with mental health challenges," she says. "I realized there were millions of gifted people that are being marginalized, and that's when I really wanted to start the mental health study."

Called the Cognitive Reflection Test ( CRT), it has been around since 2005 but recently gained popularity on social media, with one TikTok user's breakdown of the three questions getting 14million views. The test was created by psychologist Shane Frederick, now at the Yale School of Management, to help predict whether people are likely to make common mistakes in thinking and decision-making.

AI systems continued to advance rapidly over the past year, but the methods used to test and manage their risks did not keep pace, according to the International AI Safety Report 2026. The report, produced with inputs from more than 100 experts across over 30 countries, said that pre-deployment testing was increasingly failing to reflect how AI systems behaved once deployed in real-world environments, creating challenges for organisations that had expanded their use of AI across software development, cybersecurity, research, and business operations.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately, especially after reading Rudá Iandê's new book " Laughing in the Face of Chaos: A Politically Incorrect Shamanic Guide for Modern Life ". His insights about how "our emotions are not barriers, but profound gateways to the soul-portals to the vast, uncharted landscapes of our inner being" got me reflecting on imagination and how it shapes our inner worlds.

Have you ever walked into a room and immediately sensed tension, even though everyone was smiling and chatting normally? That's because you're picking up on microexpressions, body language, and energy shifts that others might miss. Research from the University of Cambridge shows that people who spend more time observing develop stronger emotional recognition abilities. They become experts at reading between the lines, catching those fleeting expressions that reveal what someone really thinks or feels.