Latent intelligence is not a viable substitute for accrued experience. Never has been and never will be. Intelligence is a worthwhile weapon only when it’s allowed to gain temper and weather sufficiently over time. A virgin piece of premium grade iron ore is impressive in its own right and contains all the potential in the world, but until it has passed through the thousands-of-degrees Fahrenheit temperatures indigenous to a blast furnace, this raw piece of iron possesses no inherent value as a weapon. Only when confronted with immense temperatures, pressures, and stressors does the original chunk of primal hematite eventually transform into a pluperfect specimen of tungsten steel. The same holds true regarding intelligence. Until someone has faced a varied range of life experiences and has had their latent intelligence tested in the searing flames of difficult, real-life circumstances, that supreme intellect—assuming a person truly possesses same, which of course is a variable and never a constant—is virtually worthless in addressing practical, everyday problems.
Fred's Soapbox 