Why does everyone say IQ does not matter when clearly it does?

Answer 1

IQ is not a valid measurement by itself of intelligence. It is a test - some people do not perform well on tests, even if they are smart. Also, there are cultural problems - if your culture is not one where this kind of test is a normal occurance, then you will not be able to get a good IQ score. Therefore, most scientists feel that IQ is not an important measurement. Many people, however, use the IQ score as a basis to start determining inteligence- if someone has a high IQ, they are most likely to be very smart - however, they could also be very smart if they do not have a high IQ, so other factors will need to be examined (like behavior, conversation, problem-solving skills, etc).