Having Smart Neighbors Could Mean a Higher Income for You鄰居越聰明，你的收入可能越高

譯/王丹怡

眾所周知，智力對于個人而言非常重要，它會影響個人在學習、工作和生活中的表現。幾十年來的研究都證明了這一點。但如果你的個人智力水平和你所在國的國民平均智力水平相比，并不那么重要呢？這就是喬治梅森大學的經濟學家加雷特·瓊斯在他的新書《蜂群思維：國家智商為何比個體智商更重要》中所說的“智商悖論”。

[2]瓊斯是在和同事W.喬爾·施耐德研究智商和收入間的聯系時發現的這個悖論。在一國范圍內，智商（IQ）和收入間的關聯并不是很緊密。智商每高一個點，人均收入僅多1%。但在不同國家，同樣是智商指數高一個點，人均收入多出6%。為什么在預測最終收入時，國家智商會比個人智商更重要呢？這個問題使得瓊斯開始探尋一些可能的原因，以及這一悖論的潛在影響。

We know that intelligence matters at the level of the individual, impacting performance in school, work,and life. Decades of research supports that point. But what if your personal intelligence level doesn’t matter as much as the average level of intelligence of the country in which you live? This is what economist Garett Jones of George Mason University calls the “paradox of IQ1=Intelligence Quotient，智商。” in his new book Hive Mind:How Your Nation’s IQ Matters So Much More Than Your Own.

[2] Jones discovered this paradox when researching the link between IQ and income with his colleague W. Joel Schneider. Within a country, the link between IQ and income appears modest2modest（數量、比率）不太高的，適中的。,with one IQ point predicting 1% higher income per person. But across countries, that same IQ point predicts 6%higher income per person. Why would it be that the IQ of the country you live in matters more than your individual IQ for predicting eventual income? This led Jones on a quest to3on a quest to尋求。explore some of the reasons why this might be, and potential implications of this paradox,discussed in detail in his new book.

[3] In an interview, Jones told Quartz4美國新聞網站。,“If something appears to matter more for a nation than it does for an individual,that something may well be causing positive side effects.” He described three key paths that may generate positive side effects: the links between IQ and patience, cooperation, and team performance. A fourth path, the productivity of those around you, multiplies the impact of the other three. All these paths are supported by research studies spanning psychology, economics, management,and political science, specifically large research syntheses or meta-analyses.

[3]在接受Quartz雜志網采訪時，瓊斯表示：“如果某事對國家的影響比對個人更大，那么這件事很可能會產生積極的副作用。”他描述了三種可能產生這種作用的關鍵途徑，智商與耐心、合作以及團隊表現分別建立的聯系。第四個途徑是你周圍的人的生產率，這一途徑極大地強化了前三者的影響。這些途徑都有調查研究的支持，相關研究涉及心理學、經濟學、管理學和政治學，特別是大范圍的綜合研究和元分析。

智力越高，越有耐心

[4]越聰明的人越有耐心、越愿意延遲滿足、等待回報。諾亞·薩莫什和杰里米·格雷的元分析支持了這一觀點。瓊斯這樣解釋其中的聯系：“當你更有耐心的時候，你就會存更多（錢），其中一部分錢很有可能會留在你的國家。因此，儲蓄率高的國家可能擁有更多資金用于商業投資。如果你的左鄰右舍更有耐心的話，你以后就可以向他們借錢。”

Intelligence predicts greater patience

[4] Smarter people are more likely to be more patient, delaying gratification and being willing to wait for rewards.A meta-analysis by Noah Shamosh and Jeremy Gray supports this point. Here’s how Jones explains the link: “When you’re more patient you save more[money], and some of that money has a tendency to stay in your home country.So nations with high savings rates tend to have more funds available for busi-ness investment. If you have more patient neighbors, you’ll be able to borrow some of their money down the road.”

智力越高，親社會行為越多

[5]一項由蘇迪普·夏爾瑪、威廉·波頓和希拉里·艾爾芬拜因進行的元分析發現，智力越高的人們往往更多傾向于雙贏、做大蛋糕和親社會的行為。瓊斯解釋道∶“我們需要的是那些能夠與別國簽訂協議而不是發動戰爭的政治領導人，需要的是想辦法做大經濟蛋糕、而不是為了稍微一點利益爭得頭破血流的領導人。政客們很少能從合作中收獲大部分好處：因為大多數的好處會遍及全國各地……在許多社會環境中（并非全部），聰明的群體都更具合作精神。我們推測這其中的一個原因就是他們更有耐心。更有耐心的人更在意自己的名譽，更關心從建立合作規范中獲得的長期收益。”

智力越高，團隊表現越好

[6]一項由丹尼斯·迪瓦恩和珍妮弗·菲利普斯進行的元分析檢測了在實驗室和真實工作環境下的團隊智商和生產率，結果發現團隊的平均智商是對團隊表現的一個相當好的預測指標。瓊斯解釋說∶“從很大程度上說，經濟是一個團隊努力的結果，無論這個團隊是同一家公司的員工、供應鏈上合作的不同企業、當然還有努力建設健康經濟的政界人士和官員……既然大部分經濟價值是在團隊工作中產生的，例如工程公司、醫院的手術室、好萊塢大片，那么任何能夠提高團隊生產率的因素很可能對經濟的整體健康也非常重要。”

Intelligence predicts more pro-social behavior

[5] A meta-analysis by Sudeep Sharma, William Bottom, and Hillary Elfenbein found that higher intelligence predicted greater win-win, pie-growing5grow the pie是宏觀經濟學中的一個概念，意為發展一國的整體經濟，以創造更多財富和就業機會。,pro-social behavior. Jones explains, “We need political leaders who cut deals6cut a deal達成協議。rather than start wars, who find ways to grow the economic pie rather than battle over a slightly larger slice. And politicians rarely reap most of the benefits of cooperation: Most of the benefits spill over to the whole nation…In many social settings, but not all, intelligent groups are more cooperative. One reason we’d predict smarter groups to be more cooperative is because they tend to be more patient. And more patient people care more about their reputations, they care more about the long-run benefits that come from building a norm of cooperation.”

Intelligence predicts greater team performance

[6] A meta-analysis by Dennis Devine and Jennifer Philips examining team IQ and productivity in both lab and real work settings found that the average IQ of a team was a reasonably good predictor of team performance. Jones explains, “Much of the economy is a team effort, whether the team is workers in a firm, different businesses collaborating along a supply chain, or of course politicians and bureaucrats trying to build a healthy economy…Since team tasks are where so much of our economy’s value is created—in engineering firms, in hospital operating rooms, in Hollywood blockbusters7blockbuster轟動一時的電影；一度熱賣的暢銷書。—anything that enhances team productivity probably matters a lot for the economy’s overall health.”

你周圍的人生產率越高，你自己工作也會更有效率

[7]最后，丹尼爾·赫布斯特和亞歷山大·麥斯在實驗室和實地環境下進行了一項全新的元分析，發現如果你的同事的工作效率提高10%，你的工作效率應該會隨之提高1.2%。瓊斯解釋說：“我們的工作表現往往是由我們的同事塑造的，至少會受到他們的一點影響，而我們反過來也會影響他們的工作表現。這也是與智商更高的人做鄰居的另一個積極效應：他們不僅會存更多的錢、樹立合作的榜樣，還會設立一個更高的表現標準，供普通人努力看齊，至少是一點點。我們周圍的人會影響我們將成為什么樣的人。”

If you’re around more productive people, you’ll be more productive yourself

[7] Finally, a brand new meta-analysis by Daniel Herbst and Alexandre Mas looked at both lab and field studies8field study田野調查，實地調查，現場研究。,uncovering that if your coworkers became 10% more productive, that should increase your productivity by 1.2%.Jones explains, “Our work performance is often shaped by our peers, at least a little, and we shape our peers in return.This is yet another side effect of having neighbors with higher test scores:Not only do they save more, not only do they set an example of cooperation,but they also set a higher standard of performance that the average person emulates, at least a little. Those around us shape whom we become.”

[8] So what’s the takeaway9takeaway要點，關鍵。for the individual? According to Jones, it’s that“being around smart people is more important than you being smart yourself. It means that if you want to raise your long run economic well-being, you should care a lot about your country’s average test scores. The effect is about three times at the cross-country level than at the US state level, so it might not be worth it to move across state lines to get smarter neighbors, but I can’t deter you if you want to move to Singapore, it’s a great place.”

[9] Jones argues that medical and educational research should be directed on how to credibly raise test scores:“It should be a global obsession on the scale of10on the scale of以……的規模，按……比例。cancer research.” Jones acknowledges that he isn’t certain whether it’s the average IQ level of the entire nation or the average IQ level of the smartest people of that nation that matters most for long-run economic health. However, he stresses that many nations should consider how migration may shape their nation’s average test scores in the long run. For example,“The United Arab Emirates and Qatar,for instance, are two of just a handful of nations where migration policy substantially raises national average test scores.That’s a brave thing to do, and it’s a way to shape a more prosperous future.High human capital immigration policies, the kind embraced by Hong Kong and Singapore, tend to make a nation’s economic future brighter. These nations are choosing some of their future citizens, and they’re very likely building a stronger hive mind.” ■

[8]那么對于個人而言，關鍵是什么呢？根據瓊斯的說法，關鍵就是“和聰明的人在一起比你自己聰明更重要。這意味著如果你想提高長遠的經濟收益，就應該關心自己國家的平均智商分數。在不同國家間的這種效應大約是在美國各州層面的三倍。因此，跨越州界以期與更聰明的人為鄰可能并不值當。但如果你想搬到新加坡去，我也不能阻止你，那的確是個好地方。”

[9]瓊斯認為醫學和教育研究應該聚焦于如何切實提高智商測試的分數。他說：“對這方面的研究應該要和癌癥研究比肩，也成為讓全球學者著迷的研究重點。”但瓊斯也承認，他并不確定到底是整個國家的平均智商水平，還是這個國家最聰明的人的平均智商水平對經濟長期健康的運行更為重要。然而，他強調，許多國家應該考慮移民對平均智商測試分數的長遠影響。例如，“在為數不多的幾個通過移民政策大幅提高全國平均智商分數的國家中，阿聯酋和卡塔爾就是其中兩個。這么做需要勇氣，這種方式也能讓國家的未來更加繁榮。高人力資本移民政策（香港和新加坡所采取的就是這一政策），往往會使一個國家（或地區）的經濟前景更加光明。這些國家（或地區）正在選擇未來的部分公民進行，他們極有可能構建一個更為強大的蜂群思維。” □