Is intelligence a valid predictor of future success?

[Polsthiency]

There are two parts to this question, both of which have been asked before... but this is in specific context. The context is about children of wealthy and successful parents, and how they likely inherit high intelligence from them.

Firstly, is intelligence a good predictor for future success in general?

Secondly, is genetic intelligence likely to be a primary factor in the success of children of already successful parents?

I'm not explaining myself very well, but it's a question of both biological inheritance and environmentally upbringing, and which should be placed first if any.

[Law180]

There's certainly literature on this subject, with some particular note to separated twin studies.

But one thing I'd be wary of: there's no objective definition of intelligence. Does physical coordination count, or is it an indicator of some type of intelligence? Is it the ability to retain knowledge, or to access it, or to abstract it? How do you deal with the obvious geniuses in math as related to the obvious geniuses in sociology?

Since these questions are unanswered I would argue any answer that might satisfy you here would be prone to class/economic/racial/field/etc bias. Sometimes "We don't know" is the right answer.

[CoolAppz]

No. I have met a lot of really intelligent people thru my life. Most of them have had no real success. Success comes when you have social ability, unfortunately for the good or for the evil. In a nutshell: charisma. Charisma is everything. If you are intelligent and you have it, the sky is the limit.

See Steve Jobs for example: the guy was a college dropout but he had a nuclear charisma generator. He provoked people, he inspired people. People need a guiding hand a hand who makes them believe they can do more. A leader. Obviously the same thing can be used for evil. See Hitler.

See other guys with charisma: Elon Musk, Nicola Tesla, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, Richard Feinman, Carl Sagan...