I am German. (Dual German South African citizen).
My late (German) father had an IQ of 185 as did my brother. I have tested between 165 (equal scores for both right and left brain tests) and off-the graph. I have done many, many of these tests.
It has nothing to do with knowledge, and all these tests test only for logical reasoning - the ability to solve problems through reasoning.
That's it. So, yes, of course, they're narrow. Every single definition of intelligence defines it as problem solving.
The tests are not biased towards cultural knowledge. It's straight logic. That said, they do require a solid knowledge of one's home language.
Intelligence is static. Knowledge has nothing to do with intelligence. Education increases knowledge - it does not increase intelligence. One's level of intelligence is genetic. It is passed down through genes.
I'm not quite sure how to respond to your statement that 'taking IQ tests is a skill within itself.' I've heard it numerous times. I think it's just one more specious argument to downplay people's resentment that they aren't particularly brilliant. Why would they be resentful? Perhaps they are eliminated because they don't get a job or they aren't accepted for college. I have no idea. It certainly doesn't bother me if people can do things I can't.
Emotional intelligence and emotional maturity are two different things. Emotional intelligence (as defined by Daniel Goleman - the creator of the concept) is the ability to get along with other people, to influence them, to work with them, etc. Psychopaths have very high EQ. Business loves people with high EQ, especially if they need sales people.
Emotional maturity is something quite different. That is about emotional resilience, being able to continue to work/live in spite of turbulent emotions. People with high emotional maturity are stable.
There was a study about a decade ago that showed that far from people with high EQs being successful, it was people with high IQs. Bill Gates, for example comes in at 160. In addition, a lot of very rich, very successful people, have very low EQs.
Again, I'm not quite sure what to say about your statement that IQ only enables you to do well in the academic sphere. That is simply not true. In America, 30% of people go to university. Only 1% have IQs at about 140. All degrees can be done with an IQ of 119.
Some actors and musicians with high IQs include Snoop Dog 147, Kate Beckinsale 152, Nicole Kidman 132. Jodie Foster 132, Arnold Schwartzenegger 132, Madonna 140, Natalie Portman 140, Lisa Kudrow 152,Matt Damon 160, Ashton Kucher 160, Quentin Tarentino 160, Lady Gaga 166., etc
It is virtually impossible to reach any international level of success without having exceptionally high IQ.
If one does not have the capacity to analyze and resolve complex problems, one will land up in a world with incompetent politicians, etc.
Now where were we...
