>> in large part because most (but definitely not all, Hawking managed some very impressive discoveries) things that one really brilliant person can discover have been discovered, and an even higher percentage of impressive or world changing inventions that one superlatively brilliant person can invent have been invented. <<
I doubt that. There are whole fields that modern culture barely touches. There's always more to discover.
Teams and corporations and colleges will flock to the stuff that everyone already knows can be made profitable. That's the refinement phase. They may come up with some fantastic new things to do with that stuff, but they are sharply limited to popular things.
Loners are free to explore whatever they want and can afford. They don't have to explain it to anyone else or convince people to go along with it, unless they want something like funding which can be useful. And not every field or type of intelligence requires expensive gear.
>>Also, replacing individuals with teams changes things a lot. IIRC, people in general have difficulty working with people whose IQ score is more than 30 points from theirs (in either direction), and so if you have a brilliant inventor with an IQ north of 160, they are going to have a lot of trouble with team work, since you'd need everyone they are working closely with to have IQs north of 130, which is going to be difficult.<<
That means you lose a lot of talent. The smartest people often find it difficult or impossible to work in teams. Same with introverts. So you're left getting by with the gifted range who are smart enough to be useful, but not so smart that everyone hates them. If they're not sick of being treated like vending machines, they may do well there. But there are probably things they won't notice or discover that a super-genius might have.
If you don't provide a place for the smartest people, and the loners, they will find somewhere else to do their thing. And they probably won't share it.
Thoughts
I doubt that. There are whole fields that modern culture barely touches. There's always more to discover.
Teams and corporations and colleges will flock to the stuff that everyone already knows can be made profitable. That's the refinement phase. They may come up with some fantastic new things to do with that stuff, but they are sharply limited to popular things.
Loners are free to explore whatever they want and can afford. They don't have to explain it to anyone else or convince people to go along with it, unless they want something like funding which can be useful. And not every field or type of intelligence requires expensive gear.
>>Also, replacing individuals with teams changes things a lot. IIRC, people in general have difficulty working with people whose IQ score is more than 30 points from theirs (in either direction), and so if you have a brilliant inventor with an IQ north of 160, they are going to have a lot of trouble with team work, since you'd need everyone they are working closely with to have IQs north of 130, which is going to be difficult.<<
That means you lose a lot of talent. The smartest people often find it difficult or impossible to work in teams. Same with introverts. So you're left getting by with the gifted range who are smart enough to be useful, but not so smart that everyone hates them. If they're not sick of being treated like vending machines, they may do well there. But there are probably things they won't notice or discover that a super-genius might have.
If you don't provide a place for the smartest people, and the loners, they will find somewhere else to do their thing. And they probably won't share it.