Jordan Peterson is WRONG about IQ

Improving Academic Performance

The presenter argues that IQ and academic performance are not entirely fixed. People can improve their skills and test results through learning, practice, motivation, and effective study habits.

He offers personal examples, including raising his SAT score through practice and improving from mediocre grades after learning how to study. These stories illustrate that performance can improve, but do not by themselves show that a person’s underlying IQ has changed.

The video challenges Jordan Peterson’s characterization of IQ as fixed and as a strong predictor of life outcomes. It also argues that persistence and preparation can help people perform well academically, even if they are not naturally exceptional students.

Strategies and Techniques

• Read regularly: Daily reading can help build vocabulary and verbal skills.
• Develop a growth mindset: Drawing on Carol Dweck’s work, the presenter recommends believing improvement is possible and being willing to put in effort.
• Clarify your motivation: Identify why you want to learn, what your goals are, and whom you admire academically. The presenter says this can help sustain effort.
• Build effective study habits: Prepare before class, practise with sample questions, sit near the front, reduce distractions, and learn from students with strong study routines.
• Seek help and instruction: The presenter describes asking successful students for guidance and helping struggling students prepare for exams.
• Cultivate curiosity: Choose subjects you care about and focus on understanding rather than only earning grades.
• Learn from role models and supportive teachers: The presenter credits family influences and teachers who encouraged curiosity with helping shape his learning habits.
• Read books you enjoy: The presenter cites The Book Whisperer and its classroom approach—letting students choose their own books—as an example of how choice and interest can encourage more reading.
• Protect brain health: The presenter says nutrition and avoiding toxins or head injuries may matter. He also speculates about fluoride, aluminum in tap water, and swimming; these claims are not established by the subtitles and should not be treated as proven advice.

Presenters and Sources Mentioned

• Peter Rogers, MD — presenter
• Jordan Peterson — quoted and criticized
• Carol Dweck — growth mindset
• Stanford–Binet IQ test — referenced historically
• Goethe — The Sorrows of Young Werther
• Thomas Hardy — Tess of the d’Urbervilles and The Mayor of Casterbridge
• Charles Dickens — novels referenced
• The Book Whisperer — cited as an example of student-choice reading

The presenter also discusses unnamed comedians and members of his family as personal influences.