I agree. IMHO someone mentored by another trader will likely have a much better chance of success. Turtles sort of proved this. With that said the original traders are the pioneers and deserve a ton of respect. It's like golf courses....the majority of the time the builders go bankrupt and it's the purchasers who eventually make the big $$$.
Trading is the type of pursuit where intelligence exponentiates the number of fruitless rabbit holes for one to get lost in. A keen mind hypothesizes patterns and relationships where none exist - at least not often enough to turn a consistent profit!! Thats part of the riddle. Fractals within fractals of meaningless data that appear meaningful... Or is it?!? Seriously, less intelligent people who invest the same time in their craft will achieve profitability quicker than smarter traders. I'd bet money on it.
I agree with you. Some people with high intelligent think they're smarter than the rest of accomplished traders, and keep on searching for the keys to the trading universe, while unknown to them their version of reality in regards to trading success is in total contrast to what successful trading is about. Regardless of the level of IQ, we all still have numerous cognitive biases that we're not even aware of. On top of that, our emotions screw up efficient decision making even further. People with high IQ are used to being right at schools, universities, etc. and they usually need to totally readjust their thinking and learn to think in probabilities. Apparently (don't know if that's true) there was a hedge fund run by professors who were Noble price winners, the hedge fund no longer exists. Gary Kasparov apparently also ran a hedge fund that no longer exists. (again don't if these are only rumors)
A high IQ during childhood and youth unfortunately has been found to have no correlation with - adulthood success at work - income - adult mental health From what I remember from university, it appears 'simple' factors such as childhood nest warmth and childhood self-confidence are much better predictors for adulthood success measured by metrics such as income and mental health.
True, in childhood we get lots of beliefs instilled into us which later on in our lives can guide our behavior and our outlook on life. The good news is that we as adults can create our own destiny regardless of the upbringing, and just an average IQ is sufficient.