Why are people so obsessed with the concept of “intelligence”?

I could have sworn that in recent years the idea of intelligence as the be all and end all of human potential is rising in popularity, but I just looked at the timeline for the word “intelligence” and it looks like it was more popular in the XIX\^th century. Well, in any case I suppose that it is not very intuitive that human intelligence and creativity are the sources of so much value. I mean, people have been eating, sleeping and reproducing for tens of thousands of years, and only quite recently has human intelligence figured out how to do that in a way that is net positive for the species. <br><br>So, it is not immediately obvious that intelligent behaviour is the key to a good life, and yet lately there is a growing consensus that to be intelligent or to be around intelligent people is somehow better than to be otherwise. I mean guys like Jordan Peterson and Sam Harris are intelligent in a very academic way, but it doesn’t help them in taking the road less traveled. I’d say that a person with high IQ and a lot of academic credentials ought to be humble and realize that there are people who, despite lacking formal education, have a great deal to offer, it’s just not immediately obvious what it is they are good at. <br><br>I mean why do you think that IQ or academic prowess is the only thing that matters, even when a 5 year old can show you a world of wonder and awe by doing absolutely nothing? Well, in recent years I have come to realize that a lot of misery is caused by educated people who are otherwise unremarkable. Elon Musk is a great example of this. All of his accomplishments, which are formidable, are in the vein of hypocrisy, so we have a hyper capitalist who is getting rich off of government subsidies and who is out of touch with the reality of his customers so that he can make really expensive cars that no one really needs. <br><br>So, I suppose my point is that intelligence is over rated. I mean, we’re intelligent apes, and we have a very neutral understanding of what is the end of all of our striving, so why do you think that intelligence, as we understand it, is going to be enough to achieve whatever it is that we are hoping for? Some people say that the end of human evolution is our next evolutionary step. Some people say that it's hosting a super AI. I wonder if we will ever fully understand the meaning of life. Anyways, thanks for reading.