Naval Ravikant is one of the most interesting thinkers of our times, and he has a pretty unique test for intelligence.
The AngelList co-founder and serial entrepreneur has built a reputation for distilling complex ideas about wealth, happiness, and success into actionable insights. His latest observation challenges conventional notions of intelligence, moving beyond traditional metrics like IQ tests to something far more practical and outcome-oriented. In a characteristically thought-provoking manner, Ravikant argues that intelligence should be measured not by abstract cognitive abilities, but by one’s capacity to navigate life successfully.
“I think the only true test of intelligence is if you get what you want out of life,” Ravikant explains. “And there are two parts to that. One is getting what you want—so you know how to get it. And the second is wanting the right things, knowing what to want in the first place.”
This framework reframes intelligence as a combination of execution and wisdom. It’s not enough to be capable of achieving goals; true intelligence requires the discernment to set the right goals in the first place. As Ravikant illustrates: “I could want to be a six foot eight basketball player and I’m not gonna get that. So it’s wanting the wrong thing. The best outcomes come when you think it through for yourself and decide for yourself.”
The entrepreneur emphasizes that this kind of thoughtful decision-making is surprisingly rare in our fast-paced world. “I don’t think people spend enough time deciding—the amount of time we spend deciding what to do and who to do it with is very short. We spend three months deciding, one month deciding on a job where we’re gonna be for 10 years or five years.”
Ravikant points to the compounding nature of life decisions, where each choice creates a path dependency for future opportunities. “Because a lot of discovery is path dependent, where the next thing you find on the path is dependent on where you were on the previous path, you sort of start going down this vector that is very long term.”
He uses geographic location as a prime example of this phenomenon: “People decide frivolously which city to live in, and that’s gonna decide who their friends are, what their jobs are, their opportunity, their weather, their food supply, their air supply, quality of life. It’s such an important decision, but people spend so little time thinking it through.”
His prescription is both simple and radical: “I would argue that if you’re making a four year decision, spend a year thinking it through—really thinking it through.”
This perspective on intelligence has profound implications for how we approach career development, education, and life planning in an increasingly complex world. Ravikant’s framework suggests that the most successful individuals aren’t necessarily those with the highest traditional intelligence scores, but those who combine self-awareness, strategic thinking, and patience in their decision-making processes. In an era where remote work has freed millions from geographic constraints and AI is reshaping entire industries, his emphasis on thoughtful, long-term decision-making feels particularly relevant. The entrepreneurs and leaders who will thrive in the coming decades may well be those who master this deeper form of intelligence—one that prioritizes alignment between desires and reality, and recognizes that the quality of our decisions ultimately determines the quality of our lives.