Everybody knows someone who is smart in the traditional, academic sense – and would presumably have a high IQ score – but who functions poorly in everyday life. The “absentminded professor” stereotype is a good example. People like this are memorable because their foolish behavior is so surprising, given their “book smarts.” From a scientific perspective, these people undermine the claim that intelligence is general and that it helps in all aspects of life. After all, if intelligence really is general, then people who are good at navigating one aspect of their environment (e.g., school) should be good at navigating all of them. If there are people who function poorly in everyday life but function well in school, then it seems plausible that there could be more than one broad ability.