Fun fact, the average ACT scores in Ohio are only slightly higher than those of farm animals, since leaving the test blank is within the margin of error of what Ohioans actually score.
In all seriousness, studies show that chess skill does not translate to other types of non-contextual intelligence (like memory and reasoning).
More to the point, what we need are people responsive to empirical and normative facts — rational people. Not logic zombies.
Technically, the idea that chess players are automatically smart outside of chess is worse than false. I’ve seen studies where smart kids were less likely to improve in chess because they are so curious about the real world (you know, philosophy, art, science).
Yes. It only looks like magic until you see how the trick is done.