# Are we the smartest chat community on the Web? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 13, 2001, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875 "2001-01-13T18:17:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2001, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875/21 "2001-01-14T00:28:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by andygirl \* > \*\*I don’t know about you guys, but I’m fucking brilliant. > > Modest, too. \*\* I, for one, am the most humble person on earth. And I give great fake kisses, or so I’ve told myself;) SuperNova, penii is a plural of penis. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2001, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875/22 "2001-01-14T00:53:41Z")
Smartest? Not even close. There are specialized communities out there which put SD to shame. If you take the juvenile communities out of the equation, then my impression is that SD is neither smarter nor dumber than most. Just as some pretty interesting stuff passes through SD, some of the most incredibly and hilariously dumb things are also said, so it all balances out. What I like about SD is the sense of play, the general curiosity, and the mix of social and intellectual backgrounds – the asking of the questions, rather than the knowing of the answers. If anything, I’d suggest that SD would do well to cultivate a more international membership. As it stands, the focus is pretty much limited to an American perspective, so smart or not, it is still pretty much thinking within the box. ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2001, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875/23 "2001-01-14T01:43:56Z")
> [@](#): > > ## quote: > > ## Originally posted by Persephone The collective penii of this place is MUCH bigger. > > Collective? Doesn’t that hurt? I don’t know…yet. Give me some time. I’ll find out. Heh. [sub]Oh, and I’ve never actually bothered to look up “penii” and see if it’s an actual word. I just like the way it sounds.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2001, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875/24 "2001-01-14T01:46:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Smartest? Not even close. There are specialized communities out there which put SD to shame. **muffin** : That’s why I ‘qualified’ _smartest_ in the second post. Even though, as **Chicken** pointed out > [@](#): > > we’ve probably got the highest concentration of scientists / experts in various fields (I would underline ‘probably’, BTW) I realize full well that there are numerous chat rooms specialized in a number of topics. But I was thinking in terms of the global picture. Speaking of global picture, you say: > [@](#): > > If anything, I’d suggest that SD would do well to cultivate a more international membership. As it stands, the focus is pretty much limited to an American perspective I’d agree about the American perspective; as far as the international membership goes, even if it’s far from optimal, I’d say we’re doing OK, with people from the U.K., Australia, Sweden, South Africa, Mexico (not to mention Canada;)) and several other countries (mods/admins help me out here). But of course there’s always room for improvement. Word of mouth does wonders sometimes. I wasn’t saying that the Straight Dope Community _was_ the best. Just asking. ---
**Author:** ![Upham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Upham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Upham)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2001, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875/25 "2001-01-14T01:52:49Z")
“i am so smart, I am so smart, S-M-R-T…i mean S-M- **A** -R-T” --Homer Simpson ---
**Author:** ![oldscratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@oldscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldscratch)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2001, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875/26 "2001-01-14T02:09:03Z")
I don’t know… there’s some bright ones on the sock board. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mermaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@The\_Mermaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mermaid)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2001, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875/27 "2001-01-14T02:19:51Z")
I’m a certified genious according to all my IQ tests. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2001, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875/28 "2001-01-14T05:29:29Z")
What the Bears have to do to start playing winning football is to… [sub]Wait. Wrong board. This is the one where I have to pretend I’m smart.[/sub] The square of the long side is equal to the sum of the other two sides, times two and add thirty. As for being more international, it’s about time! I’ve pissed off representatives of the entire English-speaking world. I need new worlds to conquer. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2001, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875/29 "2001-01-14T06:04:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by andygirl \* > \*\*I don’t know about you guys, but I’m fucking brilliant. > > Modest, too. \*\* Don’t forget “gorgeous”!!! ---
**Author:** ![KJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@KJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KJ)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2001, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875/30 "2001-01-14T06:18:49Z")
The SDMB is a rather smart message board. At first I thought that everyone expressed basic common knowledge, and that the people (particularly me) weren’t that much more intelligent than any other message board. Then, just the other day, I got onto a local message board where kids from my highschool post messages (which I’m probably not going to post a link to.) It’s the theory of relativity in action, folks. Compared to “YEAH WE RULE AT WRESTLING, KISS OUR \*\*\* OPPOSING TEAM” “NO U SUCK,” the SDMB is brilliant. In a way, it’s refreshing to go to that message board, and look at all the morons, and make myself feel a lot smarter, then come back to the SDMB, where (almost) everyone can have an intelligent conversation. If not “intelligent,” let me just say that, true to its original purpose, the SDMB members are probably the most “non-ignorant” of any people I’ve seen. ---
**Author:** ![Silo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Silo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2001, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875/31 "2001-01-14T07:43:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Persephone \* > The collective penii of this place is MUCH bigger. 😃 I’m glad I joined too. 😉 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2001, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875/32 "2001-01-14T15:58:14Z")
Go back a few months and find that “Stupidest thing you’ve ever done” thread. The only thing that separates a lot of the Straight Dopers from being Darwin Award winners is sheer luck. We may be intelligent, but we’re not that smart. ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2001, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875/33 "2001-01-14T16:18:14Z")
Hey, I missed that one! Thanks for the heads-up **Finagle**!!😃 ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2001, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875/34 "2001-01-14T18:29:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Finagle \* > \*\* > Go back a few months and find that “Stupidest thing you’ve ever done” thread. The only thing that separates a lot of the Straight Dopers from being Darwin Award winners is sheer luck. We may be intelligent, but we’re not that smart. \*\* Nodding head vigorously (my burned thumb’s all healed now). ---
**Author:** ![Fletch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/919ad9/32.png) [@Fletch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fletch)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2001, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875/35 "2001-01-14T19:06:18Z")
I am so bright that my parents always called me sun. ---
**Author:** ![Totoro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Totoro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Totoro)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2001, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875/36 "2001-01-14T19:27:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bagkitty \* > \*\*The smart ones are all on the “Hobbes” team in Calvinball. \*\* Woo! People will actually be referring to it! YAY! ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875/37 "2001-01-15T00:17:10Z")
I don’t widely roam MBs (this and Fathom are more than enough), but my impression is that there are a lot of boards out there that have only a narrow range of views represented. That doesn’t happen here - the lefties don’t chase out the righties, or vice versa. And, yes, this is a very intelligent MB. We have genuine experts in a number of fields, and a lot of extremely well-read people who insist on a high level of debate. That doesn’t mean we’re the smartest general-interest MB around, of course. But has anyone run into another candidate for that title? ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875/38 "2001-01-15T01:04:24Z")
> [@](#): > > But has anyone run into another candidate for that title? That was my implicit sub-question. BTW, my OP could be a bit misleading. I used ‘chat’ where I should have used ‘Message Board’ or, at least, ‘chat/MB’. Having said that, I have no objection to the inclusion of the SD chatroom, even though I know next to nothing about it. ---
**Author:** ![Wood\_Thrush](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b38774/32.png) [@Wood\_Thrush](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wood_Thrush)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2001, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875/39 "2001-01-15T02:31:23Z")
#StraightDope? Smart!? **BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!** …ahhhh, thanks, I needed a good laugh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-the-smartest-chat-community-on-the-web/49875.md?page=1)