# Are You Smarter Than The Average Doper. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 20, 2011, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685 "2011-07-20T06:17:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685/41 "2011-07-20T19:03:18Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Compared to some of the quips one might see on the Youtube chat, the Dope seems to have a better class of poster. > > But is there really any proof that the posters here tend to skew higher than average in IQ? Sure. Our posts are our cites. You must be new here ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685/42 "2011-07-20T19:08:34Z")
> [@Winston\_Smith](#): > > Sure. Our posts are our cites. šŸ˜ƒ That was my first assumption, but I wanted to confirm it. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685/43 "2011-07-20T19:25:52Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > I put significantly below average. Iā€™m typing this by pounding my head against the keyboard and drooling on the mouse. I put below average. That puts me above Shib, naturally, because I donā€™t drool. (on the mouse, anyway.) šŸ˜ƒ Some people think Iā€™m pretty smart, but I know better. Any time I get feeling too smart, I come here and try to keep up. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685/44 "2011-07-20T19:42:04Z")
Something tells me that this is not really a measure of perceived intelligence, but rather a measure of actual humility and arrogance. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685/45 "2011-07-20T19:47:50Z")
> [@Winston\_Smith](#): > > Sure. Our posts are our cites. > > You must be new here I was really hoping your target was going to be an original member or a moderator as that would have sent this joke over the moon. As it is, Iā€™ll give it a 7 šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685/46 "2011-07-20T19:53:48Z")
I answered average. Iā€™m certainly smarter than the general populace, but dopers are a sharp bunch. Part of it is that here, every subject has an expert that I canā€™t compete with. I was, however, tempted to go with above average because weā€™ve had an influx of idiots in the last few years. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685/47 "2011-07-20T20:08:17Z")
> [@Disheavel](#): > > I was really hoping your target was going to be an original member or a moderator as that would have sent this joke over the moon. As it is, Iā€™ll give it a 7 šŸ˜‰ Yeah, you work with what youā€™ve got, though. Still. A 7 ainā€™t bad at all. thanks ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685/48 "2011-07-20T20:13:03Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I think Iā€™m below average for a Doper. Above average for the Great Unwashed, but below average for you bunch of big brains. Thatā€™s what I said. Put me into a average crowd and I am frustrated by my own intelligence (I used to pray to be stupid when I was younger because it looks so much easier) but you guys make me feel like I have something further to aspire to. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685/49 "2011-07-20T20:33:15Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Part of it is that here, every subject has an expert that I canā€™t compete with. I think this is why the ā€œDopeā€ thinks of itself, collectively, as being smarter than the average bear forum. You can come here and ask a lawyerly question or computer question and there will be several posters who can chime in with ther expertise. So the person asking the question or a lurker might think, ā€œWow, this site has some really smart people on it.ā€ Yet if you put these expert lawyers and computer people on a forum about the new Dodge Charger where people are asking about techinical specs about it and some posters come in with some serious knowledge about the spec then that lawyer or computer person might think, ā€œWow, this site has some really smart people on it.ā€ The anology isnā€™t very good since this is a General forum and the Charger one is a specific one but I think itā€™s close enough to illuminate my point. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685/50 "2011-07-20T21:32:31Z")
I selected ā€˜averageā€™ because, without subjective bias, thereā€™s no mechanism with which or basis upon which to determine mean intelligence of board members, or even the subset of just those who post, so whoā€™s to say where I fall? Some pretty smart people here say, and believe, some pretty dumb things, and vice versa, I suppose. Members of this board probably skew slightly smarter than the general population. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685/51 "2011-07-21T02:15:43Z")
Iā€™m thick on esoteric knowledge; thin on general knowledge; but deep and wide runs my interests and curiosity. I selected male/below average. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685/52 "2011-07-21T02:33:52Z")
Iā€™m hiding behind ā€œaverageā€. There are a whole lot of dopers a lot smarter and better educated than I am. But lots of us are sitting on the hump. So I am hoping for the gentlemanā€™s C and choosing as smart as the average doper. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685/53 "2011-07-21T02:37:14Z")
> [@Invisible\_Chimp](#): > > It makes no fucking sense that this poll differentiates by sex. Why not use race too, while youā€™re at it? Age? American vs. Non-American? Have you no sense at all that women are different then men ? Its been my life long experience that women are more likely to under rate themselves while men tend to over rate. For all the extra intelligence that dopers generally have over the rest of society, its interesting to learn that the extra intelligence has no bearing on accurately assessing oneself with respect to others. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685/54 "2011-07-21T02:45:14Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > Iā€™ve noticed that the men have rated themselves a bit higher than the women, which is not surprising. Well, the OP asked us to be honest. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685/55 "2011-07-21T02:51:32Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Quoth **Bosstone** :I wonā€™t, because I think thatā€™s actually accurate: I think that most folks here really are smarter than the average Doper. It only takes one idiot to drag the average down, and weā€™ve got several of them around. Itā€™s only paradoxical if most people think theyā€™re smarter than the median, but median and average are not the same thing. And it only takes one genius to drag the average up and weā€™ve got several around. I doubt very much that we look to the extremes to estimate the average intelligence of dopers with respect to ourselves anyway. We pretty well look to where most dopers fall in. The median if you will . Must you be so pedantic ? Suppose you are right. Then explain the opposite skew that is occuring for the women. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685/56 "2011-07-21T03:10:30Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > Have you no sense at all that women are different then men ? Its been my life long experience that women are more likely to under rate themselves while men tend to over rate. For all the extra intelligence that dopers generally have over the rest of society, its interesting to learn that the extra intelligence has no bearing on accurately assessing oneself with respect to others. You could could argue that older people rate themselves more accurately than younger people, yet age is not factored in the poll, only sex. I think any differences in regard to the sexes to this question is trivial and not interesting enough to mention in the poll over other differences. I still donā€™t see any good fucking reason why to split this question up that way. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685/57 "2011-07-21T03:14:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Quoth **Bosstone** :I wonā€™t, because I think thatā€™s actually accurate: I think that most folks here really are smarter than the average Doper. It only takes one idiot to drag the average down, and weā€™ve got several of them around. Itā€™s only paradoxical if most people think theyā€™re smarter than the median, but median and average are not the same thing. Average is usually synonymous with mean, but is also used to refer to the median and sometimes even the mode. An example is when people refer to the average home price in a given area, they mean the median. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685/58 "2011-07-21T03:14:30Z")
Oh HELL no. Iā€™m a dumb-dumb. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685/59 "2011-07-21T04:02:32Z")
> [@Invisible\_Chimp](#): > > I still donā€™t see any good fucking reason why to split this question up that way. Fine then. Is that the only reason you are all upset. That you canā€™t see the reason ? Donā€™t let it worry you dear. There really are way more important things to fret about. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685/60 "2011-07-21T04:13:15Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > I put significantly below average. Iā€™m typing this by pounding my head against the keyboard and drooling on the mouse. Mate, if you can type the above by pounding your head and drooling, I think you should have chosen ā€œsignificantly above averageā€ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-smarter-than-the-average-doper/589685.md?page=4)