# Cecil's IQ **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [March 27, 2003, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532 "2003-03-27T15:13:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532/21 "2003-03-28T16:01:34Z")
My own theory is that Cecil is just like Dr. Who, if he dies he just regenerates into a new body. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532/22 "2003-03-28T16:11:30Z")
I have also heard Cecil Adams is one of the members of [The Residents](http://www.residents.com/). Just a rumor, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532/23 "2003-03-28T18:08:01Z")
Yes, there is a Cecil Adams though I thought he alwasy admitted that wasn’t his real name. ---
**Author:** ![heresiarch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@heresiarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heresiarch)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532/24 "2003-03-28T19:49:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lucki Chaarms \* > \*\*Bad news, dude. Cecil Adams is just a name that belongs to the Chicago reader, which refers to no actual person. > > The Gods only know who writes the damned things… \ Cite: > [http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=3ehlr4.2.1\*\*](http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=3ehlr4.2.1**) Uh, **Lucki** , [I wouldn’t talk if I were you](http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=lqlpv4.2.11). ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532/25 "2003-03-28T21:59:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by istara \* > \*\*IIRC there has been more than one Cecil. The first one may have passed away, if memory serves. \*\* Actually, he’s living like a king in Patagonia. ---
**Author:** ![jesuslynch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e99b99/32.png) [@jesuslynch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesuslynch)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532/26 "2003-03-28T22:06:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gyt\_fx \* > **Ok, I snooped the net a bit about cecil and ed Zotti. [http://www.ipass.net/~whitetho/edcecil.htm](http://www.ipass.net/~whitetho/edcecil.htm) Shows a side-by-side comparison of the ‘two.’ Is that Really Cecil…** Yeah. But I never realize Ed could just pick him up like that. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532/27 "2003-03-28T22:09:39Z")
I think I’ll move this thread to Comments on Cecil’s Columns. bibliophage moderator GQ ---
**Author:** ![Kjetil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc8723/32.png) [@Kjetil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kjetil)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532/28 "2003-03-28T23:48:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by istara \* > \*\*IIRC there has been more than one Cecil. The first one may have passed away, if memory serves. \*\* Like the Phantom, then? (Move the thread to Comments? You mean _this_ isn’t important for all humanity?) ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532/29 "2003-03-29T15:48:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by heresiarch \* > \*\*Uh, **Lucki** , [I wouldn’t talk if I were you](http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=lqlpv4.2.11). \*\* Okay, with both of these USPTO searches, all I get is “This search session has expired. Please start a search session again by clicking on the TRADEMARK icon, if you wish to continue.” Could somebody tell me what, exactly, I should search for to find the pages originally referenced? ---
**Author:** ![heresiarch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@heresiarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heresiarch)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532/30 "2003-03-29T20:40:17Z")
Well, uh, **Lucky Charms** , happens to be a trademark registered to General Mills. (The alternate spelling didn’t fool me.) So **Lucki** must not be a real person! OK, not very funny. Never mind. (Go to [http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=n9j3jd.1.1](http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=n9j3jd.1.1) if you want to search for a trademark.) ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532/31 "2003-03-29T22:26:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > Actually, he’s living like a king in Patagonia. You see, no one would submit questions to the Dread Columnist Wesley. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532/32 "2003-03-30T02:33:28Z")
Just page back as instructed and do a trademark search on “Cecil Adams”. However, the fact that the _Chicago Reader_’s lawyers registered the pen name and allowed for the possibility of replacement Cecils does not, in fact, mean that there is not a One True Cecil. We simply don’t know. Ever since the quarrel between Pulitzer and Hearst over _The Yellow Kid_, over a century ago, publishers have always done this sort of thing to shroud their fundaments. The fact that the TM was abandoned rather indicates, in fact, that there _is_ a One True Cecil, whom the _Reader_ no longer regards as fungible. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532/33 "2003-03-30T03:49:56Z")
\<\< For instance Dex, and some others that i cant think of now \>\> I don’t think I’m fictional, and neither do my wife or my kids or my dog. OK, OK, I admit it, I hired a nerd to play me at Chicago Dopefest. Cost a pretty penny. Cecil doesn’t allow photos, he has this notion that if his photos (or real name) were known, he wouldn’t be able to go to the grocery story without being mobbed by fans. OK, so he’s a genius, he’s allowed his delusions of grandeur. I’m sure not going to tell him different. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532/34 "2003-03-30T04:52:04Z")
I remember doing a test to determine Cecil’s IQ, and I found it to be around 125-130 on the Terman scale, above-average, but notat genius level. What he does deserve credit for (in fact, the alleged photo of him relates to this) is that he’s one of the most tireless researchers on the face of the planet. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532/35 "2003-03-30T04:53:27Z")
Also, with Cec’s age, due to his young children and some of his tastes, I’d put him in his early 50’s. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532/36 "2003-03-31T15:45:27Z")
**Governor** , could you give us a little more detail on how that test was conducted? Is it based on analysis of his writing? Because I had understood that all such IQ tests were unreliable, showing a poor correlation at best with the results from standardized IQ tests. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532/37 "2003-04-01T01:07:33Z")
I didn’t bother with his writing, which could be difficult, as his style seems to change over the years (read the first column). To be perfectly honest, in fact, my method might be even less reliable. I started off assuming that he’s at average IQ level, and then, instead of using his writing, used the subjects on which he writes on, with actual writing only used if it seems to collaborate any points. The range of subject matter dealt with suggests some above-average intelligence, but the fact that so much of it needs to have assistents or him openly addmitting to source material suggests that it isn’t at genius level. I’ll admit first off that this isn’t really a good method, but until he comes out and takes proper tests, I can’t do any better than this. I still stand on my age for Cec, though. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532/38 "2003-04-01T01:10:42Z")
In fact, when I tried the writing analysis test that Chronos mentioned, I got a score of average, as Cec does not use a very complicated vocabulary, and being a smartalec doesn’t guarantee any particular brain power. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532/39 "2003-04-01T06:22:06Z")
That presupposes, then, that knowing when to ask for help makes a person less intelligent? And really, most of Cecil’s questions are not the sort of thing that’s answered by raw processing power, but by knowledge. Even a genius has to accquire his knowledge somewhere, and what difference if it’s before or after the question was asked? Personally, it seems to me that a reasonable definition of “smartness” would be a person’s ability to make use of available resources to answer questions. By that standard, yes, Cecil is very smart indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532/40 "2003-04-02T18:48:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by John W. Kennedy \* > \*\*The fact that the TM was abandoned rather indicates, in fact, that there _is_ a One True Cecil, whom the _Reader_ no longer regards as fungible. \*\* Ooh, another band name: the Fungible Cecils! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-iq/164532.md?page=1)