# How many posters on SDMB actually have credentials to prove how "smart" they are? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 24, 2004, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911 "2004-09-24T18:14:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/21 "2004-09-24T19:05:24Z")
```auto * *** * * * * * * * ``` Proof? You want PROOF? Okay bucko. You see that right there? Yup. I’ms a _charter member_. They don’t just hand that out to _anyone_. ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/22 "2004-09-24T19:10:46Z")
I hold dual certificates from the Wilfrid Academy of Hair and Beauty Culture, and the [American Bartenders School](http://www.barschool.com/locations.html) Plus I am a Jedi Knight. Plus I am really good-looking. Now what do you want to know? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/23 "2004-09-24T19:14:33Z")
Published science fiction author (see sig) and computer user services specialist. M.A. in English and a variety of jobs in TV, radio, retail, publications, nonprofits, and others. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/24 "2004-09-24T19:15:56Z")
I’ve achieved enough of those somewhat _dubious_ benchmarks to both qualify under said “smart” criteria, and to realize just how worthless such benchmarks can be. The real benchmark is to observe an individual and see what it is that they do competently. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/25 "2004-09-24T19:17:30Z")
Hm. I have an IQ of 128, which makes me smart on paper. Not so much in real life most days. I know a little bit about a lot of things, but a lot about only a few things. That’s probably true of most intellectually curious folks, I’d imagine. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/26 "2004-09-24T19:18:11Z")
I’ve got a Master’s Degree. And I skipped the second grade. And participated in a bunch of gifted/enhanced/magnet student programs which I’ve completely forgotten. I’m also smart enough to know the world doesn’t work on black-and-white platitudes, which annoys advertisers, salesmen, and politicians. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/27 "2004-09-24T19:21:08Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Basically anything that proves to people that they are listening to an expert and not some guy at work on his lunch break or a bored college student blowing off homework. :dubious: Like all of us who post at work are doing so during our lunch hours… 😃😃😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/28 "2004-09-24T19:21:52Z")
My credentials: - A damned solid SAT score (from the year before they recentered) that would almost certainly be a 1600 today… - A 3.5 GPA in engineering from a top-20 engineering school - 3 years’ experience as an honest-to-god rocket scientist - At least 20 articles “published” in a government journal (I use quotation marks because the articles will almost certainly never be public domain). ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/29 "2004-09-24T19:24:51Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Basically anything that proves to people that they are listening to an expert and not some guy at work on his lunch break or a bored college student blowing off homework. Some dude on his lunchbreak telling me he has a PhD in Underwater Basketweaving from Duke University really isn’t much more proof than anything else. I WANT SCANNED PHOTOS OF DIPLOMAS AND CERTIFICATES, PEOPLE!!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/30 "2004-09-24T19:26:12Z")
In addition to degrees and accolades already mentioned, I am a Betazoid Empath, much like [Counseler Deana Troi.](http://www.phils-startrek.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/pictures/sttng/troi2.jpg) Except I am better looking. My hair is not so curly, though. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/31 "2004-09-24T19:26:15Z")
I’m Cecil. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/32 "2004-09-24T19:32:25Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > ```auto > > * > *** > * * * > * > * > * > * > > ``` > > Proof? You want PROOF? Okay bucko. You see that right there? Yup. I’ms a _charter member_. They don’t just hand that out to _anyone_. Hmm. On my monitor, it says you’re a square root. So you can answer math questions, right? ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/33 "2004-09-24T19:44:30Z")
I’ve got a Doctorate in Boredom from the Denver Bible College of Oceanography. No, really, I have had no formal higher education, circumstances did just not allow for it to happen. I have lots of experience in a few things, and my reputation for knowing how to do them well, among people who appreciate such things, is sufficient for me. It doesn’t hurt that my name appears in the credits of some CD liner notes, and in a couple of reference books on a particular subject, and on myriad websites in connection with the same. I can’t think of any occasion on which I’ve been required to prove how smart I am, and I never worry about it. Anybody who would discriminate against me on the basis of whether or not I have any sheepskins is not worth my time, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/34 "2004-09-24T19:59:35Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > That’s three things, actually. No. The second logical clause has an implied group. Essentially, the choice was expert or !expert. Perhaps parentheses and some notation will help. Basically anything that proves to people that they are listening to an expert and not [some random jamoke, e.g.] (some guy at work on his lunch break or a bored college student blowing off homework)? ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/35 "2004-09-24T20:00:09Z")
Scout1222 said > [@](#): > > I WANT SCANNED PHOTOS OF DIPLOMAS AND CERTIFICATES, PEOPLE!!! Mine are here: 1. [My degree from Oxford](http://www.robyn.on.net/robyn/elvis/binary/p057_44_epbc.gif) 2. [My degree from Space Academy](http://pedagogie.ac-aix-marseille.fr/etablis/colleges/montdor2/independance1776.htm) 3. [My award from Mensa](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0924042_britney_spears_1.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/36 "2004-09-24T20:09:37Z")
I’m going to trot out my tiny little accomplishments, with the understanding that they pale in comparison to most of the thread’s posters. - I had a 99th-percentile LSAT score - Consequently, I’m on a nearly full-ride scholarship to law school - I had a similar scholarship, percentagewise, as an undergrad - And, I have a BA and graduated cum laude… but it’s not a ‘real’ major. It’s a double in Political Science (American Politics & Public Affairs concentration) and Philosophy. I also have a category 2 USA Wrestling official’s license, but have been evaluated at 1 levels before (so if I could afford to travel, I could get my 1). ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/37 "2004-09-24T20:11:13Z")
Oh, and my last real IQ test score was 150. Unfortunately, that was in 5th grade, so I can’t really consider that accurate. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/38 "2004-09-24T20:14:27Z")
I have high SAT scores, but they don’t exactly count. See, after high school I screwed around working at McDonald’s and going to punk rock shows. After a few years I started going to a community college, where SATs weren’t required. Then I decided to transfer to a university, so I needed to take the SAT after all. I didn’t bother studying since I figured I was beyond the intended level of skill, and I showed up ad my local testing site which turned out to be a high school. All the high school seniors were probably wondering what a 22 year old guy was doing taking the SAT; meanwhile I was wondering why you had to write a statement about not cheating in cursive. I swore off cursive in 4th grade because I thought it looked stupid, so of course my cursive looks like a 4th grader’s. Anyway, I got a 700 something on the verbal and a 600 something on the math, and proceeded on to get my Bachelor of Computer Science. Later my community college decided I met the requirements for an AA in Liberal Arts, so they sent me a diploma I wasn’t even trying to get. Now I’m a professional crastinator who reads a lot. And plays with Legos. And Warhammer miniatures. And video games. And gets told by my wife that I have too many expensive hobbies. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/39 "2004-09-24T20:17:23Z")
I scored a 1390 on my SAT. I don’t remember my PSAT scores, but they were such that I was actively recruited by USC and UCLA, which from what I’ve heard usually only happens to direct descendants of alumni and staff and important people, and by West Point and the Naval Academy (possibly partly because both of my parents are in the Navy). Although this isn’t really quantifiable, I consider myself something of an expert (or at least very well-read) on recreational drugs and, to some extent, therapeutic drugs. I’ve helped prevent overdoses and drug-related suicides on a few occasions. My friends (and friends of friends) usually call me when they want to know something about drugs or drug testing, or are in some kind of drug-related emergency situation. –Bored college student who just finished his homework. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/40 "2004-09-24T20:25:06Z")
Oh yeah, I also have PhDs in Video Game Theory, Biology of Leftovers, Advanced Slack, and Feline Waste Management from [a very prestigious university](http://degree-in-5-days.com/). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911.md?page=3)