# How Smart Are You, Anyway? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 19, 2005, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105 "2005-07-19T04:55:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Licentious_Ectomorph)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/21 "2005-07-19T12:31:26Z")
> [@False\_God](#): > > \but since I’m lazy and hate math, have refused membership in MENSA \ Er…Mensa doesn’t _make_ you do math. 😉😃 ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/22 "2005-07-19T12:40:32Z")
\ Smarter than the aaaverage bear. \ …and I mean an actual bear… and only just… ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/23 "2005-07-19T12:55:55Z")
The only time I had an Official™ IQ Test was in Kindergarten, for placement into the county’s Gifted program. I tested at 154. Subsequent online tests have yielded higher figures but they’re not very reliable, from what I hear. 🙂 In the standardized tests department, SAT : 1530 (760 Verbal, 770 Math); ACT : 35 Overall. CTBS and ASVAB, 99th percentile. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/24 "2005-07-19T12:57:57Z")
Messers Stanford and Binet say my IQ is 161. To paraphrase Licentious Ectomorph, that and a $1.35 will get me a large regular at Timmy’s. And I _never_ hang out in GD. Smart ain’t about IQ, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/25 "2005-07-19T13:01:17Z")
Smart enough to know that IQ scores are almost completely useless, despite scoring highly. In reality, yeah, pretty smart 😉 - smart enough to avoid GD most of the time, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/26 "2005-07-19T13:04:18Z")
When I got my most recent assignment, my old office (where I was a bona fide rocket scientist!) got me a going away present. It’s a brass name placard for my desk that says: **Jurph’s Real Name** _Smart Guy_ …and I’m smart enough not to put it on my desk in an office full of MIT grads. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/27 "2005-07-19T13:14:09Z")
> [@Dante](#): > > And I _never_ hang out in GD. Smart ain’t about IQ, IMHO. You should read through GD sometimes. It typically ain’t about smart, it’s more about stamina, shrill and staying on message. GQ is more often about smart, or at least knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/28 "2005-07-19T13:28:38Z")
Smart enough not to care. Especially about IQs. ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/29 "2005-07-19T13:36:18Z")
I’m smarter than I look. Most of the time. I don’t know my IQ, but I got high scores on the GRE (except for the math bit). ---
**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:** [July 19, 2005, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/30 "2005-07-19T13:41:54Z")
Smarter than my teeth and dumber than my hair. Also smart enough to stay out of GD and GQ. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/31 "2005-07-19T13:42:23Z")
I feel I’m pretty smart, but I do a lot of stupid things. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/32 "2005-07-19T13:44:51Z")
I can’t come up with any smart-ass responses like the rest of you. Sorry. Suffice it to say, I don’t really think IQ is the best or only measure of intelligence. However, I am nowhere near you guys. That’s cool though. I can bask in the shadows of giants. ---
**Author:** ![Meaty\_Beaty\_Big\_and\_Bouncy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Meaty\_Beaty\_Big\_and\_Bouncy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meaty_Beaty_Big_and_Bouncy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/33 "2005-07-19T13:53:51Z")
IQ 143 in high school but [del]got kicked out[/del] didn’t qualify for National Honor Society for “disciplinary reasons” (I guess I was a troublemaker). Never went to college even though I had a partial scholarship. So, in answer to the OP, I guess I’m not as smart I thought I was 25 years ago. :wally :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Aangelica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Aangelica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aangelica)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/34 "2005-07-19T14:06:47Z")
Smarter than I was at 16. Not as smart as my mother. That being said, due to a quirk of fate, I’ve taken IQ tests on 229 seperate occasions throughout my life and tested between 12 and 198. Because when you take the same IQ test repeatedly, you get to where you can start aiming for certain result numbers with some accuracy 😉 Which tells you something about the overal accuracy of IQ testing. The people at the SAT think it’s 1560, the people at the LSAT think it’s 171 and the ACT people think it’s 35. All of which numbers are (in my opinion) slightly less useful than my telephone number. At least armed with my phone number you can call me up and judge for yourself 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/35 "2005-07-19T14:20:20Z")
Once, I stuck my tongue on a freezing cold metal window sill, just to see what would happen. Another time, I was talked into putting a pocketknife between my teeth and touching the blade to an electric fence, because ‘teeth aren’t conductive’. I’m _that_ smart. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/36 "2005-07-19T14:20:35Z")
> [@False\_God](#): > > I work in U.S. federal government and it’s my ambition to get “cromulent” used in an official publication. IIRC, I’ve used _tâtonnement_ at least once in one of my staff reports. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/37 "2005-07-19T14:31:21Z")
Smarter than you, but not as smart as those guys over there. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/38 "2005-07-19T14:39:47Z")
Smarter than your average bear, Boo Boo, but I still can’t remember where I parked my car. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/39 "2005-07-19T15:24:00Z")
I have to wonder how everyone knows their IQ scores. I only remember taking one IQ test around 9th grade and we were never told the results. I asked my mother if she was ever given the results of our IQ tests and she said “no”. She said she was told we tested well or something like that but never actually told the numbers. On other tests I always did well and was in the high percentiles on the reading/writing tests but did not do so well on math. I hate math. I can get it when I have to apply myself, I eventually made it through calculus wuth analytic geometry with a B in college, but I hated it and don’t remember a thing about it. I did take an online IQ test after drinking 2 glasses of wine and I got a 136. Not sure if I would have done better or worse without the wine, probably worse. Sometimes I feel smart and other times I feel like a box of rocks could give me a run for my money. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/40 "2005-07-19T15:56:32Z")
How smart am I? It depends on who you ask. Ask my mom, I’m the smartest daughter ever born. Ask my son, I’m the dumbest mother ever born. Ask my husband, he’ll tell you what I tell him to tell you - he’s the smart one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105.md?page=3)