# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/61 "2005-07-20T00:12:49Z")
I have a certain degree of book smarts. I also have the ability to impress certain kinds of people and to make people think that I am smarter than I am. However, I frequently lose track of where my sentences are going while I’m saying them, and when I’m looking something up in the dictionary, I often forget what I was looking for, because there are always so many interesting words on the way there. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/62 "2005-07-20T00:27:23Z")
Technically speaking, I’m just short of genius iirc. Managed to ace all forms of standardized tests. Took the SAT in the eighth grade and was being scouted by loads of colleges before I was in high school. Yadda yadda yadda. It didn’t get me a cup of coffee, but it’s gotten me a teachers discount on some heavy reading at my local book store. Taking the less technical approach, I’m doing okay. I’m very adaptable, learn quickly, think on my feet well, and can spin a yarn of pure bullpuckey when I feel so inclined. Of course, my memory is rather poor, and it did take me two very severe knocks to the head (one almost costing me my right eye) to realize that wearing a helmet while playing hockey is a good idea. Best description: I’m a highly gifted idiot. Make of that what you will. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/63 "2005-07-20T00:28:44Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > Best description: I’m a highly gifted idiot. Make of that what you will. Rain Man? Is that you?? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/64 "2005-07-20T00:37:25Z")
Mensa were happy to take me when I was 4. I decided I didn’t want to join the club. Make of that what you will. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/65 "2005-07-20T00:52:02Z")
My IQ is about 160 (I was younger when I took the test, but I wasn’t a preschooler or anything like that). I pretty consistently score that on online tests, now, so I don’t think much has changed. My Myers-Briggs type is INFP. I’m extremely shy, and have almost no ambition (at least, not in the traditional, get-a-job-and-make-lots-of-money sense). I have friends in Mensa (I met them through my husband). I don’t get it. Then again, I don’t get most status-based things. I don’t feel like I have to prove that I’m smart to anyone. I don’t know what that means. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/66 "2005-07-20T01:10:58Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Rain Man? Is that you?? :eek: Well, I’m not wearing any underwear and I do mourn the loss of Wapner. ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/67 "2005-07-20T03:42:47Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed… > > But this is no ordinary shed! 😃 This is my favorite. Genius in it’s simplicity. I was tested by a psychologist in her office six years ago and told then I had a 145 I.Q. with an even higher aptitude for problem solving and _spacial relationships_. All I could think to say was “\*Well, isn’t that spacial!” \* in the church-lady voice. How smart is that? Not a day goes by that I am not humbled and amazed by the minds at work on this Board ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/68 "2005-07-20T03:55:43Z")
I’m incredibly dumb in some ways, very smart and creative in others. Fortunately I can make a good living using the parts of my brain that work pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/69 "2005-07-20T04:13:03Z")
Interesting. The lowest IQ I’ve seen anyone admit to here is 130 (I may have missed a lower one). Funny how no one ever chimes in saying their IQ is 92. Or even 110 or 120. I wonder if anyone on the SDMB will own up to having an IQ lower than the “Average SDMB IQ Discloser”. I estimate the average ASDMBIQD to be about 140 (including this and other IQ/Intelligence type threads). Disclaimer: IQ should not be treated as an accurate indicator of one’s “intelligence”, which is IMO both undefinable and unquantifiable. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/70 "2005-07-20T04:42:42Z")
There was this one time when I used to hang out with a girl that claimed she had been the valedictorian of the remedial school. Maybe some of her smarts rubbed off on me. > [@ShibbOleth](#): > > You should read through GD sometimes. It typically ain’t about smart, it’s more about stamina, shrill and staying on message. Yeah, usually it helps if you’ve got about six friends with the same opinion that will sit around in a circle and grunt: Ugh, ugh, ugh, he’s right! Ugh, ugh, ugh, he’s right! Then have a handy list of about five blog sites whose owners agree with your own weird thoughts, so that when somebody demands, “Cite?” you can sic Blotto the Blogger on 'em, and you’re all set up to succeed in GD. Nothing to fear there, but I have all but stopped posting in GD because it’s not as much fun as the other fora. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/71 "2005-07-20T07:11:15Z")
> [@I Love Me](#): > > Interesting. The lowest IQ I’ve seen anyone admit to here is 130 (I may have missed a lower one). > > Funny how no one ever chimes in saying their IQ is 92. Or even 110 or 120. I wonder if anyone on the SDMB will own up to having an IQ lower than the “Average SDMB IQ Discloser”. I estimate the average ASDMBIQD to be about 140 (including this and other IQ/Intelligence type threads). This very thing has been bothering me lately. I too would say that my IQ is about 135-140, but that’s just from the tests I took a (long) while back. I’m not really sure I understood what the numbers meant. And wouldn’t that alone indicate some sort of problem? “Dag, you have an IQ of 139” “Ok” :: Dag walks out, not knowing what that number really means, and obviously too stupid to have asked about it :: Seriously, If I’m so smart, then shouldn’t the vast majority of people I come into contact with be noticably dumber than me? I would think that they would be, but I don’t really notice it too many times (Ok, there are cases when it’s apparent that I’m dealing with a moron, but it’s not as often as the numbers would suggest). Just looking arong the web (Ok, I googled it, which any moron could do, Well, most morons) I found this [little graph](http://members.shaw.ca/delajara/IQBasics.html). If my IQ is actually 139, then I’m smarter than 97% of the people out there. Either that’s not as much as an advantage as one would think, or I just don’t come into contact with the bottom 50% very often. Finally, I just don’t think that the bell shaped curve that is depicted in that link is accurate. Shouldn’t there be a bit of a bump on the lower end to account for the people with brain injuries? While a bump to the noggin might make you smart, it’s much more likely to do the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/72 "2005-07-20T08:10:44Z")
> [@honeydewgrrl](#): > > > [@Sage Rat](#): > > > > I test high for pattern recognition and am stubborn–so I’ve become a good bit of a Jack of All Trades: Relatively good at many things (because I can figure out what the key pieces are and force myself to do those), but lacking the natural gift for any one thing to make me great at it. > > Get the \*\*\*\* out of my head!!! > > …the voices inside it are very particular about their personal space…shhh!!! They can hear everything we say! Awwww…but tis nice in here. ☹ All squishy-like. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/73 "2005-07-20T08:31:35Z")
> [@I Love Me](#): > > Funny how no one ever chimes in saying their IQ is 92. Or even 110 or 120. I wonder if anyone on the SDMB will own up to having an IQ lower than the “Average SDMB IQ Discloser”. I estimate the average ASDMBIQD to be about 140 (including this and other IQ/Intelligence type threads). Didn’t post it previously (just as I didn’t feel it was relevant), but it would be interesting to know if the SD boards really are pretty much just high IQers. So, 142. ---
**Author:** ![Ainak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@Ainak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ainak)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/74 "2005-07-20T12:53:25Z")
I guess I’m a savant of sorts. Profoundly retarded, but with an unexplained and uncanny knack for mimicking the outward behavior of an intellectual. ---
**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 20, 2005, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/75 "2005-07-20T13:25:07Z")
> [@John Carter of Mars](#): > > There was this one time when I used to hang out with a girl that claimed she had been the valedictorian of the remedial school. Maybe some of her smarts rubbed off on me. That’s freaking hilarious…especially in light of your location 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/76 "2005-07-20T13:35:08Z")
It seems the safest way to answer “How smart are you?” is to refer to some external validation, like a standard IQ test - or if having never taken a test, to refer to the opinion of others. Based on those kind souls who have ventured to offer an opinion, I must be pretty smart, especially my ass. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/77 "2005-07-20T18:05:20Z")
135 IQ and that matches close to the equal SAT scores. I was a bit of a troubled teen and booted from high school just before graduation and lost my schlorships. (Not a full ride or anything, a few bucks from here and there.) So I joined the service and tried college and found out I didn’t care to do the work. I ar a lazy bastid. I like the job I now have through a round about manner. I work/come in contact and/or are friends with all sorts of people. Sometimes I know I’m the “smartest” person in the room and other times I’m humbled. My friends after graduate schools make a ton more money than me and can do some cool stuff with the money. That I sort of regret, but wont have the ulcer they will from the stress. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/78 "2005-07-20T18:27:37Z")
> [@Anne Neville](#): > > I don’t believe those numbers, though. I don’t _feel_ anywhere near that smart. I’m pretty sure Mr. Neville is smarter than me, and I always felt like almost everybody in my physics classes in college was smarter than me. I think I’ve gotten dumber since college, too ☹ > > . I just checked my own alleged IQ from the GRE chart, and I’m flabbergasted. I don’t feel anywhere near that smart either. I mean, it’s not that many more IQ points than I thought, but I’m in **that** percentile? No way, says I! Am I doing it right? They say nothing about the analytical section. When I took the test in 1996, there were three sections…verbal, quantitative, and analytical. But I think what I said above about not being in your average tool shed is true for many people. _Everybody’s_ smart in your physics class, because average and sub-average people tend to avoid classes like physics. People with higher IQs tend, very generally speaking, to perform better in school, and hence gravitate toward more selective colleges, and enter professions that are more challenging to them. The result? Once you’re there, you feel like just your average bear when in the general population you are not. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/79 "2005-07-20T18:45:54Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > II’m in **that** percentile? No way, says I! I had pretty much the same reaction. > [@](#): > > They say nothing about the analytical section. When I took the test in 1996, there were three sections…verbal, quantitative, and analytical. Yeah, I thought about that, too. Maybe it has something to do with the changes they’ve made (from analytical to analytical writing) since we took the GRE. Or maybe it’s so they can use GRE and SAT scores in similar ways. No idea, really. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105/80 "2005-07-20T19:04:31Z")
An IQ number alone is insufficient information. You also need to know on which IQ test, among other things. The only place where all IQ tests (theoretically) intersect is at dead average: 100. As someone else said, the farther away from 100 you get, the less reliable the number is. I’m in the 98th percentile. That would be a different number on different tests. And yes, I’m in Mensa and I enjoy it immensely, having met my best friends there. But that’s another story. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-are-you-anyway/313105.md?page=5)