# How smart is Superman? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 22, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113 "2008-10-22T20:03:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113/21 "2008-10-22T23:04:19Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Deceit is not his strong point. He solves problems straightforwardly. Except, of course, for that whole tricking-General-Zod thing I mentioned. (Not that the films are meant to be canon, of course.) ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113/22 "2008-10-22T23:10:58Z")
I’m trying to remember the end of a story with Superman facing off with Batman and saying something along the lines of “Don’t patronize me, Bruce. I’m not an idiot. I’m every bit as smart as you are.” Anybody else remember this? ---
**Author:** ![Scathach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Scathach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scathach)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113/23 "2008-10-22T23:12:58Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > Ah, yes, the title whose most recent issue had to be recalled because the blacked-out swear words could still be seen faintly under the blacking-out. And whose second issue featured one of the most parodied lines of recent comic vintage: “Are you dense or retarded or something? Who the hell do you think I am? I’m the goddamn Batman!” Dick Grayson. Age Twelve. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113/24 "2008-10-23T00:00:48Z")
> [@Scathach](#): > > Dick Grayson. Age Twelve. How old was he again? Can’t seem to keep that in my head. ---
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113/25 "2008-10-23T00:18:39Z")
I always thought Superman was kinda dim, mainly because of the horribly inefficient way he uses his power. Dude, you have super-speed. You could knock them unconscious without them ever knowing you were even there. ---
**Author:** ![AllWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@AllWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllWalker)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113/26 "2008-10-23T00:35:24Z")
In Red Son, the alternate timeline where Superman lands in the Soviet Union rather than America, it is shown that Superman is Lex Luthor’s descendant from billion of years in the future sent back in time, and all his descendants are super intelligent. But Brainiac still outsmarts Superman and Lex Luthor outsmarts them both, so there. (Spoiler box probably unnecessary, but meh) ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113/27 "2008-10-23T00:51:44Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Since the Silver Age was my era, I feel compelled to chime in. > > Sure, Supes was a _scientific_ genius. He could pretty much build anything and do complex mathematical calculations. But he never seemed that _clever_ to me. The height of his street smarts was figuring out how to get Mr. Mxyzptlk to say his name backwards. > > Even back then, I thought Batman was better at deduction. I’ll give Batman deduction, since that’s his shtick, and I like John Byrne’s rule about a hero always getting to be the best at the thing he specializes in. Although even then, I’ll note that in the issue where Batman sneaks into the Fortress of Solitude to surprise Superman on his birthday, Superman notes that he’s built a sophisticated crime-solving computer to help Batman. Also, Superman figures out Batman’s trick and then himself tricks Batman into thinking that they’re both going to die. I disagree that Superman was not clever. He routinely came up with elaborate and highly improbable - yet successful nonetheless - tricks and schemes to maintain his secret identity or when he felt that his friends needed to be taught a lesson. An example that comes to mind is when Clark Kent was recruited by the FBI and he has to come up with a bunch of ways to mask the fact that he has super powers. What’s more, he rarely solved his problems by brute force and quite frequently displayed a knack for strategy. I’m thinking here of when he tricked Kil-Lor (the Kryptonian criminal with powers equal to Superman’s) into triggering an atomic reaction that turned the meteor Kil-Lor was standing on into Kryptonite, killing him. So yeah, I’d say that Superman was actually very clever and crafty, his scientific acumen aside. I’d say that even if his deductive powers were not the equal of Batman’s, it’s only because flight, super speed, and X-Ray vision render Batman’s detective skills obsolete. I will agree that Superman was not _devious_. He was, if anything, trusting to a fault. That winds up getting him killed in the imaginary “Death of Superman” 3-part novel. Of course, when you’re as invulnerable as Superman, you can afford to give people the benefit of the doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Caveat\_lector\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@Caveat\_lector\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caveat_lector_1)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113/28 "2008-10-23T02:20:50Z")
> [@Scathach](#): > > Dick Grayson. Age Twelve. What I want to know is how did “X. Age twelve.” _not_ become an internet meme. It just seems perfect for it. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113/29 "2008-10-23T04:18:11Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Since the Silver Age was my era, I feel compelled to chime in. > > Sure, Supes was a _scientific_ genius. He could pretty much build anything and do complex mathematical calculations. But he never seemed that _clever_ to me. The height of his street smarts was figuring out how to get Mr. Mxyzptlk to say his name backwards. > > Even back then, I thought Batman was better at deduction. [Well maybe not so much the complex calculations.](http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=676:high-school-math-is-a-super-power-apparently&catid=36:stupor-powers-index&Itemid=38) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113/30 "2008-10-23T12:49:47Z")
> [@Caveat\_lector\_1](#): > > What I want to know is how did “X. Age twelve.” _not_ become an internet meme. It just seems perfect for it. Maybe because some of us spend too much of our brain power convincing ourselves that some of the X we see on the internet is age 18. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113/31 "2008-10-23T13:08:39Z")
> [@shy\_guy](#): > > I disagree that Superman was not clever. He routinely came up with elaborate and highly improbable - yet successful nonetheless - tricks and schemes to maintain his secret identity or when he felt that his friends needed to be taught a lesson. I was sure somebody would link to Superdickery in response to this post, but **astro** found something just as good. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113/32 "2008-10-23T14:58:46Z")
> [@Caveat\_lector\_1](#): > > What I want to know is how did “X. Age twelve.” _not_ become an internet meme. It just seems perfect for it. Likely because it was lost next to the meme-orific glory of the goddamn Batman. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113/33 "2008-10-23T15:12:05Z")
It depends on what you mean by “smart.” Currently he’s written as having an eidetic memory and lightning calculation skills (the latter being an application of super-speed). But he doesn’t have the creativity of a Lex Luthor or Mr. Terrific, or Ray Palmer; he’s said, without any false modesty or uxorial flattery involved, that Lois Lane has better pattern recognition skills than he does. On the other hand, he has considerably more emotional intelligence thatn Lex or Michael. I left out Batman because there are retarded gerbils with more emotional intelligence than Bruce. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113/34 "2008-10-23T15:29:19Z")
As long as he’s smart enough to throw fruit pies at the villians he’ll do ok. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113/35 "2008-10-23T16:13:19Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > As long as he’s smart enough to throw fruit pies at the villians he’ll do ok. Of course. After all, you get a big delight in every bite of Hostess® Fruit Pies. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113/36 "2008-10-23T16:55:20Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I left out Batman because there are retarded gerbils with more emotional intelligence than Bruce. But are the gerbils as grim, as determined? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113/37 "2008-10-23T17:03:20Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > But are the gerbils as grim, as determined? As prepared? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113/38 "2008-10-23T17:19:43Z")
They should be, they have their own archvillain. Richard Gere ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113/39 "2008-10-23T17:57:36Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I was sure somebody would link to Superdickery in response to this post, but **astro** found something just as good. Most of those just prove how much smarter Batman is, though. Remember the time he made the Joker pull all of those boners? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113/40 "2008-10-23T17:58:36Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > But are the gerbils as grim, as determined? No. Partly because their superior emotional intelligence has allowed them to get lives, and partly because they’re freaking gerbils. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-smart-is-superman/469113.md?page=3)