# People on the Internet sure are smart! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 6, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780 "2010-07-06T21:39:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780/41 "2010-07-08T01:24:12Z")
This provides amusing context for people who say they have IQs above 160. Those people exisit…but… > **[A List of People Who Have The Highest IQ | Example IQ Tests](https://onemansblog.com/2007/11/08/the-massive-list-of-genius-people-with-the-highest-iq/)** > > Curious who has the highest iq? Here's a list of people with the highest iq along with examples of iq tests you can try yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780/42 "2010-07-08T01:33:18Z")
> [@j66](#): > > Can anyone direct me to a study that supports the assumption IQ follows a normal distribution? That the slope on the right isn’t more gradual, that there isn’t a bimodal distribution? You don’t need a study. IQ is a score on one of a few standardized IQ tests and those tests are designed to produce a normal distribution (a bell curve). By definition, the results aren’t bimodal and they are approximately symmetrical because they are designed to differentiate people among a normal curve. Your question probably has some underlying significance but, literally stated, it is a dumb one. The whole science and math behind IQ tests isn’t to think up questions that the test makers think determines whether a person is smart or not. It is to generate questions and then use statistics to test them until the study population generates scores that closely approximate a normal curve. What those questions are and what real-world implications each of them has isn’t that important although the overall score is supposed to correlate reasonably well with academic success. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780/43 "2010-07-08T01:55:43Z")
> [@swampbear](#): > > That’s ok **Kyla** just remember you are in one of the most exclusive, elite and dare I say coolest groups ever, July 29 Dopers. 😃 Oh SO true. o/ ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780/44 "2010-07-08T06:35:27Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Can somebody PLEASE get **Kyla** a juice box and a coloring book? I mean, they’re supposed to like those things, right? Are you crazy!? She could put out an eye with that juice box! Well let her eat the coloring book though. ---
**Author:** ![Chipacabra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Chipacabra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chipacabra)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780/45 "2010-07-08T08:38:59Z")
Heh, I had an IQ test when I was in elementary school, I think, and they did the thing where they wouldn’t tell me the score. I eventually found the paper they gave my parents, and apparently they scored me at an IQ of 152. To this day, I firmly believe that that means the test was bunk. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780/46 "2010-07-08T13:05:17Z")
That little chart that Dangerosa linked to is pretty cool. It puts me in the upper part of the top half of the population. (With a 110 IQ). Yay! See all the stuff I am doing with my super smartness? _gnaws a purple crayon_ ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780/47 "2010-07-08T14:24:04Z")
I took the test that Dangerosa linked to. I don’t particularly like it, but I got ::drum roll:: 156! OK, I’m lying. I got 122. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780/48 "2010-07-08T14:24:59Z")
I love how discussions of how inflated IQs are on the internet turns into people bragging about IQ scores on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780/49 "2010-07-08T16:14:40Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > What about GRE scores? I scored 120 points higher on the GRE than I did on the SAT. > > _hopeful that maybe I can fit in with the internet geniuses after all_ [It’s on the same site as the SAT correlation.](http://www.iqcomparisonsite.com/GREIQ.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780/50 "2010-07-08T16:41:14Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > That little chart that Dangerosa linked to is pretty cool. It puts me in the upper part of the top half of the population. (With a 110 IQ). Yay! See all the stuff I am doing with my super smartness? > > _gnaws a purple crayon_ I got 114. I am so fucking superior. **DiggitCamara** , according to that, I’m in the 99.452th percentile. I don’t even know what that means. Could it be because I’ve failed stats _twice_? MAYBE. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780/51 "2010-07-08T17:22:29Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > I got 114. I am so fucking superior. > > **DiggitCamara** , according to that, I’m in the 99.452th percentile. I don’t even know what that means. Could it be because I’ve failed stats _twice_? MAYBE. If I’m understanding what you’re saying, you had 1340 GRE points? That means your IQ is between 138.16 (15 Standard Deviations) and 140.70 (16 Standard Deviations). Or, in percentiles, 99.452 of the population has a lower IQ than you do. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780/52 "2010-07-08T17:23:03Z")
I don’t reveal my IQ. Some people are going to hear it and feel smug because theirs is higher, a few people are going to hear it and feel weird because theirs is lower, and most people are going to think I’m a pompous ass for talking about my IQ. Besides which, the only time I’ve been officially tested was when I was in grade school and I think I’ve become stupider since then. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780/53 "2010-07-08T18:19:47Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Per **Rig** ’s request, I edited out the quoted material to keep her ungoogleable – but if this was a dating site, she was using a pseudonym, so quoting her wouldn’t necessarily blow her cover, right? Oh dear, I’m not smart enough to figure all of this out … 😛 Didn’t help. The tiny snippet that was left was still enough to rule out nearly everything on the internet except for this thread and her profile. I think there were only five hits on Google for “I’m un-Google-able”. Ironically enough. (Kind of reminds me of the proof by mathematical induction that all numbers are interesting, actually.) ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780/54 "2010-07-08T23:54:08Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Your question probably has some underlying significance but, literally stated, it is a dumb one. I really should obsess more about IQ … I was wondering because I heard in an article on NPR (while I was driving, several years ago) that there was little evidence that human characteristics generally have a normal distribution; anthropologist and biologists and sociologists think it has been established mathematically and mathematicians thinks its been proven in studies, and no body knows for sure, and every believes it because it intuitively makes sense. Of course, I can’t remember any details, so I’m not even trying to find a cite. I mistrust all normal distributions and gradual shifts these days. They so seldom show up in _my_ data. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780/55 "2010-07-09T02:58:41Z")
> [@DiggitCamara](#): > > If I’m understanding what you’re saying, you had 1340 GRE points? That means your IQ is between 138.16 (15 Standard Deviations) and 140.70 (16 Standard Deviations). It’s actually 1320. I guess I wasn’t paying attention. > [@](#): > > Or, in percentiles, 99.452 of the population has a lower IQ than you do. I find this highly - no, HILARIOUSLY - unlikely. I’m sure all of my math teachers would agree. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780/56 "2010-07-09T18:51:32Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > I don’t reveal my IQ. Some people are going to hear it and feel smug because theirs is higher, a few people are going to hear it and feel weird because theirs is lower, and most people are going to think I’m a pompous ass for talking about my IQ. Besides which, the only time I’ve been officially tested was when I was in grade school and I think I’ve become stupider since then. I’m not so humble, \*especially \*on an anonymous message board. 😉 According to the SAT correlation website linked to above, my IQ is about 150. That seems about right to me. I’m smarter than virtually everyone I know these days, but I’m certainly no genius. My intelligence is more of a “book-smart” type of intelligence–I’m very good at learning and memorizing, but I’m not particularly creative or gifted in original thinking. Back in college, I felt just about average in intelligence–and unsurprisingly, I went to a fairly selective university that evidently heavily weighted its admissions criteria to SAT scores. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780/57 "2010-07-09T20:27:09Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Wow – she’s fully off of the [xkcd curve](http://xkcd.com/715/)! That always makes me giggle, since my actual measured IQ was 147. (though I think the test was wrong, or that I’ve gotten dumber as I age, as too many of you guys are smarter than me.) And there’s no way I’m doing Dangerosa’s link: visuo-spacial stuff makes me sick in withdrawal. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780/58 "2010-07-09T20:43:34Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > This provides amusing context for people who say they have IQs above 160. Those people exisit…but… > > [A List of People Who Have The Highest IQ | Example IQ Tests - One Man's Blog](http://onemansblog.com/2007/11/08/the-massive-list-of-genius-people-with-the-highest-iq/) I find a hard time taking that seriously, as an IQ above 195 would require testing more people than exist on the planet. And yet there’s an example a standard deviation away from that at 210. Even the Standford-Binet (which uses 16 for the standard deviation) tops out at 201. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780/59 "2010-07-09T23:12:17Z")
> [@DiggitCamara](#): > > [It’s on the same site as the SAT correlation.](http://www.iqcomparisonsite.com/GREIQ.aspx) For my SAT score, the correlation is rather amazingly accurate. My IQ is right between 15 SD and 16 SD. I’m impressed. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780/60 "2010-07-09T23:54:07Z")
I got tested when I was a kid (probably around age 7) and scored “155+,” whatever the hell that means. I still have the paper. Oddly, the same paper, which was sent to my parents and which they showed me at the time, also lists all the IQs of the other kids in the same class who took the test. I was the highest on the list. I’m amazed that they listed everybody’s–can you imagine the (justified) uproar if they did that today? Ain’t no _way_ I’m that high anymore. Yeah, I’m decently smart and good at figuring things out, but that and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee. According to my SAT score correlation, I’m somewhere between 137 and 140 (I got 740 on the Verbal but only 560 on the math–math was never my strong point, especially geometry and spacial stuff) but I took the SAT back in the early 80s, so who knows–I’ve probably lost quite a few brain cells since then! I’d probably fail the math test, though I think I might even do better on verbal. And if they measure IQ based solely on spacial recognition and whatnot, I’ll be over in the corner with the juice boxes and the crayons. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-on-the-internet-sure-are-smart/545780.md?page=4)