The IQ of God? Can it be measured?

Great Debates
1

According to the Bible God made man out of his own image. Therefore god looks like us. Also when we ate the forbidden fruit we became wise, in the Bible god comments on something like “You have become just like us”. Meaning that intelligent humans(us) are like god its just that we arnt immortal like him. Since god created us out of his own image that means we share his DNA. Which means every human being on earth supposedly has Gods DNA potential. And since Jesus is a direct son of God that meant his genes were closest to god 2000 years ago.

How smart is god? Well a large part of IQ is genetically linked while other minor parts include environment and education. Todays Israelis are very similar to the semites of the past. Israels average IQ according to studies by lynn was 94. Since Israel today is rich, has food and education that means that Mary’s IQ would probably be lower than todays average Israeli. However since we don’t know if Mary was of average IQ or smart(unlikely since she wasnt successful in much). Lets give Mary an IQ of 80. When Jesus was young he astonished the Rabbis who visited him with immense knowledge and expertise in reading of course he didn’t prove he was smarter to them, he proved he possessed just as much knowledge at such a young age. Since Rabbis usually represent the smarter figures in society they usually have much higher Iqs than the norm. So lets give them an IQ of 120(1.5x greater than the norm we estimate for semites). The average american IQ is 98 which means a 1.5x increase is like a person in America with an IQ of almost 150(you only need a IQ of 130 to qualify as genius). An IQ of 150 is a college professor and beyond IQ level. Since Jesus was very smart at such a young age his IQ is over 120. I believe he showed his amazing talent at age 12, correct me if im wrong. Which means that in order to measure up to an adult with an IQ of 120(mental age 19.2) his mental age would have to be about 19.2 or greater at age 12. That means his IQ would have to be 160 at age 12 to rival a fully grown adult at 120. Therefore Jesus IQ was 160 or greater. Lets leave it at 160 though. Since half your genes come from your mom and half comes from your father and since theres a likely hood that your IQ will be around your parents level that means if we average god and Mary’s IQ we will get 160. That means if we cross multiply Gods IQ averages at 240. Scientists estimate that the maximum IQ potential of any adult human is somewhere in the low to mid 200s. Which means gods IQ is probably the maximum IQ potential that humans can and ever reach either by eugenics or by genetic engineering or by luck. So far the closest person to Gods IQ is Sho Yano whos IQ is above 228 and currently immeasurable btw he got this high as a 12 year old so his IQ is probably going to be around 210-220 when hes an adult.

Therefore we can assume Gods IQ is about 240. If we guess it should be around 20-260 but lets just leave it at 240. God probally doesnt have an IQ of over 300 since thats impossible for human genes(unless the IQ averages for humans drop while his stays the same). If god is actually an alien with advanced technology that he probally has computers and robots to further increase his intelligence. Without them though im estimating his IQ to be 240 which no human has yet to reach.

2

“Image” could also mean man is capable of reason like god. That is from the ancient Hebrew scriptures. I don’t believe that Jews think of god as having DNA and a physical body. And, considering that in Genesis god existed before this universe even did, why would it make sense that god had DNA? God came about after billions of years of evolution on a planet in some other universe???

3

Wouldn’t omniscience imply a perfect IQ? How could an omniscient being’s intelligence be delimited at all? I don’t know how the numbers for IQ are derived, Is there a “perfect” or maximum theoretical number. Can there be a infinite IQ.

If so, then the the average of God and Mary’s IQ’s would still be infinite.
Also, Triune Christian theology insists that Jesus is wholly (not partially) God so it’s a moot question by Christian standards. Either Jesus is God, in which case he is omniscient and has infinite intelligence, or he was completely human and his IQ was determined by Mary and (presumably) Joseph.

4

I’ve never met even a fanatical biblical literalist who felt that “in His image” meant that God was an upright biped with human DNA. God (in the Judeo-Christian tradition) has always been incorporeal spirit (which is the reason why the humanity of Jesus is such a big deal in the Christian branch) and the “image” has always meant an ability to appreciate beauty and knowledge and make moral choices. Therefore, the OP starts off with an odd premise.

And, of course, I don’t happen to believe that IQ measures anything much worthwhile even among humans.

Therefore, to me the OP has the appearance of a Sasquatch chasing a unicorn.

Have fun.

5

There isn’t such a thing as a perfect or highest possible IQ. The IQ scale is a comparitive scale set on a bell curve. There is no difference between a 2000 and 3000 IQ becuase those both mean you are the smartest person (being?) in the world. I think if God took the IQ test he would measure off the scale.

6

Ah, but what color unicorn?

7

Well, it would not be invisible or pink, because she is real.

8

God having DNA doesn’t make sense.

Temporal living beings require DNA for procreation of the species - it is the blueprint for making subsequent generations. There is no reason for God to have DNA - God has no life/death imperative to procreate.

9

The IQ test was created by humans, for humans. Is this assumption implying that “God” in anyones sense, is/was a human being? :dubious:

10

You really don’t know anything at all about IQ testing, do you? I am not a psychologist but I know a bit about this topic and when IQ-related threads come up I usually try to correct people’s misunderstandings. But I don’t have time to deal with an OP that is incorrect in nearly every detail.

I can, however, address a few of the more common errors.

First, the “mental age” standard is not used for adults. From about the mid-teens on up age does not seem to make much difference in IQ-test performance. The mental age/chronological age formula only ever applied to young children, and is no longer considered very useful even for them. These old “ratio IQ” scores do not correspond to the more common “deviation IQ” scores. A kid of three who performed as well as the average 6 year old would have a ratio IQ of 200, but this is not the same as having a deviation IQ of 200.

Deviation IQ scores are calculated by comparing an individual’s performance with that of the general population, assuming a normal bell curve distribution. To calibrate a test, it is first administered to a large number of participants and then the mean score is set to 100. Standard deviation varies a bit from test to test – 15 for the Wechsler, 16 for the Stanford-Binet. But the important point is, the mean is always 100. That score does not represent some particular number of right answers, but the performance of the “perfectly average” person.

People do perform better on IQ tests now than they did decades ago (“The Flynn Effect”, a phenomenon that has yet to be explained but that is probably not due to increased intelligence), but the tests and scoring system are recalibrated regularly to ensure that the mean remains the same. An IQ test calibrated to the Israeli population of 2000 years ago would also have a mean of 100. If the Virgin Mary were of average intelligence she’d score within the average range of 91-110 on a properly calibrated test.

It makes no sense to judge an ancient person’s intelligence by estimating how well they would do on a modern test in comparison to modern people. IQ tests are not blind to culture and education. The average woman of 2000 years ago might not have been able to draw a path through a maze as quickly or well as a modern woman, but that doesn’t mean that she was a borderline mental deficient. If the people of 2000 years ago had developed their own IQ tests we might find them pretty difficult today. Were a modern woman transported back in time 2000 years, the Virgin Mary might think she was simpleminded for not being able to prepare a meal from scratch with no electricity.

Finally, the purpose of IQ testing is not and never was to measure how smart the smartest person could be. IQ tests were developed to evaluate children with learning disabilities and mental handicaps. That is what they are primarily good for, to the extent that they are good for anything. IQ tests are not very useful or meaningful when it comes to above-average adults, and for practical purposes it makes little difference what the IQ of an above-average adult is anyway.

11

And the Christians believe in a “Holy Spirit”. The very name implies something incorporeal.

12

Let me qualify this – it’s no longer considered very useful for developmentally normal children. When dealing with children with developmental disabilities it can be useful to determine that, say, a particular ten year old performs at the same level as the average five year old.

Although this was probably obvious to most Dopers, it may also be worth pointing out that you cannot predict a child’s IQ score by averaging the IQ score of the parents. Sho Yano, the prodigy mentioned by the OP, presumably has a higher IQ than either of his parents.

Speaking of Sho Yano, while Google turned up several news reports describing him as having an IQ of “over 200”, such a score would not be possible on the usual Stanford-Binet or Wechsler tests. The most that these tests could really say about Sho Yano’s IQ is that it is too high to be measured accurately. The ceiling of most IQ tests in current use is around 150 or 160.

There are some tests, like the Stanford-Binet Form L-M (SBL-M), with a much higher ceiling. These are sometimes used for gifted children that test at or near the ceiling of the more common tests. That’s probably where this “above 200” stuff comes from. However, these tests are somewhat controversial within the field. Some professionals refuse to administer them at all. Regardless of how valid higher-ceiling tests may be, it’s important not to confuse scores from one test with scores from another, just like you wouldn’t want to confuse someone’s ACT score with their SAT score.

13

< FZ> …The book says He made us all to be just like him, so if we’re dumb, then God is dumb, and maybe even a little ugly on the side. </ FZ>

14

Well, but if God is infinitely intelligent, can He make up a puzzle that is so hard that He can’t solve it?

15

IQ = Mental age/actual age
Actual age of God = infinity
Mental age of God = infinity

IQ = indefinite

16

Isn’t infinity/infinity = 1?

17

I beth God’s I.Q. is about 10 points below Cecil Adams’s.

18

Depends on how big your infinities are.

19

I thought Cecil Adams was God…

20

By the first sentence of the second paragraph, I was thinking about how specifically Xtian this argument is, & “This is why I’m glad I’m not a Christian,” which is unfair, but really, how bizarre!