# The masturbatory "we're smart" threads
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [February 23, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877 "2008-02-23T20:03:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 6
### Author:  [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877/101 "2008-02-24T07:06:24Z")
I like masturbating.
I like being smart.
I fail to see the problem.
---
### Author:  [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877/102 "2008-02-24T07:33:40Z")
[QUOTE=MGibson]
Speaking of which, wouldn’t that be **sole** purpose?
Marc
[/QUOTE]
I guess. People with average I.Q.s sometimes mix their homophones. Luckily there are lots of geniuses around here to straighten me out!
---
### Author:  [@ShermanAter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShermanAter)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877/103 "2008-02-24T09:50:17Z")
A man much smarter than me once said:
“Never seem more learned than the people you are with. Wear your learning like a pocket watch and keep it hidden. Do not pull it out to count the hours, but give the time when you are asked.”
Lord Chesterfield
---
### Author:  [@Hogwash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogwash)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877/104 "2008-02-24T12:45:01Z")
The last time I tried grasping curves I ended up getting slapped in the face!
Jeez, you try and better yourself, and look where it gets you!
---
### Author:  [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877/105 "2008-02-24T13:14:09Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay]
No, I’d say that’s extremely unreasonable. 130 is a very high IQ; even if you were to assume SDMB skews above average, 130 is WAY above average. Depending on the test, only about one in 50 people are at 130 or higher.
[/QUOTE]
This argument implies that Dopers are a random sample of the population. We are talking about highly verbal and often argumentative people with nothing better to do on a Saturday night than post on a message board. That group could skew high.
Also, didn’t you switch assumptions, from an **average** of 130, to **130 or higher**? Well, nevermind.
2006 U.S population 18 - 64: 188,402,570
% with I.Q. above 130: 3,768,051
Regular SDMB posters: 5,000
So, 0.13% of the available U.S. residents and military personnel would have to be posting here to meet your more stringent qualification. This does NOT include non-U.S. posters, bright teen-agers, or retirees.
I think an **average** I.Q. of 130 is possible.
> [@](#):
>
> Well, there’s two problems with this:
>
> 1. Basing assumptions about the social perception of intelligence on how Presidential elections go is just plainly freakin’ nuts. It’s not a meaningful or representative data sample at all. It’s like basing your assumptions of how family dynamics work just by watching sitcoms broadcast on ABC.
>
> 2. It’s false. Bill Clinton was renowned for his intelligence - Rhodes Scholar and all that - and beat two opponents who did not have intelligent personas (not that Bush 1.0 and Dole are stupid men, but smarts wasn’t a part of their sales pitches to the American public.) Jimmy Carter was certainly not viewed as being dumber than Gerald Ford.
1. An example is not to be taken as definitive evidence. However, the election of a president is NOT the act of a handle of people in the entertainment and advertisement industry, but of a fairly representative sample of the population. It’s not a definitive measure, but it is a reasonable one.
2. Bill Clinton is a perfect example. He might be the smartest\* person elected president in my lifetime, but _that was not his persona_. His persona was that of a clever and charming man (with the good sense to use people smarter than he was).
\*At least when he was getting blood to his brain.
---
### Author:  [@auRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auRa)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877/106 "2008-02-24T13:17:21Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#):
>
> I just tried that with this converter: [http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/psycho...conversion.html](http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/psycho...conversion.html)
Does the SAT (\<95) mean that the test score has to be from before 1995? What are all these other values? I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of any other IQ test than the Stanford-Binet.
---
### Author:  [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877/107 "2008-02-24T14:05:08Z")
[QUOTE=Heffalump and Roo]
And who gets to say what someone **should** have done with their assets and abilities?
If one is very beautiful and hasn’t done anything substantial with it, should they?
If one can sing beautifully but hasn’t done anything professionally with it, do other people get to say what they should do?
If the answer to either of these is in the negative, why should mental abilities be any different?
[/QUOTE]
I think he’s right. By and large, people have a moral obligation to contribute something good to the world using the gifts they have. Most people enjoy doing the things they are good at – I’m not calling for people to do things that make them miserable to serve the common good, I’m just talking about people taking some responsibility for their community and contributing however they can and like to. Would I pass some kind of law, am I talking about creating some kind of dystopian hell where everybody has to follow a certain path? Nope, I’m only saying that most people who give a shit about others will use their gifts to help them out. And they _should._ I think **KoS’** post was spot on.
It’s also worth mentioning the criteria for what constitutes ‘‘using’’ an ability isn’t really set in stone. One of my favorite movies is _Goodwill Hunting._ Everyone’s telling him he should be doing specific things with his talents, contributing to the math world on some profound level, working in government intelligence. It doesn’t feel right to him, and ultimately he chooses to focus on what he wants, not what others are telling him he’s obligated to do. The ability to love is a gift, too. That counts.
[QUOTE=Klaatu]
Then they say “However, I am smart, but couldn’t help it, blah blah, they called me a geek/nerd, it hurt BUT I AM STILL SMART!”
They just can’t resist.
[/QUOTE]
Insecurity. I think everyone on this board is smart. I cannot think of a single poster here who I would not classify as smart, even the ones I think are batshit insane. Some of these people might not necessarily feel smart, or be aware of it, or have had feedback as a kid confirming it, but they are still smart. Saying, ‘‘I’m smart!’’ here is like declaring, ‘‘I have hair!’’ But there are probably people here, who are smart, who did have regular feedback as a kid, who have some kind of complex because of it. It’s still rooted in insecurity, the need to justify being here.
I don’t see it as any different than say, a modeling board with people who constantly feel the need to justify how attractive they are. The Straight Dope is dedicated to fighting ignorance, therefore pretty obviously intended for smart people. It doesn’t help how incredibly rude some people can be on this board/during debates–words like, ‘‘you’re a fucking idiot’’ clearly are aimed at belittling the opponent intellectually, when it’s pretty obvious that person is not a fucking idiot or else they wouldn’t be posting here. Speaking irrationally, perhaps. Making invalid assumptions based on spurious evidence, sure. But there is a world of difference between someone who is ignorant on a certain specific matter and a person who is stupid. None of us are stupid. Some of us are arrogant and judgmental as fuck, but none of us are stupid.
---
### Author:  [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877/108 "2008-02-24T14:06:39Z")
I don’t usually read the “We’re so smart” threads, but I got curious after reading this thread. It was pretty much as I expected. I laughed out loud a couple of times at the folks who were obviously poking fun at the concept of the thread.
The thing that really irked me, though, was [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9506850&postcount=99) second post of **NightRabbit’s**. In it, she says this:
> [@](#):
>
> I never meant/expected this to turn into a circle-jerk about intellect, just that most kids are morons and it doesn’t take a lot to stand above the pack in elementary school.
Most kids are NOT morons. There are no more dumb kids than there are smart kids. Hence the bell curve **Shagnasty** has been talking about. Most kids are somewhere around average, you see…_that’s the definition of average_. If you are lucky enough to be on the smart end of the curve, it doesn’t look very good for you to go around disparaging the average kids as morons. It certainly isn’t evidence for an assertion that the point of the thread was not for it to be an intellectual circle-jerk.
---
### Author:  [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877/109 "2008-02-24T14:06:44Z")
I didn’t read the thread at first because “vis-a-vis” was used seriously in the title. That set the whole tone for me.
---
### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877/110 "2008-02-24T14:28:58Z")
[QUOTE=j666]
This argument implies that Dopers are a random sample of the population. We are talking about highly verbal and often argumentative people with nothing better to do on a Saturday night than post on a message board. That group could skew high.
[/QUOTE]
Not that high. You’re just wildly off on your assumption of how intelligent a 130 IQ is. That’s not “high,” it’s EXTREMELY high. That means the average SDMB poster is an honest-to-God genius, and I just do not believe that is true. I don’t think most posters here are smarter than I am, and I am NOT a genius. 130 is high enough than many elementary school classes of 25-30 children will have not even a single student that high on the IQ scale. Think about that; in a group of 30 people, the odds are pretty good that the smartest person in the whole group does not have an IQ as high as the average IQ you are proposing for this message board.
I would agree, with some reservations, that the average IQ of an SDMB poster is slightly higher than the population, but 130 is insane. 105-110, I’d believe. Understand that if the average IQ here was, say, 112, that would be VERY noticeable. You would notice that a group of people who averages 112 would seem smarter than an ordinary group of people.
I just cannot believe a group of people on an Internet message board, very few of whom seem like actual geniuses to me, average genius intelligence, but that appears to be your claim. Absent a properly administered test to a representative sample we will never know, but I’ll tell you what; if we could set up such a test, I’d bet ten thousand dollars the median IQ would not be 130. That is just so unlikely as to approach impossibility.
> [@](#):
>
> Also, didn’t you switch assumptions, from an **average** of 130, to **130 or higher**? Well, nevermind.
If the average is 130 then one would assume quite a lot are at or above it, no?
> [@](#):
>
> 1. An example is not to be taken as definitive evidence. However, the election of a president is NOT the act of a handle of people in the entertainment and advertisement industry, but of a fairly representative sample of the population. It’s not a definitive measure, but it is a reasonable one.
I’m sorry, but I think this is a plainly ridiculous argument. The manner in which Presidents are selected is so far removed from the attitude people have towards their peers that it’s not a basis for comparison at all.
---
### Author:  [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877/111 "2008-02-24T14:49:15Z")
Whenever this sort of thread pops up I just get straight to the facts.
187
9 3/4"
---
### Author:  [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877/112 "2008-02-24T14:52:42Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay]
Not that high. You’re just wildly off on your assumption of how intelligent a 130 IQ is. That’s not “high,” it’s EXTREMELY high. That means the average SDMB poster is an honest-to-God genius,
[/QUOTE]
Okay, with the test I took in school, 145 and above was considered genius. We’ve just confirmed the tests I took are not standardized. I would be incredibly unsurprised to find out the case was the same for other people reporting their IQs.
---
### Author:  [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877/113 "2008-02-24T15:17:50Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay]
Not that high. You’re just wildly off on your assumption of how intelligent a 130 IQ is. That’s not “high,” it’s EXTREMELY high. That means the average SDMB poster is an honest-to-God genius, and I just do not believe that is true.
[/quote]
Actually I recall hearing somewhere that the cutoff for “genius” is 150.
Anyway, I doubt that the average IQ of SDMB posters is 130. However, as I indicated above, I would guess that there are a good number of posters who test at that level.
One thing that’s funny about IQ is that the “Peter Principle” applies a lot of the time. If you are one of the smartest kids in your high school, you may very well end up at a top college. If you are a top student in your college, you may end up at a top professional school.
But eventually, you meet people who are equal in smarts to you – or head and shoulders above you.
---
### Author:  [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877/114 "2008-02-24T15:37:41Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim]
Is frequent masturbation an indicator of high intelligence? Then I’m a fuckin’ Einstein.
[/QUOTE]
Now that’s just creepy. He’s dead Boyo, let him rest in peace.
---
### Author:  [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877/115 "2008-02-24T15:42:26Z")
[QUOTE=I Love Me, Vol. I]
Whenever this sort of thread pops up I just get straight to the facts.
187
9 3/4"
[/QUOTE]
Is it cold where you live?
---
### Author:  [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877/116 "2008-02-24T15:51:31Z")
[QUOTE=Sarahfeena]
The thing that really irked me, though, was [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9506850&postcount=99) second post of **NightRabbit’s**. In it, she says this: Most kids are NOT morons. There are no more dumb kids than there are smart kids. Hence the bell curve **Shagnasty** has been talking about. Most kids are somewhere around average, you see…_that’s the definition of average_. If you are lucky enough to be on the smart end of the curve, it doesn’t look very good for you to go around disparaging the average kids as morons. It certainly isn’t evidence for an assertion that the point of the thread was not for it to be an intellectual circle-jerk.
[/QUOTE]
I agree with you. I actually didn’t think the thread had any real negative tone until that post. The “most kids are morons” thing bothered me because it seemed to be saying that if you weren’t one of the hallowed few\* who were labeled gifted, then you were wearing a helmet and licking windows all day as a kid. There’s not a real barrier separating someone with an IQ of 120 and one with 110.
Maybe it was just something **NightRabbit** threw out defensively, but I think it’s fair to call him out on it.
\*Seriously, it seems like gifted kids are just as commonplace as average kids nowadays. What the hell does “gifted” mean if every Johnny and Suzy meets the criteria?
---
### Author:  [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877/117 "2008-02-24T15:53:07Z")
Everything I’ve ever read about IQ bears out what **Shagnasty** has posted. I’ve also noticed that any thread where IQ (or winter temperature) is mentioned quickly turns into a game of liar’s poker. That doesn’t mean someone out there isn’t holding isn’t holding a bill with eight 9s, but if there was money on it, I’d call bullshit.
---
### Author:  [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877/118 "2008-02-24T16:19:09Z")
[QUOTE=I Love Me, Vol. I]
Whenever this sort of thread pops up I just get straight to the facts.
187
9 3/4"
[/QUOTE]
We appreciate your honesty, sir.
---
### Author:  [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877/119 "2008-02-24T16:19:32Z")
[QUOTE=sinjin]
Now that’s just creepy. He’s dead Boyo, let him rest in peace.
[/QUOTE]
**sinjin** is now entitled to start a thread entitled, ‘‘When did you realize, vis-a-vis other kids, that you were absolutely fucking hilarious?’’ 😃
---
### Author:  [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877/120 "2008-02-24T16:20:38Z")
[QUOTE=olivesmarch4th]
Okay, with the test I took in school, 145 and above was considered genius. We’ve just confirmed the tests I took are not standardized. I would be incredibly unsurprised to find out the case was the same for other people reporting their IQs.
[/QUOTE]
The test that the state of Tennessee gave me had 130 as “gifted”. I fell just short of it and at least a few of the other kids that took it surpassed it.
I think everything below 130 was just “above average” and don’t remember what the value for “genius” was.
Personally, I often feel pretty fucking stupid.
[QUOTE=olivesmarch4th]
**sinjin** is now entitled to start a thread entitled, ‘‘When did you realize, vis-a-vis other kids, that you were absolutely fucking hilarious?’’ 😃
[/QUOTE]
Also, it’d’ve been better if she’d said “He’s dead, Jim”
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877.md?page=5)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-masturbatory-were-smart-threads/438877.md?page=7)