How about those people that started a gangster society in the ST TOS or the “3rd sex” person Trip gets into trouble with.
Are Cardassians smarter than Vulcans?
My vote is for the Pakleds:
“We look for things that make us go.”
Can’t argue with that.
The humans of course. Go us!
Vulcans rock!
Isn’t super-intelligence a super power?
What for purposes of the question constitutes a “super-being”? What species are you using as a baseline? If it’s humans, then Vulcans are out of contention because their physical strength and telepathic abilities make them “super-beings.”
Not really, they are also slightly slower than us (reflexes quickness-wise) and have less endurace, and markedly less resistance to cold. Re “super” I’m thinking of being advanced enough that comparable intelligence baselines just don’t make sense. Examples would be most “entities” like the Q and the the Organians and super advanced races like the Metrons. There really don’t seem to be a lot of “in between” advanced races at stages of development that are far beyond Trek techology, but still aren’t entities or inaccessible super beings.
Heck, those “Darmok and Gilaad and Tenagra” people had a ship that could casually kick the ass of the Enterprise-D. Balok of the “First Federation” had a mothership roughly the size of the Death Star. Kurtwood Smith had a freaking timeship, and enough power to put his boot up Voyager’s ass.
There are any number of stories where the humans encounter ships that are way nastier and they have to use guile and/or sanctimony to win the day (Kirk, Sisko typically = guile; Janeway, Picard typically = sanctimony).
Why exclude super beings? Even Worf was smarter than Q
OK, well, by definition a creature which possesses the same basic abilities as humans plus abilities humans don’t is “super-human.”
I don’t understand how to answer the question of what creature is the most intelligent non-super being if you’re unable to provide a baseline. I therefore cgeerfully withdraw.
Q: “So, Worf. Eat any good books lately?”
There were the people who made the ‘Guardian of Forever’, and the advanced race that made Kirk fight the Gorn.
How about the Tholians?
Yep, and the brains in jars in “The Gamesters of Triskelion”, and the The Vians in “The Empath”, and Gary Seven, and Wesley Crusher’s friend The Traveler, and the rasta-looking guy who programmed Lt. Barkley’s brain to make him a super-genius, and probably whoever built “The Doomsday Machine”.
Actually, I think I have the answer. The smartest race was the ones who built the “amusement park” planet on the Shore Leave episode. They were humanoids, and used technology rather than any ‘super human’ powers.
Yeah, they rocked. Their technology was probably as close to godlike as any ‘normal’ being could have.
Actually you might be right, I’d forgotten about them.
"Brain and brain, what is brain?"
Nah, he’s busy playing with his newly discovered opposable thumb.
I would vote for the Organians, but what the hell happened to them?
Maybe they becae bored with Terrans and Klingons.