# Who’s the smartest person on this board? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 22, 2003, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908 "2003-05-22T22:13:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Escapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Escapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Escapee)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908/21 "2003-05-23T13:09:17Z")
Mr. Excellent and Joey have hit upon something that I tell people often. People often confuse “knowledgable” with “smart” or “inteligent”. Just because I happen to know a large variety of facts and can recall them at will does not mean I am “smart”. “Smart” people are the ones who can extrapolate new ideas or concepts from the information that they are given. ---
**Author:** ![Qazzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/aeb1de/32.png) [@Qazzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qazzz)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908/22 "2003-05-23T13:56:35Z")
Yeah, “smart” is such a boring concept, anyway. Nobody can agree on what it means. I think the key to impressing people on this board is by being a good writer and a nonconfrontational contributor. The blend of eloquence, subtlety, and confidence can make up for a big lack of actual knowledge, it seems. But a more interesting question, I think, is - who’s the hottest? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908/23 "2003-05-23T14:00:30Z")
I think the answer to the question is the same one as to the questions “what’s the best move in chess?”, or even better, “what’s the world’s most beautiful work of art?” It’s difficult to quantify in that manner. So many people contribute so much in so many different ways. ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908/24 "2003-05-23T16:29:47Z")
Why, Phaedrus of course! ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908/25 "2003-05-23T16:46:52Z")
Being able to hold a position in GD is admirable, but not any better a metric of intelligence than ability to answer questions in GQ. The truth is independent of how adamantly stated a position is. ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908/26 "2003-05-23T16:48:04Z")
Since I can’t do a vanity search on my name since it’s less than four letters, I can only search on “smartest person”. I finally got a hit. I think I’ll start a thread called “Ask the Smartest Person”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908/27 "2003-05-23T16:58:44Z")
The smartest person on the board is the person who hits submit after answering a question correctly. The title therfore moves from person to person rather rapidly. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908/28 "2003-05-23T17:11:31Z")
I am _wise_ enough to know it is not I. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908/29 "2003-05-23T17:16:58Z")
“Besides Cecil Adams of course,” Umm, shouldn’t that be “Besides Cecil Adams & his staff…” (Ya know, they do some of the answers 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![minega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@minega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minega)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908/30 "2003-05-23T17:30:07Z")
My candidate is TVAA…so fucking smart it hurts. I also have very high esteem for Collunsbury probably the most famous doper. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908/31 "2003-05-23T17:30:12Z")
**Polycarp** , **Spiritus Mundi** , and **Libertarian** are obviously very intelligent. I’m sure there are others as smart (or smarter) who happen not to write so well, or who I haven’t come across. ---
**Author:** ![Feynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@Feynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feynn)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908/32 "2003-05-23T17:56:39Z")
With so many members and a widely diverse pool of knowledge and expertise among those people, I would consider it impossible to determine who is the most intelligent Doper of them all. ---
**Author:** ![skaterboarder87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@skaterboarder87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skaterboarder87)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908/33 "2003-05-23T18:19:35Z")
I doubt Cecil is a single individual. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908/34 "2003-05-23T19:23:01Z")
Tom~. Hands down. ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908/35 "2003-05-23T19:25:36Z")
A second for Polycarp and Libertarian. The Bad Astronomer is fairly bright, too. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908/36 "2003-05-23T19:54:14Z")
Whoooo. Thank God (and all the other dieties) that my name wasn’t bandied about here. The pressures off me. Phew! Now pardon me while I sit in the corner and drool ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908/37 "2003-05-23T21:00:29Z")
_I’m_ the smartest. I deliberately put all those typos in my posts so that no one is put off by my superhuman intellectual abilities. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908/38 "2003-05-23T21:11:25Z")
I am certainly the most irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908/39 "2003-05-23T21:18:43Z")
**Qagdop the Mercotian** (oh god, I hope I spelled that correctly) for any medical related question. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908/40 "2003-05-23T22:30:40Z")
I agree that it’s essentially an un-answerable question, but that’s a bit zzzzzzzzzzzzz. At every UK Dopefest I’m very impressed by how much **Casdavep** knows. He seems to have one of those very extra-large minds that can soak up a lot of information and recall it accurately. History, politics, the arts, science, pop culture stuff… u name it, he knows about it. Nice guy too. I don’t know and have never met **FairyChatMom** , but it seems to me she’s never posted a post that wasn’t worth reading. **QED** uses something I posted as his sig, so I naturally think he’s super-bright with excellent good taste. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-the-smartest-person-on-this-board/176908.md?page=3)