Poll: How smart do you think you are?

[ACman]

I have an IQ of 174 so I am actualy very far above average. Yay me!

You really can't measure IQ above 160.

 

[pppppppppppppppppp]

I recently read an article saying that a very large majority of people think they have above average intelligence. Obviously, it's impossible for everyone to be above average, and it seems people aren't as smart as they like to think they are.

The second sentence isn't related to the first. Obviously it's possible for the majority to have above average intelligence. As an example, say one person has an IQ of 50, and two have an IQ of 110. The mean average is 90, thus the majority are `above average intelligence'.

That's theoretically possible, but probably not reasonable. If you assumed the people in this poll had an average of 100 (which should be the average), then the 6.2% of people who say they are below average have to be 13 times father from 100 as the 84.2% who say they are above average.

For example, the below average people could have an IQ of 48 and the above average people could have an IQ of 104 on average, but considering the amount of people here who claim to have IQs of 150+, this is very unlikely.

These are all just rough estimates, and I'd say you're theoretically right, but in practice, it seems at lease some people are lying.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I would say I'm REGIONALLY above average. I know more stuff about everything compared to the people who live here in this city.

However, I like to watch Cash Cab, which takes place in New York, and I would have to say that compared to some of the contestants, I would be average or below average.
And there's also the fact that I'm too lazy...

I want to say I would have been smarter if perhaps I would have done thing differently when I was a kid. I was a surprisingly smart kid and now I'm neither one of those. But if I am smart at some degree, I don't like to brag about it. Saying that I was always top ten at school or that I know three languages or that I can play two instruments and stuff doesn't mean a thing because there is always someone who can do better than that and happens to be more humble than I can usually be. And that just proves I'm a retard for pretending otherwise. So no.

If you ask me, IQ doesn't mean you're a genius. It means you're smart, yes, but there's more in life than tests. If someone tells me they have an IQ of 1 million but they don't even know how to change a diaper, I won't be surprised. If someone tells me they have an IQ of over 9000 and also teaches me how to fix my car, I will be so surprised, I won't be able to poop for days, maybe.

i also like to watch that show, and i would say quite a few of the questions are era/regional based questions, because some of the questions i have seen on there are ridiculous and not a single person in my area would know what the hell it was, and if they did it was because it was a very "era" specific question, depending on your age, so while i love cash cab and do quite well alot of the time, sometimes those questions are "what the fuck..who...*person with missing bucked teeth and trashy answers immediately* "

But what surprises me is that some of the questions that make me go "What the shit is he talking about?" are the questions people answer oh so casually. For example, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't even make it past the first round of questions despite my knowledge of whatever. But you've seen how most people make it at least past the first round, strikes or not.
So I would say I'm fairly sure New Yorkers are smarter than people in my area, at least. Hands down.

i will agree it seems they have a better overall collective intelligence, maybe thats the positive of having a much tighter community (people per square mile in new york) is they share information/have a much wider grasp on information

 

[Gwarr]

IQ of 160 , the only things I am REALLY got at are videos games ,maths and ( to some degree ) physics , decent at programming too . I also believe these tests are useless if you don't use your intellect for something . Einstein had almost the same IQ as me , yet I doubt I'll ever be able to mark mankind history the way he did . Also , I suck at literature , my high school teacher told me I have the sensibility of a rock.

 

[LuckyClover95]

This is so self loving, guys, no offense, but I hardly believe most of you who voted above average really are. Don't measure your intelligence with IQ score or some shit.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

According to my A Level and GCSE scores, I rank among the top five percent of male students in the country. According to the various I've taken I have anywhere from 130-180 IQ (yeah, they're a load of bullshit aren't they) and according to my degree I'm average for a university student, which is still above average for the rest of the population.

I think my main problem is that if I am intelligent, then it's covered up by my interminable laziness. I have an incredible penchant for retaining facts and figures, I've been told I have a 'gift' for writing, and when i put my mind to it I can get ridiculously high scores on tests, I just don't bother most of the time.

I blame standardised education. It's basically established fact that standardised education is about the worst thing you can do to someone who's intelligent. It doesn't actually teach them how to learn, they just coast through on natural ability until they hit a problem they can't think their way out of, but by that point it's too late for them to unlearn what their entire life has taught them.

This is so self loving, guys, no offense, but I hardly believe most of you who voted above average really are. Don't measure your intelligence with IQ score or some shit.

If you're going to berate people for 'self-loving' because they think they're intelligent, would you be so kind as to define intelligence first? Since you think an IQ test is shit and not suited for measuring intelligence, how would you do it oh wise one?

 

[SoulSalmon]

I'll only say I'm above "average" because the "average" around here is "Good job! you went an entire day without sticking your dick in a power socket" -.-

It's not that we are arrogant, it's the human ego. If you think about it it's really hard for a mans ego to accept loss and having a superior person around it, it wants to be the best and do everything to be the best and one of the ways is to tell itself it's above average and special from the rest. The human ego is pretty much one of your worst enemies because if you fail really hard or loose somebody important for somebody else it questions the egos made up bubble and that's than you break down and feel blue, some people even go insane. It's kinda complicated but it contains a lot of logic if you think about it.

Odd thing about this paragraph is that I feel MUCH better when theres someone around me much better at 'things' in general then I am...
I not only accept that a lot of people are smarter/stronger/faster then myself but actually find peace in that fact :/

 

[Super Toast]

I'd say above average. I seem to know more than most of my family members, at least. Also, I got 112 on an IQ test, so there's that.

 

[fingerbang143]

I think quickly and I'm a champ in arguments and such, but I don't apply myself in school. but then again I still get 80's without applying myself so I'm probably slightly above average

 

[LimitedPunctuation]

You do know that the standard IQ test only goes up to 160? And that I believe only Stephan Fry has that level. With Hawking at about 158.

Stephen Fry is not the smartest person ever, not would he claim to be so. I don't know where you got that from.

I think, and don't quote me on this, that there are two types of IQ test- one that, like you said, goes up to 160 and another that has no upper limit. I think the highest ever was MArilyn vos Savant, who got 225 or something like that.

she got 228 on the childrens one, she however only got 185 on the standardised one, and was eclipsed by Bobby Fischer with 188

 

[C2Ultima]

I wouldn't know. I've observed that most people tend to not understand things that I understand in an instant, but just as many cases of vice versa.

 

[Biodeamon]

I'm above average when it comes to logic (people problems, stuff that requires you to think) and minor technical (monitor display problems, assembly) problems but i'm not too good when it comes to problems with numbers (math, science)

 

[Sleepy Sol]

Never taken an IQ test. Ask any of my friends and they'd probably say I'm pretty smart. I think I'm kind of an idiot myself; I'm only good with booksmarts. I took the ACT in 7th or 8th grade and made a 24 or 25 overall. Took the PSAT this past year and scored higher than 91% of juniors (sophomore last year) so I guess I'm kinda intelligent. Then again there are a lot of idiots in today's world.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

...I think you're going to see a pretty large number of IQs above 120 around here, because as a gaming forum, The Escapist attracts a lot of nerds, who tend to be pretty intelligent.

Or you know because people lie to feel better about themselves.

Average is average for a reason, and 120 is significantly above average.

I suspect you will find people answering as high as, and above the highest documented IQs. Doesn't make it true. Far, far, far from the truth.

Unless they are using some new fangled system to measure intelligence that actually puts the average around 150. That I would buy.

120 is only 5 points out of the "average" range. Average is actually within a standard deviation of 100, meaning a range from 85-115. 120 really isn't all that high of an IQ, and since nerds tend to be smart, I would expect a website populated largely by nerds to have a lot of smart members.

 

[Nuuu]

I voted slightly above average, after taking a school test, i was suprised to see me getting 90th percentile on everything except for writing, and 100 percentile on rhetorical skills (i still dont know what that means). although i have a feeling that i don't know what average is, because out of my whole class, only 1 person got better scores, what really dampers my feelings is that the guy sitting next to me got a 0.7 percentile on something...

I don't vote above average because i know there are PLENTY of people smarter than me out there, (although i don't know truly how good i am because i never study unless it's for spanish)

 

[JochemDude]

I have always been told I was below average, but I do a job now that includes very complicated math, requires a lot of clever and fast thinking. I'm better at logical thinking then literal knowledge.

 

[johnzaku]

How awesome is that? The average poster is above average intellect!

Isn't that pro- wait...

 

[Gamer_152]

Actually humans think they're above average in just about every regard. I can't say I know my IQ or RQ but on the scale here I'd class myself as 'Above Average'. I think my analytical ability is stronger than my knowledge or brute logic though.

 

[Singularly Datarific]

I'm not gonna be modest and try and aim for "average", or whatever the average is here. I know it's brash, but there is a certain confident part of me that shouts "I'm the smartest damn person on the planet!". I don't get straight A's etc, but I am the person who comes out of a Chemistry or Calculus AP test grinning. I revel in things that others find frustrating, and I damn well like it.
Weirdly, I took one math test that was terrible. I hated it, I couldn't answer more than a third of the questions, and looked at my colleagues, thinking "they must be doing waaay better than me. What did I do wrong?" I left that day, feeling defeated by math for the first time in a while.
Two weeks later, the Calculus teacher says he has the winner (it was a competitive test, and the winner gets a name on a plaque in the hallway.). In a WTF moment, he states my name. Two dozen people taking a competitive math test voluntarily, and somehow I beat them. HELL YES.
That's why I put "way above average".