IQ Scores of Rep. Pres. Hopefuls (2008 Campaign)

[libertarian4321]

All I've heard, which I don't really care much about IQ testing since my mind can be better used to remember more important things, but that there are 6 major categories: Genius (above 160), Superior Intellect (140-159), Average or slightly above (100-139), Moron (80-99), Idiot (40-79), and Imbecile (1-39).

Umm, no. Not even close. I'll get to that later.

Your scales are wrong. Yes, I said "scales". You offered two different scales in your posts, a mistake an extraordinarily intelligent person would be very unlikely to make. Your spelling, grammar, and sentence structure are terrible, also not typical of someone of extraordinary intelligence.

Frankly, Nate, it is highly unlikely that anyone with even a 140 IQ, let alone 160, would appear to be so woefully uninformed unless 1) they were less than 12 years old or 2) were raised by wolves.

Anyone with an IQ anywhere near 160 would have been tested numerous times (because it is an extraordinary score) and would likely have at least a passing notion of IQ scoring and testing (which also leads me to believe you do NOT have an IQ of 160).

The average is around 100. As I recall, the average 4-year college graduate will be a bit above 110. The average person with a doctoral level degree will be a bit above 120. A score of 132 will get you into Mensa. These numbers are just off the top of my head, but I'm sure they're very close to correct. Remember, the scale is logarithmic, so the difference between an IQ of 110 and 100 is significant, the difference between 100 and 132 is colossal. A score of 160 is phenomenal and very rare. Folks with an IQ that high typically aren't clueless, Nate- they tend to know a LOT of stuff- you know, the kind of people who sit there and answer every question when watching Jeopardy (even if they don't have a lot of formal education).

I also agree with the poster who said that even the best IQ tests have huge problems. Often intelligence tests are more tests of knowledge than intelligence (or, at least, have a heavily knowledge based component). The other problem: IQ test questions typically are not written by people with truly phenomenal intelligence. A person with an IQ of 130, writing a test question to test the intelligence of someone with an IQ of160, is a disaster waiting to happen (one big problem, the person with an IQ of 130 will see one "answer" to a question, whereas the person with an IQ of 160 may see two or three solutions that the person with lower intelligence will not.

Another problem I have with the definition of "intelligence" is that it is sometimes called the "ability to learn"- I don't agree with that as an all encompassing definition. Its also the ability to quickly solve problems. For example, in those number sequences that are so typical of IQ tests; a person of average intelligence (100) may not be able to figure out the answer at all- he'll be completely baffled; a person of above average intelligence (say 120) can usually grind out the correct answer if he ponders the question for a while; the person with high intelligence will require little more than a glance to see the "obvious" answer.

BTW, any of these "presidential IQ" emails you see are complete BS (notice there is rarely a source, or if there is a "source" its something you can quickly determine to be fake).

Okay, enough rambling for now.

And, if anyone is curious, my IQ is above average, but less than 170...

 

[Russellk30]

Umm, no. Not even close. I'll get to that later.

Your scales are wrong. Yes, I said "scales". You offered two different scales in your posts, a mistake an extraordinarily intelligent person would be very unlikely to make. Your spelling, grammar, and sentence structure are terrible, also not typical of someone of extraordinary intelligence.

Frankly, Nate, it is highly unlikely that anyone with even a 140 IQ, let alone 160, would appear to be so woefully uninformed unless 1) they were less than 12 years old or 2) were raised by wolves.

Anyone with an IQ anywhere near 160 would have been tested numerous times (because it is an extraordinary score) and would likely have at least a passing notion of IQ scoring and testing (which also leads me to believe you do NOT have an IQ of 160).

The average is around 100. As I recall, the average 4-year college graduate will be a bit above 110. The average person with a doctoral level degree will be a bit above 120. A score of 132 will get you into Mensa. These numbers are just off the top of my head, but I'm sure they're very close to correct. Remember, the scale is logarithmic, so the difference between an IQ of 110 and 100 is significant, the difference between 100 and 132 is colossal. A score of 160 is phenomenal and very rare. Folks with an IQ that high typically aren't clueless, Nate- they tend to know a LOT of stuff- you know, the kind of people who sit there and answer every question when watching Jeopardy (even if they don't have a lot of formal education).

I also agree with the poster who said that even the best IQ tests have huge problems. Often intelligence tests are more tests of knowledge than intelligence (or, at least, have a heavily knowledge based component). The other problem: IQ test questions typically are not written by people with truly phenomenal intelligence. A person with an IQ of 130, writing a test question to test the intelligence of someone with an IQ of160, is a disaster waiting to happen (one big problem, the person with an IQ of 130 will see one "answer" to a question, whereas the person with an IQ of 160 may see two or three solutions that the person with lower intelligence will not.

Another problem I have with the definition of "intelligence" is that it is sometimes called the "ability to learn"- I don't agree with that as an all encompassing definition. Its also the ability to quickly solve problems. For example, in those number sequences that are so typical of IQ tests; a person of average intelligence (100) may not be able to figure out the answer at all- he'll be completely baffled; a person of above average intelligence (say 120) can usually grind out the correct answer if he ponders the question for a while; the person with high intelligence will require little more than a glance to see the "obvious" answer.

BTW, any of these "presidential IQ" emails you see are complete BS (notice there is rarely a source, or if there is a "source" its something you can quickly determine to be fake).

Okay, enough rambling for now.

And, if anyone is curious, my IQ is above average, but less than 170...

Is your IQ 123.4?

 

[libertarian4321]

I agree..

I also believe that really really smart people are borderline crazy. A lot of the genius types have mental problems/social probs.

A lot of extraordinarily intelligent people do have trouble "socializing" with regular people- they really have to work at it. Just as a person with an IQ of 120 (probably at least a 4 year college grad) would have a lot of trouble socializing/conversing with a person with an IQ of 60 (probably barely capable of performing menial labor, and not capable of conversation beyond the simplest levels- probably "child like" conversational abilities), the person with an IQ of 160 will have trouble communicating with a person with an IQ of 100.

 

[libertarian4321]

Is your IQ 123.4?

No, 432.1. I broke the scales

 

[Shink]

That is the problem--intelligence is a CONCEPT, not something concrete, rigidly definable. Intelligence, love, beauty, etc. fall into that area. I highly doubt anybody could come up with a test, however carefully crafted, that measures how much you love someone you claim to love and have it amount to anything.

 

[tpreitzel]

From my own experience in the military, I knew of one soldier (later discovered to be homosexual and a user of illegal narcotics) who was extremely intelligent with a documented IQ around 150, IIRC. Although, I have no proof in the case of this soldier, it's very possible that he was physically and psychologically abused as a child. Abused children tend to have heightened perceptions which enhance IQ. So, a high IQ can be both a blessing and a curse depending on the person's circumstances. Now, can we get back to the work of Ron's campaign?

I should take my own advice, but some more information just came to me like a bolt out of the blue while laying in bed. So, here's the remaining data on the soldier as far as I can recall. His IQ was 152? His last name was Hxxxxxn with the 534th Signal Company (W. Germany) in about 1975.

Edit: It's best to remove the name for multiple reasons.

 

[ArbitraryExpert]

What's the source on this? It doesn't look very credible since it's giving margins for the IQ.

Also, John McCain's IQ has been confirmed to be 133 by Time Magazine, a qualified genius by Mensa's standards.

 

[libertarian4321]

What's the source on this? It doesn't look very credible since it's giving margins for the IQ.

Also, John McCain's IQ has been confirmed to be 133 by Time Magazine, a qualified genius by Mensa's standards.

An IQ of 133 will (barely) get you into Mensa. Its is NOT "genius"- not even close. Mensa ostensibly takes the top 2% (roughly 6,000,000 Americans qualify)- but being in the top 2% ain't genius.

How did Time determine that John McCain, who barely completed his undergraduate degree, had an IQ of 133?

 

[GunnyFreedom]

The average adult, last time I heard, was 114.

HAHaha, thats funny! Sounds just like America though. Fact of the matter is, that the IQ is a moving average. If the entire population suddenly became 10 times more intelligent tomorrow, the average IQ would still be 100. 100 is actually the baseline average of all the scores in the database.

I have no doubt that you heard from a source that the average American IQ was 114, but that's just the mass hypnosis of trying to convince the average Joe that he is smarter than the average bear.

Sort of a feel better - buy more thing.

Or maybe it's a vanity thing. Everybody overreports their own IQ to make themselves look smarter. Although if that was the case, I'd have expected it to be reported that the average American IQ was 199. ;-) After all, the average IQ on usenet seems to be around 240.... hehe

 

[GunnyFreedom]

PS - I can attest to persons of upper IQ's having socialization problems, abuse, &c. Though that can as often as not be brought upon themselves. I remember being in 3rd grade, and I would daily be dragged out into the hallway and have the %#$& beat out of me because I kept insisting my teacher was wrong on one subject or another. She later got fired, and I was put into a class where the hardest thing we did was bake cookies. Not a good period of my memory. But it was later demonstrated that she was indeed wrong when I was calling her out. I was abused daily for 6 months straight at that point. Yeah I test pretty high, won't get into all that, but if I was really as smart as all that maybe I would have shut the heck up and not had to deal with the daily beatings...

 

[Tarzan]

A lot of extraordinarily intelligent people do have trouble "socializing" with regular people- they really have to work at it.

To me, practical intelligence is determined by the conclusions one reaches. Bill Clinton is said to be intelligent, but look at his conclusions on important issues. To me, they qualify as stupid... maybe they were just Hillary's conclusions?

I recall an incident in college... it was late (early in the morning, really) and I went to this little dive in the small town I was attending college... it was the only place open at that time of the day. I ordered a burger and some fries. The lady working the counter was worn and appeared to have had a hard life. I watched her as she wrapped my fries in some wax paper (this was a long time ago). She did it with such care and precision; as if it were the most important task in the world.

I really felt sorry for her... that this was such an important task to her. I silently pitied her for her limited mentality (yeah, I was an asshole back then too) and took my burger and fries and went back to the dorm. But, I couldn't eat them... I kept thinking about that poor woman and her limited mentality. I sat there for nearly an hour considering the nature of being until I realized that that woman was probably happier and more content with herself than I ever would be.

Bottom line... we are all individuals... IQs don't necessarily make us any happier or capable of coming to better conclusions... to some degree I envy the woman in the diner. The socialization issue to which libertarian4321 referred has been real for me. It is an ongoing source of frustration when trying to explain certain concepts and conclusions. No drug problems... but years of frustration and communication issues. :o

Oh… I ate the burger and fries… but it was a real Solzhenitsyn moment for me.
.

 

[hypnagogue]

How did Time determine that John McCain, who barely completed his undergraduate degree, had an IQ of 133?

I typically score between 130 and 140 on IQ tests and I have had one hell of a time with college. I've had to drop it and pick it back up several times now. There are lots of reasons but I don't much feel like getting into it. All I'm trying to say is that schooling is a skill totally separate from general intelligence.

 

[libertarian4321]

Based on the claims I've seen so far, the average IQ of people on this forum is somewhere north of 140, which is amazing, because only a tiny fraction of the population scores that high in real life (not online "life"), lol.

 

[Tarzan]

Based on the claims I've seen so far, the average IQ of people on this forum is somewhere north of 140, which is amazing, because only a tiny fraction of the population scores that high in real life (not online "life"), lol.

Yeah... sounds like the DieBold voting machines are being used to enter scores.

 

[Shed]

[citation needed]

 

[brandon]

In this thread:

A bunch of egotistical liars inflating thier IQ score and bragging about it.

I cant believe how little of an understanding you all have about IQ. The one guy says his IQ is 160, which would give him the highest IQ out of a randomly selected group of a million people (estimate - depends on SD of test) . lol, yea right buddy.

Also, why do you all insist Ron Paul's IQ is sooo high? Sure he is very knowledgable and an independent thinker, but that doesnt translate to IQ. If his IQ was really super high he would not be in politics and he likely would not have been a medical doctor. He would be hiding in his house teaching himself some obscure branch of theoretical mathematics or something.

by the way, my IQ is 225

WORST THREAD EVER

 

[Truth Warrior]

Wasn't McCain like 6th from the bottom in his graduating class at Annapolis? That tells me more than all I need to know.

 

[ArbitraryExpert]

Wasn't McCain like 6th from the bottom in his graduating class at Annapolis? That tells me more than all I need to know.

Time talked about that, but they also said he had an IQ of 133.

I know when I was in high school, I was apathetic and did very poorly. But then I got my act together and scored almost perfect on the SATs and straight As in college.


Doing well in school is more than just IQ, it has to do with character too... I've known more than a few "slow" kids who were in the top of their class just because they studied day and night.

 

[Truth Warrior]

In general, none of the military academies are places for slackers. Of course if your daddy is an admiral .......... hmmmmm?

 

[libertarian4321]

In this thread:

A bunch of egotistical liars inflating thier IQ score and bragging about it.

I cant believe how little of an understanding you all have about IQ. The one guy says his IQ is 160, which would give him the highest IQ out of a randomly selected group of a million people (estimate - depends on SD of test) . lol, yea right buddy.

Also, why do you all insist Ron Paul's IQ is sooo high? Sure he is very knowledgable and an independent thinker, but that doesnt translate to IQ. If his IQ was really super high he would not be in politics and he likely would not have been a medical doctor. He would be hiding in his house teaching himself some obscure branch of theoretical mathematics or something.

by the way, my IQ is 225

WORST THREAD EVER

Well, the fact that he has a medical degree from one of the top med schools in the country indicates that his IQ is likely well above that of the average college grad.

While not impossible, I suspect it would be extremely unlikely that a person with an IQ of 110 or below could get through Duke U. Med school (its not like getting a BA in History from Texas State).

Another thing about Ron- from my observation of the debates and interviews, he sometimes appears to think faster than he talks- his brain brings up all kinds of info at once and he can't get it out fast enough. He often tries to get too much information into his answers and doesn't realize that he's "losing" his audience (talking way over their heads)- something that is pretty common among high IQ people.

Compare that to the simple answers and blank expressions you get from people like Bush and George W. McCain...