Poll: Do you think your I.Q. is higher or lower than the average person.

[Aris Khandr]

I know I'm above the average. Advanced/gifted programs in school, academic team, reading above a high school level at 12, et cetera.

This has resulted in both amazing overconfidence and annoying over-preparedness. I'm pretty convinced that there is nothing I can't do, should I put my mind to doing it. But I'm also prone to not actually doing anything if I'm not quite sure of what I'm doing. I rarely "figure it out as I go" on projects. I either know what I'm doing before I start, or I don't start.

 

[Limecake]

Most people generally reply as 'higher' if I recall correctly (for obvious reasons). We generally over-estimate how smart we are compared to other people. And I'm no different, because I'm going to go with higher

Kinda like how everyone says that they are middle class no matter their financial situation eh?

OT: I've never really put much stock in iq tests, mainly because I know I am better in certain areas than in others.

My thoughts exactly, I'd go for average or slightly above it (I took a test when I was younger and scored well but I don't put a lot of stock in that)

I've always been able to 'fake' my way through most tests, especially multiple choice tests so if it's simple IQ questions I can just supplement my knowledge with my ability to get lucky on guesses.

IQ tests/scores are meaningless. It's one thing to say "My IQ is extremely high" and another one to actually apply that IQ.

 

[Dragonclaw]

I took the tests that got me into both Mensa and summer school at UC Berkley when I was in 7th grade...I'll go with higher

 

[Eddie the head]

Higher then the average person around here. But that's not hard Sarah Palin was born in my home town so yeah the bar is pretty low on that one.

 

[JoJo]

I've never taken an IQ test so no idea on the exact number but given I attend a university that's generally ranked within the top 10 of in the UK, I'd be very surprised if it wasn't above average. As others have said though, IQ only covers a small range of skills and can be notoriously inaccurate when either applied to young children or those on the outliers.

Internet IQ tests are also universally bullshit, my dumbass friend who is average intelligence at best took one and got 118, which would make him within the top 10% of the population... yeah right. The only IQ tests that can be trusted are those offered by a professional or possibly a reliable organisation like MENSA.

 

[porpoise hork]

When I was 7 I was tested and got an IQ rating of 136 which prompted them to put my in a specialized private school. Later after my parents divorced I had to go back to public school and I was so far ahead of the other students and the admins decided it would be best that I skip the 6th and 7th grades.

 

[Total LOLige]

I've never taken an IQ test before so I wouldn't have a clue. If I had to guess I'd say average no more no less, I'm consistently average at everything I don't want to break the trend with a low or high IQ.

 

[Rowan93]

Surely the point of `average` is that... most people's are the average?

So mine is probably average. I haven't taken an IQ test in god-knows how long cause I'm not really interested.

More people are closer to the average than further away, and more people have an IQ of 100 than have an IQ of 99, or of 101, but way more people have an IQ between 101 and 150, or between 99 and 50.

And if it wasn't a discrete distribution (Like, if you could have an IQ of 102.3587902), we'd have exactly zero people with an average IQ!

Isn't statistics fun?

 

[smithy_2045]

I know it's higher.

 

[DrgoFx]

Last test I took stated higher, but only slightly. Something like a 128 or 130.

 

[Jonluw]

The last time I checked, I was above average.
Haven't taken an iq test in years though, and I'm pretty slow when it comes to figure stuff out. My processor takes a long time to start up so to speak.

 

[DasDestroyer]

From taking IQ tests a while ago, my IQ is quite a bit above average, but this doesn't mean a thing because different IQ tests often have different scoring systems, and all IQ tests really test you on is how good you are at doing them.

 

[Valdus]

I don't trust IQ tests. According the the national British IQ test one year I was 130 roughly (which is genius level). Next year I was 90...

I don't see how a multi-choice test is able to tell how smart someone is. It can tell how smart someone is in relation to the subject on the quiz, but that doesn't do anything to show how capable that person is of taking in new information and understanding it.

 

[Eleuthera]

All tests I took put me at above average (130-140), just means I'm good at tests though.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

I'm smart academically. I can write really good argumentative essays and am good at English and that side of academic critical thinking and expression, but I am pretty average at Maths (although I did get a B on my GCSE Maths despite having to do a 2 year course in one year.)
I am, however, absolute rubbish at intuitive thinking. If I don't have instructions or guidelines for doing something I just crap myself and die, I can't function in that sort of improptu thinking.
So I'm really two extremes: excellent at critical thinking, but with no intuition. (I'm not sure how that works either, but it's the best way I've come up with describing how my mind functions)

 

[Erja_Perttu]

I'd say higher because I'm book smart, but I'm terribly unsavvy when it comes to life in general.

 

[Dags90]

Surely the point of `average` is that... most people's are the average?

So mine is probably average. I haven't taken an IQ test in god-knows how long cause I'm not really interested.

This isn't a representative sample of the average population though, so these "herp derp everyone overestimates, lolol you're all narcissists" threads are sort of pointless because this site doesn't represent everyone. It would be better to word the question as "do you think your IQ is higher or lower than the average Escapist".

Way, way higher.
I was elected Queen of Mensa, you know.

OP: I have no idea, I don't hold IQ tests in very high esteem.

InB4 Everyone having an IQ over 160 and being in Mensa.

That's funny, because I'm the Grand Duchy of Mensa and I've never seen you around.

Given the average American reads at an 8th grade level, I'm probably above average on that. Not exactly a great achievement.

 

[TehCookie]

Average as in mean or medium? I'm smarter than the mean average but I think I'm average on the medium.