Poll: Do you think you're more intelligent than the average person? (Be honest)

[Gibboniser]

I'm not sure, I was always told I was intelligent when I was younger, but my grades now do not reflect an intelligent person, yet I hear people talking, or arguing about a subject, and the only thing in my mind is "lolwut" Their logic and reasoning is ... well it doesn't hold up.

At a guess, I'll hope for average intelligence.

 

[NoOne852]

The problem I have with answering this is that I don't quite know what the average really is. If I had to base it on the people I have come into contact with, then I would say above average. If the average was from everyone, then it would be harder to answer. I would put myself as average, but that is still difficult to say.

 

[The Lunatic]

In terms of schooling, I was twice above the average grade.

Academically, I seem to be above the average.

At the very least, I guess my ability to learn to better than most.

Assuming "Average" is "My peers at certain stages in my life".

 

[Alssadar]

I really wish there was an "at average" level, as that is what I assume myself to be, being a modest man myself.
But, nonetheless, I believe myself to be 'above average' in this case. In consideration, I do have pretty good intelligence and remembering skills; Not many people can play can play a bass drum in a tuxedo upside in Lucas Oil stadium as well as march the field for seven minutes straight.

 

[Rule Britannia]

At my school, not so much; since it's private. I'm not the dumbest at my school but i still get a 75%-80% average. Compared to public schools I'm probably smarter than them [damn does that ever make me sound like a dick head]

 

[layzeedave]

It may be arrogant (which i most certainly am), but being in the Gifted and Talented program at school, i feel a bit above average,that does mean, however, that my social skills are lacking by quite a bit.

It doesnt have to be a trade off.

It's like the term "being on their wavelength." Intelligence being the wavelength in question. People find it easier to communicate with people within a certain range of their own level of intelligence. Outside that scope it becomes more of a struggle. Since people in the mid-range of intelligence find more people fall inside their scope they are perceived as having better social skills since they get on with a greater number of people. As people approach either end of the spectrum the number of people they can communicate adequately with falls. So the perception of social skills falls in line with that.

In short being mediocre is preferable socially. You might think that a really smart person would be able to talk down well enough, but alas the difference in human intelligence is really rather small and the human brain doesn't normally have such extra capacity to model slightly simpler minds (although I wouldn't rule it out with training; teachers may be an obvious place to look for such skills).

 

[scorptatious]

Well I'd like to say that I'm more knowledgeable about video games than the average person.

As for intelligence? Hmm. I'm no genius, but I don't think I'm a total idiot either.

 

[JediMB]

TESTING would suggest I am (or was), but I sure feel dull-witted a lot of the time.

Maybe I've just let my brain decay these last few years.

 

[Logiclul]

There are so many people in Africa, South America, and other areas who have zero education, farm for a living (and while this may not be inherent of unintelligence, strongly correlates to it for lack of education) and they outnumber the educated population. I'd hope that everyone on this site for the most part is on the over.

As was stated in the OP, being educated is not the same as being intelligent. Intelligence is generally something you are born with, education is something privileged people receive. There are plenty of educated stupid people but when it comes to living in an environment where survival is far more difficult, you have to be intelligent to survive.

Intelligence is the ability to have a large capacity to learn. Intelligence is NOT booksmarts. I've met people in poorer areas of my city who are just as intelligent as I am without having any of my academic knowledge. They know which people to avoid, which people are easy targets, where to locate these people and many other skills that I haven't learned. In fact intelligence doesn't just test your ability to learn maths or literature, it also tests your ability to learn skills. I'm willing to bet that there are as many farmers who have a good knack for picking up new skills as there are schoolchildren who have a good knack for picking up knowledge in their favourite subjects.

No.. first of all we'll ignore the fact that there may be multiple intelligences for a moment (because then it'd be impossible to participate in the poll) and make sure you understand what intelligence means.

A person is intelligent when they have acquired sufficient knowledge to where they may apply that knowledge to make accurately correct decisions/ideas in the world.

Intelligence is not simply the capacity to learn, it is the mental GAIN and APPLICATION of the knowledge. The capacity to learn is simply an inherent quality of intelligence but does not solely define it.

 

[JoJo]

It depends on who exactly I am compared to. I am surely smarter then everyone within a few dozen miles, and I can't swim, ride a bike, or tie shoes.

For me, I'd love to modest and say I'm average but I go to a highly respected UK university which at the moment hangs around the 9th to 15th top in the country (within top 200 in the world), so even without bias I must be above average.

What about the average of the university?
[SUB]Wait, seriously? 9th in the UK? Okay, I'm not nearly as smart as this guy.[/SUB]

That's a good point, I'm probably about the middle third the university even if that sounds like a cop-out answer. On the one hand, there are some people I've done group work on in my course that have made me face-palm with their lack of general scientific knowledge, on the other hand I have some very smart chemistry friends that make me feel dumb when I see the content they study.

It's worth adding that although I'm academically smart, I'm well below average at sport and socially mediocre, people generally like me but I get the impression that's partly because a lot of people find my Aspergers social awkwardness endearing rather than me being skilled at it, excluding a few very particular situations.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

I have above average intelligence...

But I make up for that by having ADHD. :s I can't use my full potential most of the time. So essentially, I boil down to average in the end.

 

[Sight Unseen]

I think I'm above average. I'm in fourth year university in one of the top 200 in the world, taking one of the hardest programs they offer (Biochemistry and chemical engineering) and I have an A+ GPA (in US equivalent it would be about 3.56 GPA), I've received invitations from honour societies because they claim I'm in the top 15% of my year.


Also I've taken a MENSA IQ test and gotten a high enough score to join them if I wanted to ( I think 128 or something, I can't remember).

So yes, I would say I have above average intelligence. /modesty

 

[SenseOfTumour]

Well, playing the simple numbers game, I'm gonna add up the number of people who read the Sun or the Daily Mail.

I'm already smarter than them, so *ticks*

Gonna go ahead and project that line of thinking for FOX viewers in the US too, essentially if you're not watching FOX, you're almost already qualified as above average.

 

[Dutch 924]

It depends on which part of "intelligence" you refer to.

I have an IQ of 134, so does that make me above average, or am I lower because people at college get better grades than me?

Right now, I would say I'm above average, what with wisdom and logic sense and all that.

 

[Jokuma]

Asking someone how intelligent they are is just about the most pointless thing in the world. Just about everyone says that they are more intelligent and anyone that doesn't is just trying to say they are smarter then people by admitting to be average or below average.

That said I'm going to take a wild guess and say I'm above average.

 

[pastrami05]

This question trapped me in a paradox loop,

"No, I'm not more intelligent than most people,"

"Most people don't think that, therefore I'm more intelligent than most people,"

"Most people think that, therefore I'm as or less intelligent than most people,"

"I'm not more intelligent than most people,"

There is no paradox. The fallacy here is that being in the minority of thinking something doesn't make you smarter. Neo Nazis are a minority, but that doesn't make them smarter. You could just be dumb and self aware.

 

[Nimcha]

No, I don't think that. I know that.

But it's fine, the average person is a lot better at stuff I struggle with. It all depends on your environment as well.

 

[xXGeckoXx]

Just a little experiment I thought up. Obviously only 50% of people can be above average in anything. My real goal here is to see just how strongly we are affected by personal bias.
So which 50% do you personally think you fall into, the upper or the lower?

Remember, knowledge =/= intelligence. Living in a developed country and getting a good education does not make you inherently smarter, just more learned.



edit: For the nitpicky, by "average" I mean median not mean, otherwise all the mentally handicapped people and in the world would probably drag the average down considerably. And by "intelligence" I mean a general summation of ones abilities including abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, retaining, planning, and problem solving.

Yes. I am smarter than average. I naturally take interest in difficult things and understand concepts that some of my peers cannot. I do not claim to be abnormally smart. My interest in sciences and so on have shown me that there are many people much much much muchisimo smarter than me and I also lack certain qualities that hinder my overall intelligence (I am not as mathematically (problem solving) inclined as I would like to be) but I would say that I am at least a tiny bit abouve the average line.

Also I always consider the average person to be not oh so smart so by saying I am above average I do not believe that this makes me particularly smart.

 

[The_Lost_King]

Average yes, my friends no. Everyone always says Zac you are so smart. I feel that way until i am with my friends then i'm the dumb ass. although this is just school smarts I always make a fool of my self.