Poll: How intelligent do you think you are?

[lunam-kardas]

Smart enough to excel at anything involving literature (except poetry),
but,
Too Dumb to view polynomials as anything other than my one true enemy.

 

[Agayek]

I'm definitely above average. How much is hard to determine objectively. I have an incredible ability to process and use information, and I honestly have never met someone able to match my skill in that field. I am able to consciously follow anywhere from one to six completely different trains of thought, at the exact same time. I can simultaneously be having a conversation aloud, another conversation through AIM, and planning dinner without strenuous effort. Beyond that, I am able to take in new information and use it almost immediately. I can learn something new in a matter of minutes and be able to use it effectively in just about any situation.

That said, my memory is absolutely godawful. I have an incredibly annoying tendency to forget people's names moments after they introduce themselves. Even worse, in the middle of a conversation with someone I will forget what we were discussing. I've done it literally mid-word before, and it drives me up the fucking wall. As best I can tell it's a side-effect of the aforementioned multi-track mind. I can process information with the best of them, but I simply can't store it effectively.

All that together puts me definitely above the average person I'd say, but I can't really say by how much.

 

[Xaio30]

Since average seems to be "above average" in this thread, I'll say that I'm average.

 

[Rainforce]

Woohoo... another self ego stoking thread... Either the escapist is only frequented by geniuses, which I would like to believe, but highly doubt, or everyone thinks themselves smarter than everyone else. Science says it's the latter and frankly, these threads are just proving the existence of superiority bias.

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT FOR BEING SUPERIOR IN ANY AND EVERY WAY, NOBODY IS PERFECT!"
yeah, leave it be. people who are actually INTELLGENT would not drop by in this thread. They actually really do have better things to do than showing the world just "how great" they are.
So I go with average, although I never did an IQ test or something. It might show you something you don't really want to know ^^

EDIT: the escapist really is not full of above average people, just attention- and image whores. also you made a typo, WHICH MY SUPERIOR EXISTENCE CANNOT ACCEPT WAAAH

 

[Agayek]

Wow, really? We just had this thread.

It's time for the Dunning-Kruger effect, once again.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

Seriously people. Like 90% of everyone one here considers themselves above average. 50% here were child geniouses. 1% here, or even less, cant use percentage properly. (me)

Also, look up something called illusory superiority. I'll bet we are all pretty much average here.

This is very true. It's almost a certainly that the majority of people who respond to this will be within the standard range of "average" (hence how the average exists in the first place), and anyone who claims to be above that is likely to be deluding themselves. It's not a guarantee that they are, but it's far more likely than actually being as smart as they think.

 

[CrazyJew]

high intelligence, super lazy-ass.

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

Intelligent enough to not give a shit about how I did within the limited scope of an education system.

Which does not mean I did badly. I just don't think you can solely measure intelligence from how well you did in school (which is what a lot of people here seem to be doing).

 

[Rainforce]

Spoiler: wall of text

I'm definitely above average. How much is hard to determine objectively. I have an incredible ability to process and use information, and I honestly have never met someone able to match my skill in that field. I am able to consciously follow anywhere from one to six completely different trains of thought, at the exact same time. I can simultaneously be having a conversation aloud, another conversation through AIM, and planning dinner without strenuous effort. Beyond that, I am able to take in new information and use it almost immediately. I can learn something new in a matter of minutes and be able to use it effectively in just about any situation.

That said, my memory is absolutely godawful. I have an incredibly annoying tendency to forget people's names moments after they introduce themselves. Even worse, in the middle of a conversation with someone I will forget what we were discussing. I've done it literally mid-word before, and it drives me up the fucking wall. As best I can tell it's a side-effect of the aforementioned multi-track mind. I can process information with the best of them, but I simply can't store it effectively.

All that together puts me definitely above the average person, but I can't really say by how much.

This is very true. It's almost a certainly that the majority of people who respond to this will be within the standard range of "average" (hence how the average exists in the first place), and anyone who claims to be above that is likely to be deluding themselves. It's not a guarantee that they are, but it's far more likely than actually being as smart as they think.

that kinda hurts to read... Even if your first statement is really true, please try not to appear as a total hypocrite on the internet but do something better with your competence.

I just don't think you can solely measure intelligence from how well you did in school.

yep, that just shows your ability to learn (actually, your willingness and ability to take up every crap others throw at you), while intelligence is more focused on processing power and not knowledge.

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

The inevitable problem with self-assessment of intelligence is that there are two kinds of people who think they're intelligent: the Dumbledores who are extremely intelligent and know it and the Dracos who think they're intelligent and want to appear intelligent. Spoiler alert: no one thinks they're a Draco.

Also, you should be immediately suspicious of people who talk as though their intelligence is some sort of curse. Likewise people who are intelligent but "apathetic".

Edit: I am thoroughly enjoying the folk psychology in this thread. Your naive ideas about processing, memory, multi-tasking, etc. are precious!

 

[maninahat]

Fuck, practically everyone on here says they are above average. That doesn't even make sense.

Intelligence quotients are not a reliable means of discovering one's intelligence, especially when it isn't an official MENSA test. For one thing, the tests are automatically favourable to anyone who just happens to have a knack for tests (keeping cool and confident, etc.) and if your reading speed isn't up to scratch, that blurs the results further.

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

Fuck, practically everyone on here says they are above average. That doesn't even make sense.

Intelligence quotients are not a reliable means of discovering one's intelligence, especially when it isn't an official MENSA test. For one thing, the tests are automatically favourable to anyone who just happens to have a knack for tests (keeping cool and confident, etc.) and if your reading speed isn't up to scratch, that blurs the results further.

Actually, it makes perfect sense. You think these forums are a random sample of the full population? You're looking at a very, very narrowly constrained group of people.

Also, MENSA is an organization for people with high IQs. They're not a scientific source for information on intelligence testing - they're a social club of people who have tested high. I'm not sure what you mean by an "official MENSA test" either, since they primarily use existing tests designed by the psychological community (which, I should note, typically finds MENSA to be quite misguided in its interpretation of test results). Nor am I at all sure why you would trust MENSA to be the best arbiter of testing accuracy rather than the relevant scientific field. Moreover, many, many of the tests that can be used to qualify for MENSA involve no reading whatsoever (it's very useful to have intelligence testing tools that are language-independent).

The real problem isn't test conditions, it's defining what the fuck you're talking about when you say "intelligence". The reason psychology typically thumbs its collective nose at MENSA is that intelligence tests are usually designed with a purpose in mind. Big "general intelligence" surveys fell out of popularity quite a while ago. Normally, you want to compare the intelligence score on the test to performance on some particular task as part of an experiment, in which case you have something of a context within which to design the test. It's just not at all clear what "general intelligence" tests are even trying to measure, even if we abstract away from all of the methodological problems of implementing them.

 

[Secret world leader (shhh)]

inB4 Above avera,oh.

OT: Eh, i dunno, It's a bit silly to base all intelligence solely on how i do in school but it's the only real objectivity i can get seeing as i'm such an Egotistical bastard. Anyway, I'm doing pretty awesome in English and while i'm not in the top set class for Maths I'm very good at whatever level i'm at.

Anyone know any good IQ tests they can send me a link to so i can get a better idea of my intelligence?

 

[Jezzascmezza]

Yeah, I guess I'm above average, if school results are anything to go by.

 

[MightyMole]

In an academic argument, nearly everyone can consider themselves above average. "I scored in the 80% on my SAT so I know I'm above average!", "I took an online IQ test and scored over 160! Of course I'm above average!" or "In school I always made straight A's! Totally above average!"

Interestingly enough, everyone can be above average in something. Some people are more geared toward certain things than others, so really if you take that into consideration, one can be above average. Intelligence is comprised of a number of factors, though what they are escapes me at the moment, so really if you excel in one, you can claim to be above average... In theory.

It really just depends on what you think is intelligent. Someone with a high IQ can gamble away their life savings, are they still smart? Someone with a lower IQ can make a killing with smart business decisions, are they still average? Life is pretty relative.

Honestly, I don't really care. Just to be different I'll say I'm average.

 

[CroutonsOfDeath]

Very. It's quite unbearable.

Can I kiss you? I love Jhonen Vasquez, and you are arguably the first person outside of a Jhonen Vasquez fansite to acknowledge any of his work outside of Invader ZIM; let alone one of the side-shows like Wobbly Headed Bob. <3

Anyways, on topic. I think I am intelligent, not a genius by any stretch but genuinely above average. Admittedly though, I have a stupid complex where I hate people calling me intelligent. It mostly stems from the fact that my parents always told people the doctor designated me with an I.Q. of 193 at Birth which is totally mental and unless you literally come out of the womb with a giant throbbing brain and a paper containing history of the universe, I'm pretty sure you can't judge a 5 minute old babies I.Q. It got to the point that whenever someone tells someone else I'm smart, I get annoyed. It's actually one of my dumber aspects when I truly think about it, but whatever.

TL;DR, Yes - but not a genius.

 

[RatRace123]

Don't know, never taken an IQ test. I'd like to think I'm smarter than average, I am on the internet after all, if I wasn't I'd be an outcast amidst all the other above average people. Incidentally, I'm also above average in terms of looks too.

Honestly, I really don't know. Like I said I've never taken an IQ test, I don't think I'm stupid, that's about all I know.

 

[Nikolaz72]

I believe im pretty dumb in almost all area's. Therefor I try to avoid calling anyone out for being dumb, unless youknow, they try to sell their own child. Worship something nonexistant. Or, try to say people will go to a very bad place if they dont do what theese people want. Which is sometimes killing other people who dont want to do what they want.

Aka, Spoiled Brats (Both old and young) And idiotic parents (Both old and young)

Last IQ test I took I scored well below average. So again, unless I wanna go out and say IQ tests sucks and arent valid. If we follow it to the point I am retarded.

 

[Simmo8591]

I'm doing a Masters in Mathematics at a top University... so read into that what you will. I'd say above average but some of the people on my course are scarily clever so I'm defiantly not a genius

 

[winnkey]

lol self report intelligence with nothing but a persons own interpretation of what intelligence is. does anyone else see the issue with this thread? (yes i have noticed the other peoples comments about what i have just said) but my point is everyone would mostly believe themselves to have some form of intelligence that would be above average in some aspect and i very well also believe this to be a true idea about what intelligence is.


Even if you do one of the more basic theories of intelligence which is fluid and crystallized intelligence. it still forms the constructs that people are simply smarter when it comes to certain aspects of living so judging people against each other is folly. and even now things such as being able to pay attention or being able to understand emotions are being formed as concepts of intelligence or musical intelligence all constitute as being smart.

To deem yourself in a general manor to be smarter then the masses i find to be very foolish and the very idea of what the "average people" have. so simply if you think you are above everyone else but only in a general way you sir are probably very likely one of the general masses you are trying to break away from.

 

[CrazyMedic]

well considering I out scored everyone on this school wide English test, oh and I have never gotten below a b- on any non math test and I have never studied for a non math test and would spend about 50% of my time sleeping in class, oh and a 150(or maybe 160 I forget) I think I am well above average, but on the scale of escapees I would say probably average.