The other day I sat down to watch The Princess Bride for about the 10,000th time. Man that is a great movie! Anyway, when I was watching the part where Vizzini, the Sicilian, was answering the question as to how smart he is, he said:
“Let me put it this way. Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates? Morons.”
So, I decided to mosey on over to the Interwebs and find a list of people with the highest IQ ever measured, and lo and behold I couldn’t find one! So for the sake of future searchers, I compiled the following information. Enjoy.
Background Info
In order to establish a baseline knowledge, IQ (intelligence quotient) is a score derived from attempting to measure the actual mental horsepower of any given individual. Personally I place little value in IQ tests, but I do acknowledge that they are an indicator of some common potential success factors, so we’ll leave it at that.
The “average” IQ is by definition 100, so if you score below that you are dumber than average, and above it means smarter than average.
Commonly acknowledged IQ Score Ranking System:
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 The distribution of IQ scores is as follows:
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I’d like to stop for a second and inject a little philosophy before we go on. I have absolutely no respect whatsoever for intelligence. I only respect people for their actions. So no one should envy or emulate people on the list that follow because some of them are miserable human beings (like this narcissistic guy). Take Bobby Fischer as an example. He’s the biggest A-hole on the list, and I’d like to kick his teeth in for his comments about Jews and America.
The Highest IQs On Record
People Still Alive
- Physicist / Engineer Kim Ung-yong has a verified IQ of 210
- Bouncer Christopher Michael Langan has a verified IQ of 195
- Engineer Philip Emeagwali is alleged to have an IQ of 190
- World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov is alleged to have an IQ of 190
- Author Marilyn Vos Savant has a verified IQ of 186
- Actor James Woods is alleged to have an IQ of 180
- Politician John H. Sununu is alleged to have an IQ of 180
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is alleged to have an IQ of 180
- Mathematician Andrew Wiles is alleged to have an IQ of 170
- World Chess Champion Judith Polgar is alleged to have an IQ of 170
- Chess Grandmaster Robert Byrne is alleged to have an IQ of 170
- World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer is alleged to have an IQ of 167
- Mathematician / Physicist Stephen W. Hawking is alleged to have an IQ of over 160
- Microsoft Founder Paul Allen is alleged to have an IQ of over 160
- Actress Sharon Stone is alleged to have an IQ of 154
From the Past
In 1926, psychologist Dr. Catherine Morris Cox – who had been assisted by Dr. Lewis M. Terman, Dr. Florence L. Goodenaugh, and Dr. Kate Gordon – published a study “of the most eminent men and women” who had lived between 1450 and 1850 to estimate what their IQs might have been. Data from that study as well as other sources around the net were compiled to form the following list. Please drop me a comment if you have additions or corrections (make sure and cite sources).
Also, see Wikipedia’s list of Universal Genius (Polymaths).
Test YOUR IQ
Now that you’ve read all about these really smart people, surely you want to know how you compare? Well, set aside a full 40 minutes and go through this test to determine where you are on the evolutionary chain.
Select the image below and the clock starts when the test loads, so be prepared in order to get the full 40 minutes. Trust me, you’re gonna need it! Oh, and if you answer “A” on every question, you get a 72! (a=72, b=65, c=65, d=65, e=72, f=72, g= 65, and h=65 – Only The Man would help you cheat on an IQ test!)
EDIT: I received the following e-mail from Mike, a former school psychologist of 30 years, regarding the validity of this IQ Test:
…one of the better and possibly fairly accurate IQ tests (11/8/07) seen on the net. Two caveats:
1. This test evaluates visual spatial reasoning skills, and not verbal which some may say would be a bias toward guys.
2. This test does not assess processing speed and ability to make quick/accurate and perhaps more c creative choices.For different view of intelligence away from IQ try: Theory of Multiple Intelligences
If it turns out you are a Genius, join a club! Here’s how to hook up with your intellectual peers:
- The Genius Society
- Mensa International
- International High IQ Society
- Poetic Genius Society
- The Mega Society
- The Triple Nine Society
By the way, why is it that most of the high IQ society Web sites suck so bad? And if I may inquire additionally, why is it that none of them have sections on their sites where they are actually teaching people by translating highly complex issues into understandable language?
Now, for the rest of us (I score just above a moderately intelligent canine, but just below a porpoise), you can just join the One Man’s Blog Society for the Incredibly Average. Believe me, we have a lot more fun around here.
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Excuse me, I meant to say you are right. I type too fast as well.
If you’re so ‘smart’ then why is your sentence structure slaughtered?
Reply to T 2009-01-05 18:22:06
I got a verified IQ of 168 when I was 6. Maybe I should have played the late Bobbi Fisher.
90??????????????????????????/
yikes!!! 10
I got 137 and I’m only 13
what a douche
How old you are or how high you score doesn’t mean anything. What you do with it is what counts
Well I have been obsessed with IQ for some time as most of you probably are if you are here. I am convinced that a certain semi high/confined range of IQ’s becomes obsessed with and cannot move beyond a determinist argument. We can’t all be ubermenchen(however you spell it). As far as I can tell, the IQ test given is good but not great. I know I am smarter than average, but according to the test with an SD of 15 I should be at about 1/100 people. The problem is that I did the math for the number of students in my school system and compared it to the number of students in the enriched english(I never got into the math but I suck at maths) and then using experience to tell me about what percent of the enriched class was smarter than me(at least 80%) to figure out If I really fell into the correct percentile. They did not match. In my school district I probably should have been 1/20 or 1/50 but probably not 1/100. There are many possible confounding factors in this however. My school district almost certainly has a higher than average IQ. It almost certainly contained a higher number of borderline geniuses because many of the children were from scientists and doctors as fermilab and argonne are nearby. In addition there were a great deal of educated Asians and Indians which, the former always being more intelligent and the later probably, significantly skew the data set. It is also true that I am far better with verbal reasoning and spacial reasoning than am with mathematical. In fact I would put myself near the genius, if not over genius, level of standard deviation for verbal reasoning. I knew people who were pure genius and I was far more verbally skilled in at least spontaneous spoken language than near if not all of them. I do not meet 1/500 people probably who speak as well as I.
These factors taken with the fact that the prerequisite for my middle school advanced program was fixed on a national average and not relative to the local population lead me to conclude that my average IQ is probably closer to 130. Oh and the first time I took it I stopped maybe 3/4 of the way through and got like a 120 or something because I got bored. Then I really took my time and tried and got a 135.
So if you suck at spacial reasoning but are much better at other things I would suggest adding about 5 points. If you are good at spacial reasoning but not equally good in other things I would subtract 5. However, it should be noted that towards the latter part of the test logic and basic intuitive math is tested as one begins to apply it to the shapes given. Thus it is not fully skewed to the spacial end.
PS I am not proofing this as I do not care. I have a tendency to use qualifying statements which make punctuation a pain in the ass and as long as you can understand what I am saying that is what counts. I find punctuation useful only insofar as its improper use does not affect meaning.
oh yeah I’m 19.
Hopefully good links. Should also provide the OP poster with some new data for famous IQs.
http://www.aceintelligence.com/iq_of_famous_people.php
http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/studien/bericht-43536.html
http://www.lagriffedulion.f2s.com/city.htm
http://www.slate.com/id/2178122/entry/2178124/
http://www.kids-iq-tests.com/famous2.html
When you get to college you will realize that most people are exceedingly stupid. The so called reading level is a joke its brought down by minorities who genuinely have lower testable IQs for reasons of both genetics and cultural factors. If you will read my post you will also understand how the specific school district you grow up in will invariably skew your perceived intelligence. Also bear in mind that you will be smarter as you age the next few years. I know for a fact that I got a lot smarter rather quickly in my senior year for no apparent reason. Maybe because I had less school work to do.
I was tested during my first week at Columbia way back in 1964. They told me me score was 154. Since then I took it once on line and received 142. I guess my brain cells are dying! My only hope is that they continue to die at the same rate.
flynn effect in action my friend.
Does the test also depend on how fast you finished the exam? I wanted to review my answers on the first part but I thought time must be a factor here so I submit the answers soon after the last question…scored 127. Hmmm…I wonder how the program computed my IQ because I thought it also depends on my age and the program didn’t ask for it.
Cool, I got 124 but I kind of rushed it. My computer has this virus that messed the screen up so I had to keep minimizing and stuff. It took me 10 minutes. Some I didn’t get at all especially some of the last ones.
I got it! It doesnt matter how fast you finish the test as long as you finish it before the time ends! The perfect score is 140 in 16deviation! Got them all right after another try! This is soooo fun!
i scored 140, the maximum.
got 140 at my second try btw, first try i rushed it and i was like stunned by the last few questions (rly hard). then i took my time and got them. still had 20 minutes left though.
chess also demands training
I’m black and I scored 128 on my first try. And I had 23 minutes left. Shouldn’t of have rushed.
This guy Kevin is a racist! You coward I dare you to say comments to someone’s face.
Hey Jackass Johnny, what is racist about what he said? Generally speaking, what he said is true. If you’d stop acting like a little crybaby and do some research you’d know that Kevin is telling the truth. It’s not Kevin’s opinion, it’s been proven, AAAAND logically it shouldn’t be so hard to believe. Based on your response, you sound just like an idiot minority…
Also Johnny, quit being the victim and go make something of yourself. Motivated minorities have so many more opportunities than motivated white folks….
There are so many different types of IQ tests, so what is the “real” test? What type would be more accurate. The more verbal ones or the ones like this test that just is patterns?
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