HOW SMART ARE YOU?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

Give me a percentile and a reason?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

1. I'll go first

95th percentile (all my scores SAT and GRE say 98 percentile...i am just giving some room for error)

[Nikia]

34. You are probably higher than 99%

Few people with low intelligence take those tests.

[VelmaD]

2. If I was any smarter...

there would have to be 2 of me. :)

[Melodybe]

3. My IQ is 136, although if you ever read my incredibly dyslexic posts

you might find that hard to believe.

I guess if you want a percentile my psat said I was in the 90%. However I can't brag too much I am the dumbest person in my family. My brother is in the 99% and has an IQ of 165.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

7. cool!

[thom1102]

17. That is about where I rank...

Although the Quantum Physics class that I am taking is making me feel awfully stupid!

[Westegg]

32. How can you have an IQ of 136 and only rank...

...in the 90th percentile of the PSAT? I always ranked in the 99th on standardized tests, and my IQ is only slightly higher than yours. I'd suggest that perhaps you, like so many intelligent people, have a fundamental problem with standardized tests, but what is the IQ if not a standardized test?

Ah hell, I'm sorry for yankin' yer chain. I'm just feeling pissy today.

[Nikia]

38. A couple of reasons

I have an IQ of around that and usually got 98-99 percentile on school standardized test, but only got about 92th percentile on the SAT. One reason is that there are fewer below average IQed people who take these tests. I did not study at all for the SAT where many other high scoring students do study. Vocabulary is a big part of the verbal section and although I read, the people who I grew up around and went to school with did not have a very diverse vocabulary. The test was also much longer than I was used to taking and most of my missed answers were during the last third of the test. I was tired and bored by then. These are my reasons for not doing as well on the test. Some people with learning disabilities may have problems with the length, like I did, or finishing within the time constraints. IQ also measures a few more other types of reasoning abilites, which a person may excel more at.
Being out of school, working at a relatively mindless job, and being around mostly below average intelligenced people, I think that I have dumbed down a bit. I think that I am still in the top tenth though.

[Westegg]

40. Points well taken. As I said, I'm just an a-hole today.

[Howardx]

4. well...im a democrat

:)

[La Lioness Priyanka]

9. well

good point

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

5. I was 1st in a college admission exam among 1500 people

That was in 1981. Didn't go to that particular college though.

I may be somewhat dumber now.

[trotsky]

6. Half of all Americans have below-average intelligence!

Did you know that?!?

[felonious thunk]

13. But how many are above average?

:shrug:

[hyphenate]

50. Yes

And they all vote Republican. :)

[rockymountaindem]

8. Got into MENSA on their test

on my first try when I was 14. Got a 33 on the ACT.

[AlienGirl]

10. My tests say 99th percentile

But if I'm so smart, why ain't I rich? :shrug:

Tucker

[La Lioness Priyanka]

11. maybe you have ethics?

[NuckinFutz]

12. Being rich doesn't mean your smart...

Just look at Dubya.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

36. Yes, being smart is over-rated.

It is much more fortunate to be well-connected.

[arcane1]

14. I have absolutely no idea of my percentile

but other than that, I'm pretty damned smart :)

[madrchsod]

15. dumb as a box of rocks

but alot smarter than bush. so i have to be over at least 85.....

[NuckinFutz]

16. not as smart as I'd like to be...

and not as smart as I used to think I was.

[TX-RAT]

18. smart enough

not to argue with the New York Lady's.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

19. Women, My Lord

n

[Spider Jerusalem]

20. Percentile: 99.9

IQ tested at between 147 and 178 (depending on the test). My SAT scores place me in the 99th percentile on the verbal section and 92nd on math (but I probably would've done better if I'd actually bothered to study and prepare rather than just taking the test cold).

[Exultant Democracy]

26. I am just about he same as you

my IQ is about 164, and my SAT scores were also about the same. I probably could have done better, but I decided to spend all night out drinking with my buddy.

[Spider Jerusalem]

27. Hahaha...

yeah, I have a hard time prioritising, too...lol...

And I seem to be more verbally oriented...math is a little trickier. Usually arrive at the right answer, but a lot of the time it's almost intuitive. Ask me to write a proof and I might not be able to. Heh.

[Exultant Democracy]

31. Wow, this is getting creepy now,

I do the same thing with math. When I was in middle school I once won a state competition, but then once math started getting more complected it seemed like I was working on intuition. I would end up with the right answer, but my proofs would be a mess.

[Blueshift]

21. My IQ is a mere 130.

Sob.

[LDS Jock]

59. IQ of 146 and ACT of 32

Don't know the percentages. Smart enough to not fall for republican propaganda.

[camero]

22. Would rather be wise than smart

Something to be said for the School of Hard Knocks. Too much of an education there. But my IQ is 127. Soso smart not brilliant.

[gyopsy]

23. 120 IQ or so

Not too bad. I'm a right-brained person though and I feel most IQ tests are biased towards left-brained, mathematical people.

[alarcojon]

30. Every IQ test I've seen....

has a significant mathematical component. It's definitely biased.

p.s. I'm a mathematician who benefits from this bias. I'm at around 130-140

[AverageJoe]

24. I'm dumber than a bag of hair

or so my wife tells me... ;-)

[GumboYaYa]

25. I have always done extremely well on standardized tests,

but I do not think that is a good measure of "smartness." Most traditional measures of "smartness" really are measures of whether a person possesses the characteristics of intellect valued by corporate America. Some of the brightest people I have ever met would not do well by these accepted measures of "smartness."

[Feanorcurufinwe]

33. Tests can be very deceptive.

And I discovered early that I had and almost preternatural ability to take tests. Besides doing extremely well on tests that covered material I knew, I seemed to be able to do well even if I had little or no knowledge of the subject matter. On the other hand, on the occasions that the instructor actually graded my notes, I failed, because I since I never really studied, I didn't take notes in order to be reviewed later, but rather, used the act of writing to lock things in my memory. Now that it has been many years since I've taken a standardized test, it is even more apparent that all they can test, is test-taking ability. The question of how smart you are is meaningless without a context. I may be a whiz at taking tests, chess, or computer programming but a dolt at auto repair, pinochle, or interior design. Does that mean I am smarter or dumber than those who are good at those topics?

[NoPasaran]

28. 64---Same as Bartcop n/t

[NewHampster]

29. Smart enough not to answer

But dumb enough to reply

[Feanorcurufinwe]

35. I did a poll on this. 56% thought they were among the 1% smartest, lol.

99th percentile: 56%
95th percentile: 29%
80th percentile: 7%
50th percentile: 0%
What's a percentile? 7%

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=842715


85% of the respondents thought they were among the 5% smartest people.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

37. lol

[AlienGirl]

46. Sample bias

That was a self-selecting sample of DU members. DU members are obviously not a good cross-section of the entire population (I doubt there are any DUers with IQs under 70, for instance). So I see no reason why 56% of a self-selecting, atypical population polled might not be in the higher percentiles compared to the entire population as a whole.

That, and some people probably voted wrong just to be wiseasses.

Tucker

[Feanorcurufinwe]

62. Just FYI

I posted the same poll on a generic post-a-poll website a couple years ago and got just about the same results.



I suspect that no matter what sample you use, you'll find that a lot of people think they are smarter than they really are.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

39. Don't know my IQ, but

my combined SAT score was 1399.

[achtung_circus]

41. Don't know my IQ lately, never took SAT

but I've qualified for, joined, gotten bored with and quit Mensa twice so I must be 98th percentile.

[EstimatedProphet]

42. I'm smart enough not to answer this question...

:)

[zatoichi]

43. Tests schmests

A little over a year ago, a former co-worker called me and asked me how long it would take to learn AutoCAD. I told him to give me a week. I was up and running in 3 days, such that I knew more about ACAD than the folks who had already been using it for a year or so.
I taught myself to play many musical instruments (guitar, fiddle, mandoline, Irish harp). Had no lessons on any of 'em. Not concert material, mind you, but I've cranked out some fairly sophisticated tunes.
THERE! I've tootled my own horn. Let that be an end to it.

[fudge stripe cookays]

44. Top 1/4 of high school class, 131 IQ, Dean's list several times in college

But not a math person. I would have kicked ASS on my SATs if my math had been equal to my verbal.

[Endangered Specie]

45. 4.0 in college (sophomore) ~Civil Eng. major

[WilliamPitt]

47. 146 IQ

Bad grades in high school, nice SATs, bad-to-really-good grades in college as the years went by.

Smart is defined by how you live your life. School is nice, tests are nice, but life is the test.

[progressiverealist]

52. same as mine (146)

Bad grades in HS, then great, then awful grades in college, then great, then got a Ph.D.

Life is indeed the test. You're right on that account,

[SOteric]

48. The things I don't know

greatly outnumber the things I do.

These types of questions are always a hoot. Typically the responses will suggest we were all child prodigies with genius IQs and a master work in physics due to be published next month. And several of us are likely the next Lucasian Chair, ...yeah...dat's da ticket.

[SarahB]

49. Right now

I'm smart enough to manage a household of four children and a dog, manage money well enough to keep us in the black on one income right now, take 3 classes (okay, they're still undergrad) and get A's with almost no studying involved, and still find myself bored enough at the end of the day to be answering questions like these.

I don't know my IQ, based on those online things, it was 130-something. I always tested well anyway. I suck at advanced math, physics, and chemistry, but excel at natural and social sciences, and have an excellent memory in regards to all the useful and useless information floating in my head.

[hyphenate]

51. Well....

the real test is time. Anyone can have a high IQ right out of high school and college--it's when you get to your 40s and 50s and can still claim to have a high IQ that it counts for more!

Back, nigh about thirty years ago, I was in the 98 percentile, and IQ was down as 137. I recently tested, and it was at 143. I guess I'm still smart. :)

As far as how much your IQ actually counts, though, is another matter entirely. In today's world, intelligence isn't as important as persistence and determination. Many of us that were always smart became underachievers, and some who weren't as smart became far more accomplished, because they actually had to do more work to get there.

I was always gifted as a writer, but one of my high school English teachers gave better marks to less gifted students, because they "tried more" than I did. It was that kind of attitude which made me always resent some of the others and kept me from fulfilling all my goals--without encouragement, there is no joy in achieving.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

53. high 130s

last time I checked it was around there. I think I've gotten more stupid though, as time goes on.

[Dogmudgeon]

54. Im Real smart

I'm in the 113th Percentile ... the Percentile of Destiny!

It's probably really higher, but I got that score from taking a test while I was hung-over, under indictment for the Zodiac Murders, my girlfriend had dumped me for Kirk Cameron, and I had Ebola fever, the Yaws and radiation poisoning, and was temporarily blinded from staring at the sun the previous weekend while tripping on LDS after Timothy Leary personally dosed my RC Cola.

Think I could run for President with this kind of CV?

--bkl

[kutastha]

55. I dunno

Never been formally tested for IQ, though I was in the gate program when I was little, graduated in the top of my class in high school, got a 1330 on my SAT, got a bachelor's in biochem, a master's in chem, a PhD in molecular genetics, got a 36 on my MCAT and am currently in med school. So, I'd say maybe top 5-10% of the population. :shrug:

[KoKo]

56. No........dumb bunny here. Math is my downfall.......don't post on my

threads...because I'm mathematically challenged. :-(

[nini]

57. I'm a freaking genius

:-)

[peacebuzzard]

58. Today a freakin' freeper called me a "know it all" and I agreed

Him and his wife were hysterical because my sweet 45 lb. bassett hound that a little 9 yr old boy was holding trotted over to their dog and was being grumpy like bassets are, (she wouldn't hurt a flea, just grumbles and mutters) He fell against a fence while yelling at the little boy to "control your dog"!! Yes, I know it all next to idiots like that....(of course I gave him a piece of my mind)

[mitchum]

60. I score extremely high...

which only means that I test well. Nothing more.

[Zinfandel]

61. Very dim.