Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Smartest People

Business Insider magazine has named the following 19 people as the “smartest” people in the world.

Paul Allen – IQ 160 
Stephen Hawking – IQ 160 
Robert Byrne – IQ 160 
Judith Polgar – IQ 170 
Andrew Wiles – IQ 170 
Jacob Barnett – IQ 170 
Benjamin Netanyahu – IQ 180 
Bobby Fischer – IQ 180 
John Sununu – IQ 180 
James Woods – IQ 180 
Marilyn vos Savant – IQ 186 
Garry Kasparov – IQ 190 
Philip Emeagwali – IQ 190 
Christopher Langan – IQ 195 
Kim Ung-Yong – IQ 210 
Christopher Hirata – IQ 225 
Terrence Tao – IQ 230 
William James Sidis – IQ 275 

Bonus: Sharon Stone – IQ 154 

Please do not check with Google or Yahoo. Of the above 19 “smartest” people in the world, how many can you immediately recognize? I can recognize only 5.

Benjamin Netanyahu – Prime Minister of Israel 
Bobby Fischer – Chess Player 
John Sununu – Chief of Staff for President Bush 
Garry Kasparov – Chess Player 
Sharon Stone – Movie Actress 

If one has high IQ, is he/she really smart? I think not. My opinion IQ tests only measure how well you take IQ tests. May be they are genius. 

Just because you can knock off your opponent’s “king” piece with your “knight” piece, that makes you the smartest person in the world? 

My grandmother was the best “Aadu Puli Aattam” (Lambs and Tigers Game) player. No one in our village or the surrounding 18 villages can beat her.  If this game was played at the international level, my grandma would have been the undisputed champion of the world. That makes her the smartest person in the world? Here is the wikipedia for the Aadu Puli Aattam. 

Often people with extremely high IQs have poor social skills. So how smart can someone really be if they have issues interacting with humans? People with average or even low IQs often have a better grasp of basic social cues. 

Even if you call them “smart”, in my opinion, they are only book smart and not street smart. 

What do you think?

27 comments:

  1. 'true knowledge leads to love' and for me a high IQ person is one who is sensitive, emotional and caring towards others. interesting post! the game seems interesting too! :)

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    1. Thanks for your comments Ankita, I like your interpretation.

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  2. This is such an interesting post SG...

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    1. Thanks for your comments Vineeta. I am glad you liked this post

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  3. I do agree with you,SG,because the smartness is multi-faceted. Scoring in a test is only one facet.The fable of cat and fox shows that even if one has theoretical knowledge,practically he may be a zero. Practical smartness will lead one to success.

    What you said is correct 4 or 5 people we may know.Stephen hawkings is in fact smart because in spite of his physical handicap he stands atop as a scientist. Such rare cases are there. Recently a little girl ranked first. Anyway such topics are nice to be thought about. Thank you for this.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Sarala. I agree with you. Smartness is multi-faceted.

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  4. I want to find out who is this William James Sidis. His IQ seems to be slightly higher than mine :P

    I too think IQ is just one aspect. These people maybe smart, but not necessarily happy or well regarded. There are other aspects like emotional quotient, social skills, intuition, etc. which are equally important.

    Destination Infinity

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    1. Thanks for your comments Rajesh. William Sidis entered Harvard at the age of 11. He is said to be fluent in 40 languages. He was an American. He was arrested in 1918 under the Sedition Act and remained in prison until his death in 1944 at the age of 46.

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  5. SG! What the hell, man!

    How in the world do you not know who I am without "googling it" on the internet.
    If it wasn't for me, Bill Gates would still be getting arrested in New Mexico.

    Regards,
    Paul Allen

    by the way - I know 6 on your list + me + Sharon Stone, so make that 8

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    1. Thanks for your comments Paul. You are not just smart. You are perverted smart. We know all about how you and Bill Gates sweet talked and convinced IBM that your company Microsoft had a Disk Operating System which would work on Intel chips when it did not.

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  6. Nice post SG. I do agree a high IQ doesn't always really show you how smart a person is. And also some of the most intelligent people do have problem with social skills but not all I might add. I know a very nerdy, athletic and party going guy with a very high IQ. That's what I like. A fine balance with smart and street smart.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Harini. I like your definition.

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  7. So true SG! just because a company rates a few people as smart does not mean that they are the smartest in the world. Like you say, there are people like your patti who are unsung and unheard of. People of that generation had immense will power and mental strength to cope with the turbulence of life which is what is required along with IQ - Emotional quotient too. Nice post! I think even i can recognize only the chess players in the list apart from Stephen hawking.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Asha. You are correct. People of our patti generation had immense will power and mental strength.

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  8. If everyone in the world has taken the IQ test, we can decide who are the people with top IQ levels. I agree with you, this test can only measure how well the person performs in the IQ test.

    I know only Stephen Hawking in the list. Surprisingly, why didn't they find anyone from India or Srilanka ? We know that Indians are considered for their intelligence in the western world. So, I don't think such surveys are genuine.

    Thought provoking article, thanks SG :) TC! Keep smiling :)

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    1. Thanks for your comments Sindhu. Why not anyone from India? Vishwanathan Anand's IQ is supposed to be around 190. Why his name is not there?

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  9. Interesting perspective and i am with you! Btw, i feel, smartness depends on the situation as well. In another way, nobody can beat anybody else in all areas.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Alok. I agree with you. Smartness depends on the situation as well.

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  10. IQ is just another number. Smartness has no measure.
    People of previous era, I believe were smarter than us. We are only puppets of technology, our minds have ceased to reach the "infinity and beyond" concept, which is now just a line of character from animated movie.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Ph_. As you said, IQ is just another number,

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  11. Thanks for your definition Ashwini. I like your definition

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  12. If there is one quality that I like in a person the most, it is smartness. Nothing turns me on more than smartness/IQ. I am not surprised to see Stephen Hawking on the list. I admire him a lot. :) There are people who talk a lot, but lack brains. I prefer people with brains, even if they are not social e.g my husband :)

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  13. Hi,

    I came to your blog after I discovered a very thought provoking comment by you on one of my old blog posts and I felt sad that I discovered it late and wanted to thank you for commenting anyway.

    What interested me about the several blog posts written by you is you are addressing some of the most happening topics in international news in a very personal, easy to understand way. Like about Donald Trump, Greece, etc. I haven't seen many Indian bloggers put in their candid thoughts on blogs as well as you do. So, yes, its been a pleasure reading your blog posts.

    I really liked reading about your grandmother too! If that game was played at the international level, your sweet grandma would have been the champion!

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  14. Hi,

    I came to your blog after I discovered a very thought provoking comment by you on one of my old blog posts and I felt sad that I discovered it late and wanted to thank you for commenting anyway.

    What interested me about the several blog posts written by you is you are addressing some of the most happening topics in international news in a very personal, easy to understand way. Like about Donald Trump, Greece, etc. I haven't seen many Indian bloggers put in their candid thoughts on blogs as well as you do. So, yes, its been a pleasure reading your blog posts.

    I really liked reading about your grandmother too! If that game was played at the international level, your sweet grandma would have been the champion!

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  15. I think that the topic is debatable.. Though I do agree that a person with great IQ may not have great EQ... And, I have played Aadu Puli Aaattam as a kid :)

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  16. While it is good to be book-smart. Being street-smart and socially adept is a requisite too.

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  17. I dont beleive in these tests that are taken .. (no one took mine he he he ) :)

    there is one thing having book knowledge and another being intelligent..

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