Low IQs of Scientists: Francis Crick & More

  • Thread starter Simfish
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In summary, Francis Crick's IQ was reportedly 115. Sources for this information are not referenced in any of his biographies, and an entry on Wikipedia (the entry was on Stereotypes regarding Asian Americans, which mentioned Crick's IQ, that was weird :p) only referenced two articles that were not authoritative.
  • #106
Schrodinger's Dog said:
People are obsessed with IQ, but then as we all know it directly corresponds to intelligence to such a high degree they may as well be one and the same thing. In fact if you ever received a low score in your life say at age 8 you should just give up and resign yourself to perpetual duncehood. Perhaps you could wear a hat, letting everyone know your IQ is only say 105, so that people could point and laugh at you in the streets.

To reiterate IQ is 100% about intelligence and nothing about education, social economic advantage, or anything else, and it does not encourage elitism or snobbery.

Let's try the opposite tack this time, see if anyone will actually agree hehe. IQ is a load of old widdleplop and everyone knows it, the OP proves that to be a scientist you need more than IQ, you need perserverance, intangibles, not a bloody redundant test.::::::::::::)


Really? Did you know that the famous mathematician Julia Robinson scored below 100 in grade school (she was a slow reader)?

Perhaps she should have taken your advice and applied for a place at her local mental asylum, and you had taken her place, in which case you with your superior IQ would have achieved no more than mediocrity, while she would have lived a life well wasted.
 
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  • #107
Without reading anything after the first page...

I think IQ tests are pretty alright. They compare you to the demographics so it's either you're better at the test or your not. The tests aren't really based on book smarts so education plays minimal role. (I mean you need to know how to read/write fluently in the language the test is conducted in and how to count...)

After that your score is just really how YOU compare to the rest of the population. The average would be automatically set to 100... (I think it's 100 at least) where you'll be set with people who scored similarly. The IQ test is no longer the same as it was when first created. It's much better now... (I think at least) So to talk about old scientists and their IQ one has to take into account the method used.

Regardless... why would it be surprising that a scientist would have an IQ of 115? It wouldn't even be surprising to me if some scientists had IQs under 100. To be a scientist you just really have to be interested in science and pursue it. You don't have to be good at abstract thinking etc. which is tested for. (well you really DO but I'm sure you could get by in some fields)
 
  • #108
Another thing is obviously these tests wouldn't come up in the 'adult' working world... that is to say in an application to be a Prof. they won't ask you for your IQ... First that'd be setting up for discrimination no? So I don't think legally they can ask these questions.

Second, these tests are made for children really, not for adults. Once your an adult in your field it would show that you already made it far enough to get to apply for the job why should they care about anything else? But when you're a child... your education is key. Figuring out what classes to put you in and what special attention you will need to enhance your learning is critical. If you need to go into gifted school then you should. If you need to have an IEP then you should. etc. I think an IQ test is suitable for these. (actually I know they are. My brother has global development delay and as such has suffered mental retardation and my sister has learning disabilities in English as such she gets an IEP for her schooling and I could have skipped 2 grades in grade school or gone to a school for gifted children. All had IQ tests conducted. We still have the results of our tests)
 
  • #109
I would estimate the collective IQ of the US Congress at about 10,000. That would be a sum, not an average. (The US Congress has 535 members.)

EDIT: The return of Gabrielle Giffords probably raised the total by over 100 points. At least they got something done, finally. My best wishes to Ms Giffords.
 
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  • #110
I don't care what the test says, Feynman was a genius.
 
  • #111
SW VandeCarr said:
I would estimate the collective IQ of the US Congress at about 10,000. That would be a sum, not an average. (The US Congress has 535 members.)

EDIT: The return of Gabrielle Giffords probably raised the total by over 100 points. At least they got something done, finally. My best wishes to Ms Giffords.

:rofl:
 

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