4 ms·
Actually, my psych textbook in college had a definition for "genius" -- an IQ threshold. It was surprisingly low, actually. Only 120, IIRC. Probably a majority
by SomeCallMeTim 12y ago
Actually, my psych textbook in college had a definition for "genius" -- an IQ threshold. It was surprisingly low, actually. Only 120, IIRC.
Probably a majority of HN readers qualify based on that measure. We can all be geniuses together! ;)
- waterlesscloud 12y agoI've never seen a claim than an IQ as low as 120 would classify as "genius". Lowest I've seen is around 140. In any case, while I'm not foolish enough to believe IQ isn't a useful measurement of intelligence, I certainly don't think any given number indicates "genius", which is something else again.
- crazypyro 12y agoIf it was truly 120, that would make over 10% of the population (based on a standard bell curve) geniuses. I've never seen it that low. 160 seems to be the current acceptable number, but of course there will always be a range.
- icelancer 12y agoThis is also wildly dependent on the test in question and what 1SD is equal to. 3+ SD is generally accepted as "genius" and not all tests have the same SD.