What is Obama's IQ?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

I've heard on ads it is 130, but I think that is low.

[YOY]

1. That was the same as what the ads claim Bush's was.

So probably not. Just spam BS.

[tbyg52]

33. Oh, I've seen that ad, I think

It came up showing Bush's as 125. My kneejerk reaction to that was "NO WAY!"

[dixiegrrrrl]

40. Publicists added an extra digit, I think.

edit fer spell...

[varkam]

2. Mmmm...popcorn.

:popcorn:

[Zavulon]

3. I've seen

reports as low as 124, as high as 148, but 130 is the number I've seen most often.

Even if it's 124, it's still at least twice as high as Dubya's.

[uppityperson]

4. You mean beyond every time he talks?

Those ads are spam. They just change the person, not the info.

[valerief]

5. The IQ score could be wrong, too. Does it really matter? If he's smart

enough to graduate first from his class in Harvard (and without any pull from a rich daddy), he's smart enough for me.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

9. No, it really doesn't matter

except that I think the idea of 130 IQ is laughingly low. I'd say he's at least 150.

[tabatha]

10. I have heard 170.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Ishoutandscream2]

36. Agreed. I would say 150 (at least)

Hell, on a Stanford-Binet, I scored a 125, and I'm just a schmuck. Obama's got to be at least a 150.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

22. exactly. There are different kinds of intelligence

and I don't know that all are evaluated in IQ tests, which I think are overrated anyway.

[Kittycat]

6. Whan it comes to being *smart*...

Having knowledge, and knowing how/being motivated to use it appropriately are two separate things.

[trotsky]

7. Hell, if his IQ is only 130...

then three-fourths of DU is smarter than him, according to most IQ threads. :eyes:

[tabatha]

11. Nope, 170.

[trotsky]

14. Oh, much better.

That means only about a third of DUers are smarter.

[oldnslo]

24. Which translates to

They THINK they're smarter. We all know that one can pick a number, ANY number, for their own, very personal, IQ, and nobody wants to have others think they're a dolt, so a nice, high number it is.

There. Someone told the world they're a 178. Even if they're really just a 90. Now everybody thinks 178 is a freaking geen-e-us, even if 178 is really just a 90 in intelligent clothes.

At least until they open their mouths, or begin plucking letters on a keyboard...

I think Obama is up there someplace. I have a genuine respect for smart people, generally, and he is a truly smart person. Georgie, by comparison, probably registers somewhere lower then the minimum hashmark on Obama's IQ scaale.

[Bucky]

8. As a professional educator I can tell you IQ tests are bullshit

They mostly measure test taking ability, not real world problem solving ability. Different companies create different IQ tests to different standards, most tests of which end up carrying with their scores a significant cultural bias. As someone well grounded in academic circles, Obama would probably be culturally inclined to score quite high on most IQ tests.

But the fact is that the same person could take IQ tests from several different test-making companies and end up with a wide variation in scores, perhaps as wide as 30 points of variation between two different tests. They are completely unreliable and are not a dependable predictor of any know human behavior other than test taking skills in general.

IQ tests are less reliable than public opinion polling, a practice that most people recognize as fundamentally flawed...

[LuckyLib]

15. You are right on. They are Bullshit with a capital B. The American worship of test scores

is a manufactured and sad cultural characteristic.

[tbyg52]

31. Absolutely agree. nt

[Madam Mossfern]

38. I agree

My daughter was having some emotional issues starting when she was 5 years old. When she was 8 I took her to a child psychologist who gave her a battery of tests. He thought that she was suffering from too much pressure from being in a gifted and talented program (we never pushed our kids-very laid back parenting technique). So he gives her an IQ test, he wouldn't tell us her actual score, but said that she scored well over 150. What did he do then? Gave her another IQ test as he thought that for sure the first score was a fluke and that the pressures at school were way too much. She scored even higher...so, he gives her yet another test at which point my daughter said that she just filled in the circles in patterns that were 'pretty' because she realized that it didn't matter what she scored and was bored by the whole process.

It turned out that she had OCD and the psychologist at that time said that he couldn't help her. Luckily we heard about a new treatment (20 years ago)and found a psychiatrist to take her on as a patient. She improved dramatically within weeks and now is working on her doctorate in Marine Ecology. She has gained control of her OCD and has taken herself off her medication.

When her psychiatrist gave us a book to read "The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing His Hands", my daughter grabbed it, took it up to her room to read and came downstairs saying "Boy! I thought I was bad....."

BTW, having a "high IQ" is greatly overrated.

[Qanisqineq]

53. Agreed

I've never understood the obsession with IQ scores or people bragging about their scores for exactly the reasons you've stated. I've never taken an IQ test because I don't find it reliable and don't really see the point in it all.

[az chela]

13. I saw it was 168

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

16. That would sound about right

I went to high school with some blokes who got into Harvard via scholarship, and theirs was around that--thanks for the info.

[cali]

19. A) his IQ has not been released

and B) it's a fairly meaningless measurement. See Bucky's post upthread.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

20. Thank you

that's basically all I wanted to know. And yes, I've been thoroughly chastised for even asking. So forgive me for even posting this. If I could delete the entire thread, I would.

[old mark]

17. As a person with an IQ of 150, and one related to many

"Professional Educators", I can tell you that many of them are bullshit as well.

mark

[endless october]

18. if i had to guess, i would say more than 140.

[Bucky]

50. He's 47, but he reads on the level of 52 year old

IQ tests are unreliable, inconsistently designed, each carrying various levels of cultural bias, and mostly measure test-taking ability.

As a professional academic raised by a PhD mom, Barack Obama is culturally advantaged in taking IQ tests. The IQ score itself doesn't measure anything worth knowing and isn't even a reliable predictor of how well he'd do on a differently designed IQ test.

The best indicator of how well he'll do as president is how well he did organizing a movement to get himself elected president.

[pitohui]

21. many IQ tests are skewed aga. persons of african-american background

the ads say everyone's IQ is 120 or 130 so i wouldn't put any stock in it anyway but it's well documented that most iq tests have bias

i think "harvard law review" says what we need to know about his IQ

[ZombieHorde]

27. Which questions or tasks are skewed against African-Americans?

[LaurenG]

23. ***

:hug: Hang in there, I thought it was an interesting subject. I know you have a good heart and I know you meant no harm, if that helps at all. :hug:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

25. Thanks

Right now, I'm emotionally very shaky and came to DU for distraction. Instead, I am near tears and frankly ready to go hide somewhere.

[LaurenG]

29. People don't realize what damage they do through their words sometimes.

I admit I have hurt people with mine and most of the time didn't even realize it.

You're OK - :hug: no one here is any better then you just because they have different ideas on what constitutes an interesting topic.

I've had those times here myself where I just want to melt into a corner. It's going to be OK and you're OK. :hug:

[Hekate]

49. Oh darn. I'm sorry. I hope things are better tomorrow. Try the Cooking forum for laughs (really)

:hug:

Hekate

[BuyingThyme]

26. K&R

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

28. Not worth being on the greatest page

Just writing things to get my mind off my husband's illness.

[BuyingThyme]

30. Why are you humiliated?

[taterguy]

32. Don't think, you'll only hurt the ball club

[tbyg52]

34. I don't even know (exactly) what you did, but please don't be upset, any more than you can help -

I know it's not a voluntary thing and you can't turn it off because I said so, but I'm just replying because I've been upset by reactions here before, and I don't want anyone else to be...! :hug:

[Saturday]

35. Just for the record, I thought you brought up an interesting subject.nt

[McCamy Taylor]

37. He had to have high SATs to get to Harvard and you can calculate IQ from your SAT

therefore, his IQ score would have to be high. By the very definition of what an IQ test is.

That does not mean that he is or is not intelligent. You judge that based upon his actions and performance.

Or was Harvard just his law school? Where did he go for undergraduate?

[Juche]

39. Columbia

http://www.kids-iq-tests.com/d-prez.html

You can vaguely estimate IQ from LSAT. The average LSAT in harvard law is 171, or 138 IQ. Since Obama was top of his class his is probably 150 or so.

I do not write off IQ as I think it is a very valid measurement of your ability to comprehend and understand issues you face. But it is not the end all. Based on Bush's SAT scores his IQ is about 125. Cheney's IQ is likely far higher. But neither is qualified to be president. Clinton combined high IQ with good judgment and competent leadership.

[depakid]

41. Something that ALWAYS cracks me up about IQ threads

is that the people who claim to have these high scores usually haven't clue one about how the exams are measured!

(and thereby look foolish to those folks who do).

[varkam]

42. I'm twelve standard deviations above the mean.

I'm really smart.

[BlooInBloo]

43. Their very existence suffices to crack me up.

[bemildred]

44. I'd say it's good enough.

Clearly a few sigmas out there, but in any case adequate.

[Hekate]

45. We can tell he's extremely bright, intellectually curious, secure, & able to pick excellent advisors

... to fill in any gaps in his knowledge and experience.

Any quest to pin him down to a number is a parlor game, I'm afraid. The ads you speak of are a come-on of some kind -- I've seen them too, and I've seen them float different numbers for the same person.

I agree, 130 would be lowballing Barack Obama's abilities.

I sense, based on the evidence, that Obama is way smarter than me; just as I sensed, based on the evidence, that Bush is way dumber in more ways than anyone could count.

Hekate

[gravity]

46. IQ test are overrated

People with really high IQ's are usually full of themselves, and can never accept the fact they can be wrong. They are good at some things, but very bad at other tasks like being leader of the free world.

Obama has a high IQ, but he realizes his own faults and is open to new ideas challenging his own perceptions. This makes Obama extremely intelligent.

[WindRiverMan]

47. Intelligence is nothing if you do not have wisdom....

And THAT is where Obama shines, and that is where IQ tests fail, sometimes miserably. An IQ test can test your ability to think critically, but they don't measure your ability to act critically. I have seen many people who I have no doubt are techincally "smarter" than me, however, I have a knack for logic (that is the category I blew the doors off of my GRE's) and I have a great skill in chosing the right path. It is the secret to my success.

Obama is a master of chosing the right path. He may have people that surround him that are smarter, but he trumps them in the decision making process. Bush on the other hand, may have been relatively smart, but he had no wisdom, and made poor choices when presented with the problems and their potential solutions.

[trayfoot]

48. One hell of a lot more than mine.....and supposedly mine is high!

[TypeKast]

51. Hmm

Hmm, not a very good test anyways.

[Prophet 451]

52. Impossible to say

AFAIK, it hasn't been released. Even if it had, it wouldn't mean anything. IQ tests can only test certain applications of intelligence. Logic and problem-solving can be tested but people skills can't, nor can vision or planning ability. I score between 152 and 165 depending on the test. I happen to be good at logic problems which many tests are built on but I'll also be the first to admit that I'm really bad with actual people and I'd starve if my job didn't allow me to work from home.

IQ tests are useful in some areas but beware of giving too much importance to them.