[Fairygdmther]

Another email from today...

"Since 1973, the Lovenstein Institute has published its
research on each new president, which includes the famous
"IQ" report among others. According to statements in the
report, there have been twelve presidents over the past
50 years, from F. D. Roosevelt to G. W. Bush who were all
rated based on scholarly achievements, writings that they
alone produced without aid of staff, their ability to
speak with clarity, and several other psychological factors
which were then scored in the Swanson/Crain system of intell-
igence ranking. "

The study determined the following IQs of each president as
accurate to within five percentage points:

147 Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)
132 Harry Truman (D)
122 Dwight D. Eisenhower (R)
174 John F. Kennedy (D)
126 Lyndon B. Johnson (D)
155 Richard M. Nixon (R)
121 Gerald Ford (R)
175 James E. Carter (D)
105 Ronald Reagan (R)
98 George HW Bush (R)
182 William J. Clinton (D)
91 George W. Bush (R)

The six Republican presidents of the past 50 years had an
average IQ of 115.5, with President Nixon having the
highest IQ, at 155. President G. W. Bush was rated the
lowest of all the Republicans with an IQ of 91.

The six Democrat presidents had IQs with an average of 156,
with President Clinton having the highest IQ, at 182.
President Lyndon B. Johnson was rated the lowest of all the
Democrats with an IQ of 126.

No president other than Carter (D) has released his
actual IQ, 176. Among comments made concerning the specific
testing of President GW Bush, his low ratings were due to
his apparent difficulty to command the English language in
public statements, his limited use of vocabulary (6,500
words for Bush versus an average of 11,000 words for other
presidents), his lack of scholarly achievements other than a
basic MBA, and an absence of any body of work which could
be studied on an intellectual basis.

"All the Presidents prior to George W. Bush had a least one
book under their belt, and most had written several white
papers during their education or early careers. Not so with
President Bush," Dr. Lovenstein said.

Lynsie

[jjacob]

Good stuff, thanks! Nice to know that Clinton has exactly twice the brainpower of W but seriously that's pretty damned high! Einstein had somewhere around 220 right? Although his brilliance also had something to do with the fact that two parts of his brain were fused together unlike normal human beings It's interesting that Clinton always acted a bit 'dumbed down', perhaps to 'connect' with the 'ordinary man'?

I boast 167 btw, although I probably lost some of that during the past few years (despite whatever you've been led to believe, alcohol and the like kills A LOT of braincells)

[Jeysie]

For more food to chew on, Marilyn vos Savant held the Guinness Book of World Records' "Highest IQ" honor, with her IQ ranging from 185+ to 220+, depending on who you ask. (Considering what I've read of her newspaper column, she's pretty damn smart no matter how you juggle the numbers.)

Still, it all makes me feel pretty humble... I tested at 147 IQ when I was 16.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[SakSquash]

Fakeeeeeeeeee.

[Once A Villain]

Yeah that email is a fake and has been floating around for years now...

[nikoniko]

Originally Posted by Jeysie

Still, it all makes me feel pretty humble... I tested at 147 IQ when I was 16.

That puts you right on par with FDR, and well above most Republican presidents... at least if you believe that e-mail. Not bad, I'd say. If you ever become president on the Republican ticket, you'll be right up there with Nixon.

[nikoniko]

The text of the original "report" makes it more clearly that this is a joke. Here's the original ending, which has mysteriously disappeared from the e-mail being circulated:

Originally Posted by Original Text

The Lovenstein Institute of Scranton Pennsylvania think tank includes high caliber historians, psychiatrists, sociologists, scientists in human behavior, and psychologists. Among their ranks are Dr. Werner R. Lovenstein, world-renowned sociologist, and Professor Patricia F. Dilliams, a world-respected psychiatrist.

This study was commissioned on February 13, 2001 and released on July 9, 2001 to subscribing member universities and organizations within the education community.

About the authors : Cristina L. Borenstein and Lana Taamar are both recently off the campaign trail where they served as receptionists for the Pennsylvania chapter of Gore For President, Inc., and have co-written the eBook Gore Got Gored. Together they publish the The Pennsylvania Court Observer which has a circulation of 5.

Dr. Lovenstein lives in a mobile home in Scranton, Pennsylvania with his long time companion Patricia F. Dilliams. When the two are not publishing reports for their Lovenstein Institute, they run an internet business www.collegedegreesforsale.com.

Even so, I'd still say they're in the right ballpark with Bush. That someone in his position wouldn't even bother taking a few public speaking courses, or has taken lessons but failed to improve, says a lot to me. I'm embarrassed whenever I see one of his speeches broadcast in Japan. I can't help thinking, "My God, I hope the rest of the world doesn't think we're all so dumb." The only way Bush could improve his public image would be to throw out Cheney and replace him with Dan Quayle. At least Dan is good for a laugh.

[artwking4]

According to statements in the
report, there have been twelve presidents over the past
50 years, from F. D. Roosevelt to G. W. Bush who were all
rated based on scholarly achievements, writings that they
alone produced without aid of staff, their ability to
speak with clarity, and several other psychological factors
which were then scored in the Swanson/Crain system of intell-
igence ranking.

This clearly meets all the criteria of the Intelligence Quotient. It's not as if there were some sort of objective test to measure one's actual IQ, right?

[Jeysie]

Originally Posted by doroposo

That puts you right on par with FDR, and well above most Republican presidents... at least if you believe that e-mail. Not bad, I'd say. If you ever become president on the Republican ticket, you'll be right up there with Nixon.

Heh. Well, I'm still not that smart... I forgot the check the esteemable Urban Legends Reference Pages before replying.

And if I ever ran for President, I'd be on the Libertarian ticket, most likely.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[Fairygdmther]

Originally Posted by artwking4

This clearly meets all the criteria of the Intelligence Quotient. It's not as if there were some sort of objective test to measure one's actual IQ, right?

I probably should have checked the urban legends page before posting, but it does make sense in a way, for all the named Presidents. There really isn't an IQ test for adults, since so much of learning as adults can affect the results, but it can be gleaned from writings, speech, etc. as an estimate. My own last testing listed me at 157, for what that's worth.

The interesting part is that we adv gamers are often using those very skills that are tested on IQ tests, logic, pattern recognition, solving puzzles and all.

Lynsie

Hay guyz, did you know Bush is bad?

Interesting, though. Clinton did so much better than I expected. Fun fact: A mentally challanged person's IQ can range from 0-85. Bush is six points away, huh?

[artwking4]

Originally Posted by Fairygdmther

The interesting part is that we adv gamers are often using those very skills that are tested on IQ tests, logic, pattern recognition, solving puzzles and all.

We are geniuses in training!

I blame adventure games for my good grades in elementary through high school. And when I stopped playing them in college, ehh... well, I blame my decent grades on that. I should have played more to do better!

[Once A Villain]

My last (and only) official test put me at 161. I only took the test because my psychiatrist at the time bugged me about it. I'd never had anything to do with psychology (I was 17), but she thought I'd make a good one, and was curious to know where I stood. So...finally I said I'd try it.

And having said this, you guys don't want to know where I'd run on the ticket.

By the way, I think this I.Q. stuff is overrated anyway. I don't know many working, average people who give a shit about a "body of work which could be studied on an intellectual basis." That sounds so f***ing pretentious.

[nikoniko]

Originally Posted by Jeysie

And if I ever ran for President, I'd be on the Libertarian ticket, most likely.

'Libertarian' reminds me of a joke I heard once:

Person A: So, what do you do for a living?
Person B: I'm a librarian.
Person A: Oh, really? I've heard about them. I'm a Republican myself.

[pinkgothic]

Originally Posted by Jeysie

Heh. Well, I'm still not that smart... I forgot the check the esteemable Urban Legends Reference Pages before replying.

Why am I not surprised.

I've got to agree that IQ is a dodgy subject, but it's fun to throw around numbers just for the hell of it sometimes. Depending on whom you ask, I'm between an insanely through-the-roof 160 and a somewhat more acceptable 125, and I'm sure I could get a (significantly!) lower rating if I actually bothered taking one in the 'real world' as opposed to online but it's fun.

On the subject of IQs, I had the good fortune of having a seminar at university which did mental warm-up trainings. Each of those was from a different intellectual category, for example, the ability to imagine three-dimensional objects from all sides, or one's verbal prowess. I wasn't there each module, so I missed out on three of them all in all, but I'm pretty proud of having scored "very good" in all but for the verbal test (I didn't pass that one).

I'm mentioning it because it was the best fun I had in a good while! I truly hope others have that sort of oppurtunity. I don't know if the tests mean I have a high intelligence or not, but honestly, fact is, I feel like I have a better concept of what I can and cannot do - so I'm really happy about that

...and one thing's clear, I'm an ace at rambling.

[jjacob]

Hmmm this did sound kind of dodgy, I was surprised this wasn't top secret information

IQ doesn't make any difference, besides, there EQ and AQ and ZQ and FQ (well those last three I kind of made up just now, but I'm sure someone will invent them and make them sound relevant ).

[artwking4]

Personally, I could never get my Indy Quotient that high in the Indiana Jones games. I think they were rigged.

[Jeysie]

I agree that IQ doesn't mean all that much. I got good grades at school, and always did ceiling level on assessment tests, and what do I do for a living? Things like kissing customers' asses and stuffing paperwork into filing cabinets. Intelligence doesn't mean jack unless you have the talent/skills to apply it to, and, conversely, it doesn't take high intelligence to be a productive, articulate human being.

For me personally, the important aspects of intelligence are the abilities of critical thinking and problem solving, and IMHO that's something anybody of medically normal intelligence can learn. Blame it on the US educational system's tendency to focus (IMHO) too much on rote fact memorizing that US students, at the least, don't learn such skills more often.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[Rulzern]

Intelligence and stupidity are loose terms. The IQ doesn't say how intelligent you are (contrary to the meaning of the abbreviation), it says how well you do in solving particular kinds of problems. These problems are usually not anything like what you meet in real life, so these skills are (IMHO) worth close to nothing.

Also, tests taken online do not count at all, only tests done by qualified psychiatrists should count. The online tests can be good for boosting your self-esteem, but not much else. :p

[RLacey]

I'm proud to say that I have no idea what my IQ is, though I suspect it's fairly average (and, hey, I'm at Oxford, so I have no right to care). I've always wondered what people see in joining groups like Mensa, though...