Are people on Poly more intelligent than the general population?

[Nubclear]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
The fact that we are able to articulate, reason, and debate politics, philosophy, and science doesn't necessarily mean that were are more intelligent

than a guy who can take a car apart and put it back together or a guy who knows which mushrooms are poisonous and which types of bark are edible.

OK, here is what I mean by "intelligent":

-Booksmart. Do you have a lot of facts stored inside your head? (Apolyton passes.)
-Smart-smart. Can you reason things quickly? Make sense of abstract concepts? Can you absorb information quickly? (Apolyton bairly passes)
-Social-smart. Can you get along with people? Make friends? (Obviously Poly would fail this).
-Common sense. Do you know how to mow the lawn? Fill up your tank? Tie your shoe? (I would bet Apolyton would pass.)

Happy now?!

[mrmitchell]

WTF

[Al B. Sure!]

ROTFLMAO

[loinburger]

[VJ]

I sure hope not.

Judging by this thread, the thread about Britney Spears, and the thread about other-ho's-claimed-to-be-'more beatiful'-than-Britney-Spears, I agree.

I've never completely understood why people are always so loath to give an honest answer to the "are you smart(er)" question. I mean, if you ask somebody "are you a fast runner," it's not like they're going to give some loopy response like "Well, there are different kinds of 'fast runners,' because some people are better hurdlers, and others are better at running a marathon, and others are better at running the mile, so I just can't say for certain whether or not I'm a fast runner." (A lot of the problem seems to be that intelligence is so often associated with arrogance, i.e., many people translate "I am smart" to mean "I am better than you," while they don't assign this translation to "I am a fast runner.")

[peterfharris]

Well, umh, er, how do I put this?

There are at least two threads on this forum about Britney Spears. To me this is primae facie evidence that our collective intelligence is somewhere around the level of, umh, er, dare I say braindead.

[Urban Ranger]

Well, two persons can start to separate threads about Britney Spears and post messages in each others thread.

That don't mean nuthin'

[peterfharris]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Well, two persons can start to separate threads about Britney Spears and post messages in each others thread.

That don't mean nuthin'

Yeah, but I was too stupid to realize that until you pointed it out so I reckon I lower the average IQ of this forum enough for us to be dumber than the general public.

[Az]

another misconception, Tuome:

Intelligent people must be either anal-rententively dry, or behave like complete moronic clowns.

People were having fun in the Britney thread. I sure did.

Oh, and generally, I find that people, upon deeper inspections are almost always quite intelligent. There is the cynicism barrier, and the mundanity barrier. But when you let that go, quite a lot of people can reason in a very crafted fashion.

So, I think that people in Apolyton are above the average, but not as much as one would think.

[muxec]

I'll say that apolytonians are more intellegent trolls than average troll.

[tinyp3nis]

This is poly vs the world, but that is almost same as asking the web vs the world?
Poly vs rest of the web would also be interesting.

Collecting mushrooms takes minimum amount of memory. So does putting cars together. Figuring out how to put the damn thing together needs more intelligence than just remembering how did you/teacher do it. Picking up mushrooms the way you were taught to do of course requires intelligence more than say average pile of rocks has. But in all fairness, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to use computers or to declare yourself smart. I think a bartender scored the highest IQ score in Finland, iirc.

Education may mean intelligence, because if your seemingly smart, adults may guide a child to certain path, but that's pretty small factor in the whole picture still.

One interesting thing I wonder about a lot is how much more intelligent one can become after adulthood, for wisdom there is "no limit" but intelligence is harder to improve or change, I wouldn't say impossible, even if intelligence is the ability to learn.
Okay now I'm having terrible feeling of dejavu , like I would be repeating myself. Has this exact same thread been here before???

[Pekka]

.

[Adagio]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
There are many different types of intelligence. I would challenge most Apolytoners to survive a week in the wilderness.

You mean a week without computer?


Let's see... the first thing that needs to be done, is to build a power station, that can keep your computer running...

[Caligastia]

I would say for the most part that people here are of above average intelligence, but are immature and lacking in common sense.

[Caligastia]

Oh, I forgot to mention selfish and arrogant.

[SlowwHand]

WTG, Big Tass. Funniest question asked that I've seen.



(other than your "Isn't My Cat Nice?, question".

[Japher]

I would say for the most part that people here are of above average intelligence, but are immature and lacking in common sense.

Oh, I forgot to mention selfish and arrogant.

So..

I am not selfish, arrogan, lacking in common sense (whatever that is), nor immature... I'm not, I'm not, I'm not! You big poopy-head.

[DAVOUT]

If the general population was not different from people on poly, the world (and the solar system) would be a definitive mess

Ergo

People on poly are different from the general population.

[Caligastia]

Japher, you are not a typical Apolytoner. You are just as intelligent, if not more intelligent than most here though.

You rock!

[Japher]

I'm a rock!!! I'm an island?

Thanks Cali, you rock too

[Caligastia]

[Japher]

I think ppl on poly are more conceited than the rest of the world... I know I am... not!

[Mercator]

I intended to vote for the first option, but after reading all these stupid replies I'm not so sure.

Of course we're more intelligent, and I'm proud to be part of it!

[Japher]

If you can fin Europe on a map of the world than you are more intelligent than the general populace of the US... That's for sure.

[Sava]

don't be too harsh on yourself...

my being a dumbass goes without saying... please Speer, come up with some original material. Calling me a dumbass is like calling the sky blue..


I'm still waiting for you to "beat my ass".

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by Sava
my being a dumbass goes without saying

That's sig material...congratulations.

[chequita guevara]

Actually, you're all idiots. I was just trying to be nice.

[Flubber]

Apolytoners on average would be smarter than the " average population", all other things being equal,as by definition, an apolytoner must know how to type and be somewhat literate.

Therefore the apolyton population would not include any number of persons with serious mental diseases or deficets, the illiterate etc.

By excluding these people at the very bottom, we are above the average even if apolytoners are decidedly average when compared with people with the minimum intellectual capacity required to use a computer

and che . . . what type of wilderness ?

I Would do quite well in most temperate forests or plains and even moderately well in a tundra environment ( assuming suitable clothing)

In a jungle or desert environment . . . well it was nice knowing you

The difference in the situations highlights the difference in "knowledge" and intelligence. I lack knowledge about tropical/equatorial environments but that makes me no more or less smart.

[Alex]

To even suggest that any one of us could be more intelligent than the mighty Banana is somehow a heresy.

[Velociryx]

I love polls like this. Of course the majority of folks are going to vote for "we're smarter!" Cos it makes us feel good....

I'd not bet the ranch on it tho. I voted no.

-=Vel=-