Is it true that half the population has below average intelligence?

Answer 1

after looking on answers i surmise 98% of people asking questions have below average intelligence and 96% are too stupid to use---Check Spelling--- but only 87% of the answers are below average intelligence

Answer 2

Below Average Intelligence

Answer 3

Math people love to argue about this. Normally, the statement would be judged INCORRECT. However, at issue is the definition usage of AVERAGE and the scale of measurement.

The word MEDIAN describes the middle point of a range of numbers, where half are below and half are above. AVERAGE would be impacted by actual values (points) so more frequent 'high scores' or 'low scores' will result in the average being higher or lower than the median. Think about it, a $10 million dollar house will dramatically change the average value on your street... but it does not mean half the houses are above/below that average. So 'math people' insist you should say half are below MEDIAN intelligence. Median and average are usually different numbers when you calculate a set. These are using mathematical definitions.

However, the various IQ scales are weighted balances calibrated so that IQ 100 should be a normal median. If your sample size is the whole population, effectively MEDIAN and AVERAGE become the same in a BALANCED SCALE.

So math people make the mistake of thinking "average" means we are counting points and dividing by people tested, but the statement about the entire population is not that kind of easy math problem.

Usually 90-109 is listed as Average but you can see 100 is square in the middle. The distribution frequency shows about 65% of people are in that group. However, the curve also shows that APPROXIMATELY 50% are below 100 and 50% are above AVERAGE. You can say this use of Average may not be applying the mathematical definition, since we have not scored every person and calculated the whole range.

So in general, it is not inaccurate to say roughly half the population is below IQ 100 or the middle of Average intelligence. However, you are implying that half as sub-Average which is misleading.

Answer 4

No it is this way. Half of the population has an IQ below 100. The other half is over 100. As for average IQ the range is 90 - 110 (as someone else said 1 standard deviation from the mean: 100)

So the reality is 75% of the population has an average or below average IQ. Join DENSA and find out for yourself.

The rest out there that are gifted can join Mensa or one of the other high IQ societies.

Answer 5

No, that would be utterly stupid (no offense).

Someone mentioned that intelligence is a bell-curve. The largest part of the curve is it's center, or the average part of it.

So, the center of the bell curve is the smack middle of average, this means that half of all people's intelligence is above the center and half is below the center. If we only took the very center of the distribution to mean average, then you would be wrong, as 51% would be average or above, and 49% would be below average.

However, not even this is correct. Average intelligence varies quite a bit, depending on the test you use (Ranve's progressive matrices, WAIS, etc). In this case, quite a bit below the center of the bell curve (to the left of center) would be classes as average, meaning that definitely more than half of the population would have average or above intelligence.

Answer 6

Really? I thought it was 3/4 of the population that was below average intelligence. There aren't very many smart ones left in the world.

Answer 7

Dnt be bogged down if someone tells u that u asked a stupid question. Ur question is quite valid. Yes, in my belief more than half of the world's population uses, mind u, uses less intelligence than one is gifted with.
Brain has a certain IQ level and not even 50% on this planet use more than 10% of it.
Common sense is something very uncommon in people.

Answer 8

Of course.
Eisenhower was stunned by this revelation too, so don't feel too bad. Think what "average" means. Exactly in the center, right? With half on one side and half on the other, right? So half the population will have above average intelligence, and half will have below average, see?

Answer 9

I don't know statistically if this is true, I would think more than 50%, and climbing. This is because if you don't use it, you lose it. It's about ignorance. Notice that the root of this word is "ignore". While not necessarily intrinsically stupid, most people not only let other people do their thinking for them (they don't question anything), and are also gullible - they BELIEVE everything their "shepherds" tell them. If everybody thought things through and had their own opinions, government and media would have to find different avenues to convince; the truth maybe??? This ignorance, as well as the "it's all about me" climate that we live in now, is fast resulting in a stupid and inconsiderate world full of fat "me firsts" in minivans and SUV's, talking on cellphones, and giving YOU the finger when THEY do something stupid. If you want to see low intelligence in action, go to a Walmart.

Answer 10

Yes it is true, unless you believe "IQ" measurement system is an accurate depiction of reality. There are far fewer people who are exceptionally smart than there are who are exceptionally stupid which causes the average to be well above the median. So yes, most of the population is well below average intelligence.