How many people think they're smarter or wiser than 75% of everybody else?

Answer 1

Well that's hard to say...in school I was always at the top of the class. I won medals & awards for the highest grades in high school and university, so academically I could brag that I was smarter than 99% of the students in my classes. However, when it comes to real life (street smarts as opposed to book smarts) I have a hard time with some basic things (I am directionally impaired! I get lost driving! While other people can go somewhere once & remember from then on, I can go somewhere ten times & still forget!) and I don't always exercise the best judgment. At times I lack "common sense" and don't do what's best for me. I sabotage myself in many ways. I let emotion rule rather than reason. So in some ways I could say that I'm less smart than 75% of the population. I think too much. I tend to be distracted & have a hard time focusing on things that don't interest me (politics, sports for example.) I guess the point is that we all have different strengths. Some people are more left-brained (logical minded) others more right-brained like me (artistic, sensitive, creative). Maybe I can quote Shakespeare or write 200 songs & paint canvases & speak about artists throughout history or write essays on myriad different topics within the Humanities or win at a spelling bee (or Scrabble!) but I can't change the oil in my car, I'm a lousy cook, I'm bad with numbers & I couldn't navigate my way out of a box! So am I a genius or an idiot? Both. Neither. I'm me & you are you & we are all different. Celebrate who you are. It's not a competition (though I've always been competitive in school & in anything that I do. It's not healthy to compare. There will always be someone better & someone worse no matter what it is). You can't compare people. Just strive for your own personal best. There are many different types of intelligence. None is more or less important. The world needs a variety of people with different specialties so that no matter what needs to be done there is someone who is an expert and can handle it.

Even IQ tests which are supposed to measure intelligence can be skewed & not really reflect intelligence in all areas.

Answer 2

It's seems unpredictable as to who's smarter than whom. I had an I.Q. test at 18 and I came out in the top 25% of the population, so I guess you could say, that computes to being smarter than 75% of the general population. I've noticed I can often see or think of things in ways others do not, but I can't explain what's responsible for that. Why are some smarter than others? Greatly dependent on our genes, I'd say, and environmental influences, and partly how much we drive ourselves to do our best! I truly wish all people had great intelligence. I think the world would be a better place!

Answer 3

Being smart is one thing, being wise is totally different.
It's easy being smart! There are a lot of wiseguys who are smarter than 75% of the population. Nevertheless, being WISE takes time, experience and of course, at least an above the average INTELLIGENCE.
The right question to ask is HOW MANY PEOPLE THINK THEY ARE MORE INTELLIGENT THAN 75% of everybody else.
The only trait among these three (being wise, smart or intelligent) that we can actually (to a variable level of certitude, nevertheless) measure is INTELLIGENCE.
There are IQ tests that can measure HOW INTELLIGENT YOU MAY GET if you actually use what was given to you right. Actually being intelligent is like being a car with a gas tank. Now imagine a car with a 200 gallon tank. That MIGHT run a lot of miles on it! YES, provided the tank is filled with EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, REASON. Now you may compare two such "cars" one has a 100 gallon tank which is entirely full and the other one has a 200 gallon tank which is only 30% full. Of course, the car with a 100 gallon tank will run more than the one with a bigger tank which is mostly empty.
If we consider WISE or SMART... Wise begins by being intelligent and adds up lots of experience and reasoning.
SMART.... is somewhat demeanoring... it is less a good thing and it's merely a "usefull" one (depending on the degree of "smartness' we use). Street crooks are "smart". They'll rip of an old lady's purse, make a run for it and live on the pension money for a week. That's being smart for you...
Personally I prefer being intelligent to being smart. Wise already means white hair...

Answer 4

I beat my very smart girlfriend at scrabble all the time. So I must be smarter then those who don't play scrabble.
Yes I think I am smarter and wiser than 75% however my answer proves I'm not.

Answer 5

Not 75% smarter or wiser, but 75% different.

Answer 6

Many people do, that's for a fact. But then again, that's just pride. They might think their best at something, but in reality, its mostly what they teach in elementary schools - we're all good at what we're good at, and everyone is smart in their own special way (=.Everyone feels smart, because they ARE smart compared to dumb people (isn't everyone? unless of course you really ARE dumb...) Still, even though that being said, I still feel smarter than everyone else. I mean, I'm in advanced classes but in regular math. REGULAR MATH!!! ARG! I LEARNED THIS IN THIRD GRADE! (*throws math books around*)
Humph! I still think I'm smarter though.

Answer 7

I'd have to say more like 70%. Which still isn't bad considering I'm only working at 15% capacity. But once I figure out how to work the other 85% of my gray matter...you better look out!

Answer 8

i am 100% dumber than everyone else, thus this make me the best of the worst!

as i strug throught this thing called life...my observation is that the people with ver high iq seem to have a very high percentage of not amounting to much in life.

here is the link to how iq is determined and defined.

Answer 9

well i believe my IQ says i'm smarter than 90% of the population, so i suppose i'm in the top 10, its an honor, then i don't feel smart..so i mean, is being smart such a good thing? cause i'm only smart on certain days lmao

Answer 10

Because such a belief confers more evolutionary advantage than thinking you're dumber than everyone else.