@bates: Interesting question. Assessing ‘smartness’ is a very subjective thing. That means that it can be strongly influenced. For example, if @Kyler and I had a smartness test based on Space, he’d undoubtedly get a far higher score than me. If we had a smartness test based on dogs and zoology, I reckon there’s a good chance I’d get a higher score than him. But does this make either of us ‘smarter’ than the other?
Not really, it’s just that the tests were better suited to one of us each time. This is a common problem and fault in intelligence (or IQ) tests.
Maybe the smartest person in the world is someone random living in a jungle in South America who doesn’t go to school and doesn’t use the internet. But we won’t find out about them because they live so differently to us.
Wow, Mia, you kinda blew my mind there. I think we might recognise some smart people (like Stephen Hawking), but I don’t think we say for sure who is absolutely the smartest. Stephen Hawking certainly knows a lot about some specific science and is also very thoughtful and creative, but there are lots of people who know a lot about other fields and are just as thoughtful about some other topic.
Hey @bates. I love that you love explosions. Working for NASA could be the best job ever!
Anyways… I think @Mia’s prob right. But at the same time I think I might just be the smartest person ever, because I just worked out how to make my iPhone tell me everything I need to know!!! 🙂
bates
Not me, I can assure you. Stephen Hawkins would be a contender, and might Roger Penrose, who works out most of his maths for him.
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@bates: Interesting question. Assessing ‘smartness’ is a very subjective thing. That means that it can be strongly influenced. For example, if @Kyler and I had a smartness test based on Space, he’d undoubtedly get a far higher score than me. If we had a smartness test based on dogs and zoology, I reckon there’s a good chance I’d get a higher score than him. But does this make either of us ‘smarter’ than the other?
Not really, it’s just that the tests were better suited to one of us each time. This is a common problem and fault in intelligence (or IQ) tests.
Maybe the smartest person in the world is someone random living in a jungle in South America who doesn’t go to school and doesn’t use the internet. But we won’t find out about them because they live so differently to us.
What do you think about that?! 😉
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It could be you bates or it could be someone in Bangladesh that we’ll never know about.
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Wow, Mia, you kinda blew my mind there. I think we might recognise some smart people (like Stephen Hawking), but I don’t think we say for sure who is absolutely the smartest. Stephen Hawking certainly knows a lot about some specific science and is also very thoughtful and creative, but there are lots of people who know a lot about other fields and are just as thoughtful about some other topic.
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Hey @bates. I love that you love explosions. Working for NASA could be the best job ever!
Anyways… I think @Mia’s prob right. But at the same time I think I might just be the smartest person ever, because I just worked out how to make my iPhone tell me everything I need to know!!! 🙂
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