Brendan Kelly Ph.D.

Andrew Wrigley has conjectured that the house fly may be more intelligent than many other insects. The comparison of intelligence across animal species is interesting because it also has implications for comparing the intelligence of humans who evolved in isolated breeding populations situated in different environments. In his excellent book, ***Are we Smart enough to …

Why do house flies seem so much smarter than other insects? Read More »

In 2011, a large group of researchers published the results of a genome-wide analysis of 549,692 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) involving 3511 unrelated adults. (An SNP represents a difference in a single DNA building block, called a nucleotide.) (See: Davies, G., A. Tenesa, A. Payton, J. Yang, S.E. Harris, D. Liewald, et al. 2011. “Genome-wide …

How hereditary is IQ? My mom has an IQ of 140 and my dad 136. Is it possible that I would score a similar score? Read More »

Usually, people think of the mentally challenged and geniuses as people occupying opposite ends of the intellectual spectrum, and that may be true in terms of IQ. However, they share similarities that derive from being outside the norm. The mentally challenged and geniuses alike, struggle to understand. For the mentally challenged, the struggle is to …

What are some subtle similarities in a genius and the mentally challenged? Read More »

Yesterday, we posted Brian White’s answer to the question, “What are the chances of someone of IQ 125 becoming a billionaire? Mr. White provided information substantiating the claim that most self-made billionaires are among the high to very high intelligence group. My research confirms Mr. White’s assertion, but it also reveals that those of extremely …

What are the Chances of Someone of IQ 125 becoming a Billionaire? Read More »

For adults (those above 18 years of age) there is a common test, the most popular of which is the WAIS (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale). The WAIS includes measures of verbal comprehension, perceptional reasoning, working memory, and processing speed. WAIS-IV has 10 subtests and 5 supplemental tests that summarize intelligence with two measures–a final IQ …

How can you compare raw intelligence levels between individuals from different age cohorts when IQ-scores are age-normed? For example, who is more intelligent, a 30-year-old with an IQ of 100, or a 70-year-old with an IQ of 103? Read More »

Although IQ is our best measure of intelligence developed so far, it offers only a rough approximation as a measure of this multi-dimensional attribute. A test taken in about one hour reveals a great deal about a person’s ability to think in the abstract, to identify patterns in a sequence of pictures or numbers, and …

Is IQ an Accurate Measure of Intelligence? Read More »

I have good news for you. In a press release on March 12, 2019, the Spectrem Group indicated that there were in 2018, 11.8 million Americans with a net worth of at least $1,000,000. Press Release – Spectrem Group’s 2019 Market Insights Report Reveals 10th Consecutive Annual Increase in Wealthy American Households – March 12, 2019 This …

Can you be a millionaire with an IQ of 100? Is 100 IQ enough to do the impossible? Read More »

In 2011, a large group of researchers published the results of a genome-wide analysis of 549,692 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) involving 3511 unrelated adults. (An SNP represents a difference in a single DNA building block, called a nucleotide.) (See: Davies, G., A. Tenesa, A. Payton, J. Yang, S.E. Harris, D. Liewald, et al. 2011. “Genome-wide …

What might cause only one person in the family to have a below average IQ while everybody else is average? Read More »

In some of our exchanges during the past week, contributors have been discussing the nature of truth and the difference between “truth” in mathematics and “truth” in science. The assumptions in mathematics, are called “axioms” and are generally thought to be “a priori” constructs of the human brain. The assumption that a mathematical truth, such …

The Difference Between Truth in Mathematics and Truth in Science Read More »