Visitors to Quora often ask which of two brilliant people is the more intelligent? The simple answer is that we have no means of measuring brilliance at the highest levels. IQ is a measure that is useful for comparing the intelligence of people in the range of 70 to about 130. Beyond this realm, IQs are normed on a sample of the top 2.4% of the population, representing people of remarkably diverse cognitive abilities. Some are lightning fast in solving problems and gaining insights, while others are better at solving problems involving deep contemplation over a long period of time.
Furthermore, IQ tests are not designed to measure inventiveness and creativity, because we don’t have precise definitions of these concepts. Consequently, we attempt to compare intellects of the brilliant people or geniuses by comparing the magnitude of their accomplishments. However, high achievement involves, in addition to high intelligence, personality attributes such as persistence (Thomas Edison) and imagination (Albert Einstein). While IQ is our best measure of intelligence, it’s extremely limited in comparing those who differ significantly from the norm. For a more comprehensive treatment of this concept, visit https://www.intelligence-and-iq.com/who-was-smarter-alan-turing-or-claude-shannon/ For a slightly different perspective, visit Albert Heisenberg’s post at: Albert Heisenberg’s answer to Why is Einstein more popularly known for his intelligence than say, von Neumann?
