PSYCHOLOGY

He's Not as Smart as He Thinks

A British researcher reports that the male ego is often larger than his actual IQ. But you might be surprised by what women think of men's intellect.

By Joan Raymond | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Jan 23, 2008 | Updated: 5:25  p.m. ET Jan 23, 2008

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  • Posted By: Willis-Tampa @ 02/05/2008 11:21:52 AM

    Let's see - Men invented, well, everything.

    They created civilization, Democracy, etc.

    But, they only think they are smarter - how does IQ measure up to accomplishment?

    • Posted By: Eloka @ 10/12/2009 11:21:04 PM

      Since when did men invent everything? Don???t people get taught anything in history anymore; women have contributed to many of the things we still use today and probably couldn???t have done without. Men created civilisation? Did they also help out with the natural process of evolution? It???s pathetic to be in that constant mind frame, to be totally blunt you are wrong; you have the internet do some research.

      In your life what have you ever accomplished or contributed to society, except maybe your ignorance? Just because there were great men who have done things doesn???t mean you are a part of that. Just because they have a penis and you do doesn???t mean you???re something special. Just because Curie has a vagina doesn???t mean I can take credit for her work. You need to either go back to the 6th grade and learn about ALL kinds of history or continue playing this game of tag you seem to enjoy so much.

    • Posted By: inkandskin @ 05/28/2009 3:18:13 AM

      I always despise the claims that men invented everything. Ever look beyond that? Think why men dominate western history? It's because women we're allowed the resources for invention or individual recognition. Men kept women in the house, with the children, doing what they were told they did best.

    • Posted By: nunyabidness @ 01/24/2009 7:55:34 PM

      No, men didn't invent "everything"!

  • Posted By: lpcyusa @ 02/07/2009 12:27:01 AM

    It is interesting to analyze whereby women have greatly altered various historical events and the outcomes of particular men's lives such as in the stories of Samson & Delilah, Cleopatra etc..

    J Starr (NJ)

  • Posted By: lpcyusa @ 02/07/2009 12:22:55 AM

    I stongly beliieve that men underestimate the intelligence of a woman; and this can lead to their demise.
    J

  • Posted By: Osmosis @ 01/08/2009 8:25:46 PM

    To the commenter with the astounding IQ below...You have just trumped your own horn under the guise of something standing for humility, unity, love and spirituality... in a religiously free Country... You sure sealed that argument didn'tcha? I'm sure Jesus would condone your holier than thou sentiment. Excellent intellect and spiritual powers you have. Everyone is impressed I'm sure with how cleverly you and Jesus put your foot down and all the women fell to the ground. I'm sure they understand that you are superior now. So when are you applying to mensa? Google it.

  • Posted By: ctaylor68 @ 01/29/2008 12:09:56 AM

    And yet the worlds highest IQ belongs to a woman. End of discussion.

    • Posted By: shockra @ 01/03/2009 1:42:29 PM

      And yet Jesus was male. end of discussion.

    • Posted By: Ishiboy @ 01/29/2008 12:24:09 AM

      That has not been proved fully yet. Marilyn vos Savant - the woman in question - is indeed smart, with a very high IQ. However there is something known as Ceiling Bumping - which means that most IQ tests are not designed to test someone with such a high IQ level. Besides, such claims are baseless - even she agrees - since IQ is a measure of mental abilities and not intelligence overall.

    • Posted By: Ishiboy @ 01/29/2008 12:15:24 AM

      That hasn't been properly proven.

      • Posted By: Ohelle25 @ 01/29/2008 12:18:16 AM

        The abilities of one individual are not representative for the whole population. Take a statistics class.

  • Posted By: love.angel.music.baby @ 01/29/2008 3:07:24 AM

    Honestly, your dick doesn't give you any extra brain cells. And to the little knob who wrote about how women were so unsuccesful throughout the years 'even though they were given the chance' to be a part of politics in Egypt and rule England etc. Give me a break. Might I remind you that women had been taught far less than men. And I mean that as in how girls were never sent to school for the same subjects as boys. Am I not right? And should I also point out that girls were only taught to sew, cook and clean?
    And yes, Queen Elizabeth may have had the power to change this, but then again she didn't. Do you know why? Because men in England also had the power to revolt, and Kings and Queens are not always able to make decisions so simply. They had a whole court of people to accept their decisions, which isn't always as succesful as you may think.
    Oh, and guess what? I'm 12 years old.
    I'm laughing as I'm typing this
    So anyway. To the joke who said, "and all girls talk about guys? Yeah, that's right, I listen to your conversations. If guys actually did talk about politics as often as you claim are celebrities blah blah", you have got to be kidding? You know the people who talk about celebrities are this world must be coming to a revolution. Girls are human. Just because some girls have the same intelect as the boys (the below average ones, of course), doesn't mean all girls have the same conversations. Girls generally talk about life, and what's going on around them. If you actually think about it, we are expressing our opinions on world issues on what the world is generally coming to. Boys, on the other hand, talk about how great their new lawn mower it. Don't try to deny it because you all know this is true. But seriously, the most men achieved is world conflict. Look at President Bush. Look at Osama Bin Laden. Men are just trouble, and the ignorant ones are just a waste of expired blood and flesh.
    And to all you thick skulls out there who think men are generally better than women, you're just mad cuz you're a little short on sumthin. (Yeah, I'm aware of my spelling errors. Wouldn't you think I'd notice?) Not to mention the fact that some of these 'hot shots' (ROFL) on here (once again thinking you are smarter, not realizing that you obviously have the same intelect of a banana peel), you are definately single. Try thinking outside the bun. Women don't want you. You might as well go kill yourselves because you have no point in life, hahaha.
    And another thing before you try and think you're rubbing something in my face, yes, I have a boyfriend. And if I mispelled any words I am soo sorry, as I am trilinguel, So ey, cut me some slack. ?????? ?????????. :)

    • Posted By: shockra @ 01/03/2009 1:19:03 PM

      i think youre an idiot.

  • Posted By: ombrahma @ 01/29/2008 7:38:58 AM

    Also, woman's physiological IQ is far superior to man's. The toxicity in their reproductive system eliminates all the sperm deemed week. Physiological superiority is evident from the fact that men, who are toxic to women by nature for all their life, are protected and nourished while in womb. Woman's instinct never fails (except when they override it by trying to follow make-beleive on TV). How great must be their level of inner beauty that they are capable of thinking men are handsome (sorry, a naked man is the ugliest sight in nature in my humble opinion). Women are just amazing. They can make man feel like they are the greatest, or they are worthless, all due to higher intelligence that comes close to creation.

    • Posted By: shockra @ 01/03/2009 1:03:17 PM

      You know.. There is one great problem with a species breaking free from nature and becoming "civilized," such as man has done. This is that the species would forget Nature. I am surprised that we have already begun to do so. It is amazing to look at how quickly humans can adapt and adjust to become habitualized into a way of life. You and your thoughts and practically this entire scheme of thought is the prime example of this. We have forgotten why it is that men are dominant over women, why women are dominant over men. It is all survival of the fittest.
      Men become more dominant and stronger and bring in the most food and provide the best life for the woman who provides the most attraction (which is measured on ability to pass on the best genes). It is this work to "impress" or attract the best mate that women confuse for power. Because we like girls and try to woo them they mistake the subtleties of courtship as dominance, simply because they dont have to do anything. The man is courting the woman, not visa versa. The man doesnt do this because the woman is almight and he wants a taste of her divineness, but because he is evolutionarily required to mate with the woman he has chosen, and women like it too, or else they would not comply which would result in the end of man. AND woman. Basically there is a balance of power, not an equality. WE MUST FULFILL THE BALANCE TO SURVIVE. Unless of course you would like to rewrite nature, in turn becoming GOD. which i quite highly doubt.

    • Posted By: 229911 @ 01/29/2008 7:54:58 AM

      Is that you Rosie O'Donnell?

  • Posted By: olawale @ 01/29/2008 4:25:28 AM

    all men are liars! what women can do, no man born of a woman can do it...one of such is carrying pregnancy. mrs jochebed preserved great moses in the most intelligent way, where was mr amram moses' father? mrs zipporah skilfully delivered great moses from being killed by God at the inn. mrs abigail delivered nabal from execution by david when the man was in stupor. women preserve the delicate foetus and labour to birth when most ment run away at the sight of labour ward. women are highly unintelligent, i agree. but men are "intelligentless" to do what a woman will do freely. olawale, nigeria

    • Posted By: shockra @ 01/03/2009 12:39:55 PM

      yea, and Jesus the Savior of the planet, and the Perfect human. Was male. and..?

  • Posted By: shockra @ 01/03/2009 11:58:48 AM

    So basically, Shaman, you believe that JUST ABOUT every religion worldwide, every social standard for the past history of mankind, and the PAST scientific "evolutionist" community are all wrong. And actually, we dont need order, or a dominance heirarchy, as every other species known to exist does, but that we can change everything right now, because we have finally outsmarted nature? I'm not saying one sex is better than another, but we need order to survive.

  • Posted By: A1sojourn @ 12/16/2008 11:40:28 PM

    If you need proof that woman are not as smart as men, just read their posted stupid sexist comments.

  • Posted By: beliexon @ 09/23/2008 11:08:10 AM

    I'm smarter than the majority of the men I know. My mom always told me how smart I was, and that I could do anything I wanted to do - even be President if I wanted. So this helped give me confidence. But I do believe that intellectually I am smarter than the majority of the men I have met. Successful men. I don't ask for - I do. I say pretty much what I think, and I do NOT have a poor me attitude. I know many other strong women like me. I believe that many of the Mothers of the past generations helped to create this spoiled, "I'm the greatest" attitude that we often see from the generations from the sixties and seventies. (son's living at home with parents, not working - daughters carrying the load) I can't yet tell how the next two generations will be as adults. So ladies, teach your children they are EQUAL, and that the girls as well as the boys can be and do what ever they wish. It's true, and healtier for BOTH sexes!

  • Posted By: ShamanStacy @ 09/21/2008 2:01:19 AM

    I see a lot of comments that are ignorant and sexist. Yes men have physically and mentally terrorized and dominated women for THOUSANDS of years but rather then "be a man" and challenge men directly (which usually leads to a physical conflict in which women truly are weaker and could NEVER win and men know and use it) women have chosen to use manipulation in order to obtain indirect power over men. Women are socilaized to be the weaker sex and that is why they are ill equiped to take up traditionally male roles. Only men discount the importance of emotional intelligence as they are fairly emotionally illiterate. There is a big difference in understanding OBVIOUS emotions versus the subtle emotions that underlie the obvious one being projected. eg. someone is pissed off because they are hurt or insulted. Women would understand the difference abd try and resolve the underlying issue rather than get rid of the offending anger emotion. It's hard to not have a poor me attitude when men make sure you know they're the greates thing since time began. And yes the BIBLE and the religions that follow it ARE TO BLAME but so is everyone who agrees with it/them.

  • Posted By: Existian @ 07/21/2008 6:29:40 PM

    Bye the way, what is emotional intelligence anyway? Dictionary.com; n. Intelligence regarding the emotions, especially in the ability to monitor one's own or others' emotions. Ok, how smart do you have to be to know if you or someone else is pissed off? And another; an awareness of and ability to manage emotions and create motivation. Hey, that sounds like one of the many roles and responsibilities of an NCO in the USArmy, and i know a few female NCO's that have no sense of how to lead and take care of soldiers.

  • Posted By: Existian @ 07/21/2008 4:37:22 PM

    Thousands of years of men ordering women around? Are you serious? Who's fault is that? And If your that easily manipulated you must not be that smart. I'm tired of women acting like they are slaves. They put themselves in that position. If women would step up, get rid of the poor me attitude and didn't expect men to make all the decisions, we would see a revolution of equality. It's not that were not listening, you need to speak up.I am a firm believer that intelligence is relative. You are going to have different ranges of intelligence in and all races. But f your going to blame anything, blame the Bible, which says the wife should honor and obey and the husband once married. And ultimately we will never be equal as long as we keep bringing up our differences about who's smarter or better. Nobody likes to have there intelligence insulted. If we truly want to live in a utopian society we all have to get past all of our differences and focus on how we are all alike.

  • Posted By: penzance @ 07/12/2008 11:39:51 AM

    I think the postings just support the article! I see it all the time in life as well. It would be interesting to see if it's due to culture or chemistry--I think it's thousands of years of men ordering women aound. It's incredible how easy it is for manipulators to manipulate people into believing whatever they want them to think.

  • Posted By: nativetx @ 05/19/2008 5:01:55 PM

    this is no doubt true as is the female ego of certain country western all female bands.

  • Posted By: franceslady @ 03/29/2008 3:50:27 AM

    Everything could be possible! THis is also resulted from the cultural power. So naturally, male wins in the perceived intelligence finally in my opinion.

  • Posted By: franceslady @ 03/29/2008 3:50:21 AM

    Everything could be possible! THis is also resulted from the cultural power. So naturally, male wins in the perceived intelligence finally in my opinion.

  • Posted By: ego2913 @ 03/28/2008 12:59:48 AM

    http://blog.sina.com.cn/ego2913

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