Posted on 01/26/2015 8:10:21 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Who was the smartest person to ever live? There are certainly many worthy contenders. Today, the very name of "Einstein" is synonymous with genius. Others may suggest Stephen Hawking. Those who appreciate literature and music may proffer William Shakespeare or Ludwig van Beethoven. Historians may recommend Benjamin Franklin.
Before I submit my own suggestion, we must first discuss what we even mean by smart. Colloquially, we routinely interchange the words smart and intelligent, but they are not necessarily the same thing. There is an ongoing debate among psychologists, neuroscientists, and artificial intelligence experts on what intelligence actually is, but for our purposes here, a simple dictionary definition will suffice: "capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar forms of mental activity; aptitude in grasping truths, relationships, facts, meanings, etc."
Implicit in this definition of intelligence is general knowledge. An intelligent person capable of understanding quantum mechanics is useless to society if he is completely ignorant. So, a truly smart person will know a lot of things, preferably about many different topics. He should be a polymath, in other words.
Finally, there is the element of creativity. Creative people think in ways in which most other people do not. Where society sees a dead end, a creative person sees an opportunity.
Which person from history was the bodily manifestation of intelligence, knowledge, and creativity? Our blog's namesake, Isaac Newton, of course!
What was Newton's IQ? It's impossible to say. IQ tests didn't exist in the 17th Century, and if they had, Mr. Newton certainly would not have deigned to spend 90 minutes filling out ovals on a multiple choice test. Besides, he likely would have finished the test early and then spent the remaining time correcting errors and devising more difficult questions.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearscience.com ...
Smartest man of the 20th century was Winston Churchill.
I’m pretty sure God said no one would ever exceed Solomon in wisdom.
I’d rather have Jesus ruling over me than any of the guys in that article. Beethoven? Love his music, but unstable.
Archimedes should be in this conversation.
According to DemoCRAPS that would be Obola. Really though, he has an IQ below 10. That’s why his transcripts cannot be released, that and the fact that he is hiding his real identity, Barry Soebarkah, who was born in Indonesia!
Goethe?
ROFL Man I miss Far Side!
Good that for the most part I forget, lest I be more depressed it’s gone.
I guess it is not the same thing as the smartest person but when I was at Troy, Dr. Edward Teller visited and we were allowed to ask questions.
One student asked him who he thought was the best physicist ever. Dr. Teller told him it was a fellow Hungarian but I cannot remember who he said. Probably would not remember it if I heard it.
I read the same thing. His theory isn’t doing so hit either.
To me, that’s a funny joke. I am in noways offended. That’s the difference between most Christians and certain other “religions”, our faith is not a flimsy little house of cards ,toppled by the weakest breeze.
Batman.
You don’t say.
Humility is a characteristic of perfection. I know that so very well.
So, do you folks have a lot to be humble about?
;-)
Let us also note, most importantly, that “intelligence” is NOT the same as “knowledgeable”.
Yes, intelligent people tend to be knowledgeable, but there are many encyclopedias walking around that are not that bright otherwise. They just soak up facts, but cannot manipulate.
And too many people confuse this. Note how many fools think because kids today KNOW how to use a computer/iPad/SmartPhone, they are intelligent. Meanwhile, the trends in society say otherwise. Building a computer would be a better display of intelligence.
Although on this thread posts 4, 10 and others give the answer.
An elderly priest, a hippie and Henry Kissinger were flying on an airplane when the motor conked out and the plane began to crash. There were only three parachutes aboard.
The pilot took his and jumped out. Kissinger then said, "I'm the smartest man in the world, and my intellect is vitally needed," so he grabbed a parachute and jumped out. That left only one parachute between the priest and the hippie.
The priest then said to the hippie, I'm old, but you are young and have your whole life ahead of you, so you take the chute." The hippie replied, "that won't be necessary. The smartest man in the world just took my backpack."
I guess I did say but not sure what.
The smartest person is the one who has an answer to my question.
How about Adam? We’ve obviously been getting dumber ever since.
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