I think people perceive that someone around them is less intelligent, far easier than they perceive that someone is more intelligent, but there has to be a significant enough difference to notice.
Also, most people have a social group of similar intelligence, so throw in a bit of natural self-promotion and you get most people thinking they are above average.
That is what surprised me. I would have presumed that ~70% of people would consider themselves above average.
“Yes, I understand the meaning of mean, median, mode, and average. Mean and average are the same thing.”
People frequently refer to the mean as “average,” but the mode and median are also averages.
“I think people perceive that someone around them is less intelligent, far easier than they perceive that someone is more intelligent”
That’s interesting. If true, it would account for some things I have found puzzling. However, it would also be disadvantageous, and so should have been selected against.
“Also, most people have a social group of similar intelligence, so throw in a bit of natural self-promotion and you get most people thinking they are above average.”
Seems to me that the blue-collar people I have known recognize that people like Stephen Hawking and Gary Kasparov are smarter in their fields, but they also think that they themselves have a certain type of intelligence and wisdom, often referred to as “common sense.” And some people with high IQs recognize that they are dumb as a box of hammers in some areas.