“If 9 people have $100 and a tenth has $10, the average is $91.10, and 90% have of those people have more than the average.”
The mean is $91, but that’s not really what we’re talking about. The point here is people’s *perception*of their own relative intelligence, however sloppy that may be by statistical standards.
Their perceptions are important here, because they influence people’s actions.
Is Newt Gingrich smarter than me? How about Rand Paul? Greentard eco-whackos tend to think they—and Count Taxula’s henchman Algore—are much smarter than people like Thomas Sowell and Ted Cruz.
How different would things be if they were aware how much more intelligent and wise Sowell is than their own sorry, dimbulb selves?
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.