what's your iq?

[QuisUtDeus]

IQ is inversely proportional to success with the opposite sex.  QED.

Probably not as much as the stereotype.  Here are the results from one study, showing the percentage of people in five IQ groups:

               IQ:                 <75           75-90         90-110       110-125        125>
Married by age 30         72            81                 81                72               67
Divorced in 5 years        21           22                  23               15                9

So smarter people are a bit less likely to be married by 30, though I'd guess that's partly due to their staying in school longer and telling themselves they'll find a spouse after graduation.  But they have a much lower early divorce rate.  So they may be a little less successful in dating, but they appear to be more successful in dealing with the one member of the opposite sex whom they marry.

By the way, most trads will probably like this: breastfeeding appears to add about 5 IQ points on average.

Paul Graham has an excellent article called "Why Nerds Are Unpopular," where he gives his theory about why smart kids tend to do poorly socially.  Some excerpts (but really, go read the whole thing; it's brilliant):

In the schools I went to, being smart just didn't matter much. Kids didn't admire it or despise it. All other things being equal, they would have preferred to be on the smart side of average rather than the dumb side, but intelligence counted far less than, say, physical appearance, charisma, or athletic ability.

So if intelligence in itself is not a factor in popularity, why are smart kids so consistently unpopular? The answer, I think, is that they don't really want to be popular.

Nerds serve two masters. They want to be popular, certainly, but they want even more to be smart. And popularity is not something you can do in your spare time, not in the fiercely competitive environment of an American secondary school.

Here's a counter theory:

Smart people not usually doing well with the opposite sex, once finding marriage at over age 30 because it took them that long, are loathe to give it up because they know it will be another 10 years before they can find someone else.  Also, they've run the numbers and know it's infinitely cheaper to be miserably married than delightedly divorced, fulfilling the prophecy: a genius and his money are not soon parted.

As far as doing poorly socially, that is and isn't true.  Geeks and nerds have lots of friends who are other geeks and nerds, and usually friends who are not geeks and nerds but of the same sex.  It's with the opposite sex they do poorly.  Which might explain why they become geeks and nerds.  If you suck at sports or are goofy looking or sickly or what have you, you probably spend a lot of time alone, so you start reading.  And books are the beginning of the end.  Pretty soon you're spending more time in the non-fiction section of the library than the fiction section, and it ain't in the sports biography section, either.  Then you actually want to do what you're reading about, which isn't sports, and the next thing you know you're winding Tesla coils in your basement and blowing fuses.  Which at least gives you something to do while other people are at homecoming. 

And brings up point 2: most nerd / geek activity is solo activity which reinforces the lack of social skills because no time is spent developing them.

[Rosarium]

As far as doing poorly socially, that is and isn't true.  Geeks and nerds have lots of friends who are other geeks and nerds, and usually friends who are not geeks and nerds but of the same sex.  It's with the opposite sex they do poorly.  Which might explain why they become geeks and nerds.  If you suck at sports or are goofy looking or sickly or what have you, you probably spend a lot of time alone, so you start reading.  And books are the beginning of the end.  Pretty soon you're spending more time in the non-fiction section of the library than the fiction section, and it ain't in the sports biography section, either.  Then you actually want to do what you're reading about, which isn't sports, and the next thing you know you're winding Tesla coils in your basement and blowing fuses.  Which at least gives you something to do while other people are at homecoming. 

Another factor is the rarity. The curve shows that people further from the centre will be more lonely. After all, to a person with an IQ of around 170, the average person is like a profoundly retarded person to an average person.

As a child, I was very active and physically capable, but at school, I was always chosen second to last for teams (the gym teacher would automatically assign me and the fat girl (there always was one) to a team to avoid anyone being last), not because I wasn't capable (in most sports, I did well for the team I was on) but because I truly wasn't interested and it showed. I felt nothing for any team based sport. It was only me and everyone else, mainly because everyone else was too different from me for me to have any connection to them.

As a child, all my friends were girls for some reason now that I think of it.

[Gman]

I don't know mine. But if I had to guess it'd be...

69 DUDE!

[Spooky]

i tooked a test on teh interwebs and it tolded me my i.q. was 135. w00t!

LOL was it one those pop-ups?

Actually it was right next to "What color is your aura" and "What's your rockstar name?"

[Satori]

As far as doing poorly socially, that is and isn't true.  Geeks and nerds have lots of friends who are other geeks and nerds, and usually friends who are not geeks and nerds but of the same sex.  It's with the opposite sex they do poorly.  Which might explain why they become geeks and nerds.  If you suck at sports or are goofy looking or sickly or what have you, you probably spend a lot of time alone, so you start reading.  And books are the beginning of the end.  Pretty soon you're spending more time in the non-fiction section of the library than the fiction section, and it ain't in the sports biography section, either.  Then you actually want to do what you're reading about, which isn't sports, and the next thing you know you're winding Tesla coils in your basement and blowing fuses.  Which at least gives you something to do while other people are at homecoming. 

Another factor is the rarity. The curve shows that people further from the centre will be more lonely. After all, to a person with an IQ of around 170, the average person is like a profoundly retarded person to an average person.

As a child, I was very active and physically capable, but at school, I was always chosen second to last for teams (the gym teacher would automatically assign me and the fat girl (there always was one) to a team to avoid anyone being last), not because I wasn't capable (in most sports, I did well for the team I was on) but because I truly wasn't interested and it showed. I felt nothing for any team based sport. It was only me and everyone else, mainly because everyone else was too different from me for me to have any connection to them.

As a child, all my friends were girls for some reason now that I think of it.

Sensitive girls who like kittens, or nerdy girls?

This is more or less what I was thinking. If very intelligent people marry late, it's because they have a harder time than others finding a suitable mate. Now, I know one certifiable genius who is married to a really stupid woman and I don't understand that at all. But in general, from what I have seen, most very smart people need -- don't just want -- to be with someone else who is smart. And it may take years to find that person.

[Vetus Ordo]

As far as doing poorly socially, that is and isn't true.  Geeks and nerds have lots of friends who are other geeks and nerds, and usually friends who are not geeks and nerds but of the same sex.  It's with the opposite sex they do poorly.  Which might explain why they become geeks and nerds.  If you suck at sports or are goofy looking or sickly or what have you, you probably spend a lot of time alone, so you start reading.  And books are the beginning of the end.  Pretty soon you're spending more time in the non-fiction section of the library than the fiction section, and it ain't in the sports biography section, either.  Then you actually want to do what you're reading about, which isn't sports, and the next thing you know you're winding Tesla coils in your basement and blowing fuses.  Which at least gives you something to do while other people are at homecoming. 

Another factor is the rarity. The curve shows that people further from the centre will be more lonely. After all, to a person with an IQ of around 170, the average person is like a profoundly retarded person to an average person.

As a child, I was very active and physically capable, but at school, I was always chosen second to last for teams (the gym teacher would automatically assign me and the fat girl (there always was one) to a team to avoid anyone being last), not because I wasn't capable (in most sports, I did well for the team I was on) but because I truly wasn't interested and it showed. I felt nothing for any team based sport. It was only me and everyone else, mainly because everyone else was too different from me for me to have any connection to them.

As a child, all my friends were girls for some reason now that I think of it.

Sensitive girls who like kittens, or nerdy girls?

This is more or less what I was thinking. If very intelligent people marry late, it's because they have a harder time than others finding a suitable mate. Now, I know one certifiable genius who is married to a really stupid woman and I don't understand that at all. But in general, from what I have seen, most very smart people need -- don't just want -- to be with someone else who is smart. And it may take years to find that person.

Another issue that may delay marriage is to find a spouse with a suitable dowry. This may take a lifetime.

[Satori]

As far as doing poorly socially, that is and isn't true.  Geeks and nerds have lots of friends who are other geeks and nerds, and usually friends who are not geeks and nerds but of the same sex.  It's with the opposite sex they do poorly.  Which might explain why they become geeks and nerds.  If you suck at sports or are goofy looking or sickly or what have you, you probably spend a lot of time alone, so you start reading.  And books are the beginning of the end.  Pretty soon you're spending more time in the non-fiction section of the library than the fiction section, and it ain't in the sports biography section, either.  Then you actually want to do what you're reading about, which isn't sports, and the next thing you know you're winding Tesla coils in your basement and blowing fuses.  Which at least gives you something to do while other people are at homecoming. 

Another factor is the rarity. The curve shows that people further from the centre will be more lonely. After all, to a person with an IQ of around 170, the average person is like a profoundly retarded person to an average person.

As a child, I was very active and physically capable, but at school, I was always chosen second to last for teams (the gym teacher would automatically assign me and the fat girl (there always was one) to a team to avoid anyone being last), not because I wasn't capable (in most sports, I did well for the team I was on) but because I truly wasn't interested and it showed. I felt nothing for any team based sport. It was only me and everyone else, mainly because everyone else was too different from me for me to have any connection to them.

As a child, all my friends were girls for some reason now that I think of it.

Sensitive girls who like kittens, or nerdy girls?

This is more or less what I was thinking. If very intelligent people marry late, it's because they have a harder time than others finding a suitable mate. Now, I know one certifiable genius who is married to a really stupid woman and I don't understand that at all. But in general, from what I have seen, most very smart people need -- don't just want -- to be with someone else who is smart. And it may take years to find that person.

Another issue that may delay marriage is to find a spouse with a suitable dowry. This may take a lifetime.

Don't waste your time. Get a good education instead, so you can support your wife and numerous children without having to hit up your father-in-law for money.

I hope you realize I'm smiling broadly as I type this.

[Vetus Ordo]

As far as doing poorly socially, that is and isn't true.  Geeks and nerds have lots of friends who are other geeks and nerds, and usually friends who are not geeks and nerds but of the same sex.  It's with the opposite sex they do poorly.  Which might explain why they become geeks and nerds.  If you suck at sports or are goofy looking or sickly or what have you, you probably spend a lot of time alone, so you start reading.  And books are the beginning of the end.  Pretty soon you're spending more time in the non-fiction section of the library than the fiction section, and it ain't in the sports biography section, either.  Then you actually want to do what you're reading about, which isn't sports, and the next thing you know you're winding Tesla coils in your basement and blowing fuses.  Which at least gives you something to do while other people are at homecoming. 

Another factor is the rarity. The curve shows that people further from the centre will be more lonely. After all, to a person with an IQ of around 170, the average person is like a profoundly retarded person to an average person.

As a child, I was very active and physically capable, but at school, I was always chosen second to last for teams (the gym teacher would automatically assign me and the fat girl (there always was one) to a team to avoid anyone being last), not because I wasn't capable (in most sports, I did well for the team I was on) but because I truly wasn't interested and it showed. I felt nothing for any team based sport. It was only me and everyone else, mainly because everyone else was too different from me for me to have any connection to them.

As a child, all my friends were girls for some reason now that I think of it.

Sensitive girls who like kittens, or nerdy girls?

This is more or less what I was thinking. If very intelligent people marry late, it's because they have a harder time than others finding a suitable mate. Now, I know one certifiable genius who is married to a really stupid woman and I don't understand that at all. But in general, from what I have seen, most very smart people need -- don't just want -- to be with someone else who is smart. And it may take years to find that person.

Another issue that may delay marriage is to find a spouse with a suitable dowry. This may take a lifetime.

Don't waste your time. Get a good education instead, so you can support your wife and numerous children without having to hit up your father-in-law for money.

I hope you realize I'm smiling broadly as I type this.

What's wrong with people nowadays? Can't they just marry for the right reasons like money and prestige?

The demise of marriage began when people started entertaining dangerous ideas like marrying for love and passion.

[Clare]

I took an IQ test on Facebook a couple of years ago, and I got 133, or something like that. It was on Facebook, and therefore scientific and reliable.

[Vetus Ordo]

I took an IQ test on Facebook a couple of years ago, and I got 133, or something like that. It was on Facebook, and therefore scientific and reliable.

Facebook locutus, causa finita.