The Highest IQ Ever Recorded In History

Today I’d like us to look at the Highest IQ Ever Recorded In History, but first let’s take a look at what IQ refers to. (I know many of us have a rough idea but knowing what IQ really refers do won’t do us any harm 🙂 )

The Highest IQ Ever Recorded: What Is IQ?

IQ is an abbreviation of Intelligent Quotient which refers to the ratio of the mental age (MA) to the chronological age (CA) multiplied by 100 i.e. IQ=MA/CA x 100.

The Highest IQ Ever Recorded: CA & MA

Chronological age refers to how old a person really is (in regard to their birthday) e.g. if you were born in 12th December 2012 then in 12th December 2013 you’ll be 1 year old.

Mental age refers to how old a person is mentally i.e. their mental ability in regard to their chronological age e.g. If a child aged 12 might be able to read, understand or even reason on a higher level as compared to another child also aged 12, then the first child is said to have a higher mental age.

The mental age is usually computed on a standardized test.

The Highest IQ Ever Recorded: Example                                                                                                           

The Highest IQ Ever Recorded In History
The Highest IQ Ever Recorded In History

If a teenager aged 17 is able to reason or answer questions like a 30 year old then the teenagers IQ is:

IQ=MA/CA x 100

    = 30/17 x 100

IQ=176

NB: Because of the nature of the IQ formula, an individual’s IQ will usually drop once they start to age.

The Highest IQ Ever Recorded: IQ History

The abbreviation IQ originates from Intelligenz-Quotient, a German term originally coined by psychologist William Stern

Now that we have a better idea about what IQ refers to, let’s go ahead and look at the Highest IQ Ever Recorded In History

The Highest IQ Ever Recorded In History

The holder of the Highest IQ Ever Recorded In History is Abdesselam Jelloul who scored an adult IQ of 198 in a test conducted in 2012.

The test to find out if indeed Abdesselam Jelloul had the Highest IQ Ever included 13 dimensions of intelligence which were:

  1. Analytical
  2. Spatial
  3. Logical
  4. Memory
  5. Musical
  6. Linguistic
  7. Philosophical
  8. Moral
  9. Spiritual
  10. Interpersonal
  11. Intra-personal
  12. Bodily
  13. Naturalist

The advanced IQ test that Abdesselam Jelloul took involved more measures that the ordinary IQ tests can’t access.

Aside from Abdesselam Jelloul who holds the title of The Highest IQ Ever Recorded In History, there exist others who’ve also displayed very High IQ’s and below is a list of some of the 13 Highest IQ’s Ever Recorded In History inclusive of Abdesselam Jelloul.

13 Highest IQ’s Ever Recorded In History

The Highest IQ Ever Recorded
The Highest IQ Ever Recorded
# Name Score Details
1 Abdesselam Jelloul 198 Scored in a 2012 test including 13 dimensions of intelligence.
2 William J. Sidis 197 Child prodigy with exceptional mathematical & linguistic abilities.
3 Christopher Langan 195 Called “the smartest man in America”.
4 Garry Kasparov 190 Chess grandmaster, writer and political activist.
5 Leonardo da Vinci ~190 A genius polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, scientist…
6 Ludwig Wittgenstein 190 Philosopher primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics…
7 Sir Isaac Newton ~190 Physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist…
8 Bobby Fischer 187 A chess Grandmaster and a child prodigy.
9 Marilyn vos Savant 185 Magazine columnist, author, lecturer, and playwright.
10 Kim Ung-Yong 170 Korean civil engineer and former child prodigy.
11 Albert Einstein 160 Theoretical physicist (the general theory of relativity).
12 Akrit Jaswal 146 Child prodigy who performed his first surgery at the age of 7.
13 Grigori Y. Perelman ? Solved the Poincaré conjecture.

(The Highest IQ Ever Recorded)

The following is the widely accepted IQ Score Ranking System that is used to establish people’s IQ’s.

Highest IQ Ever Recorded: The IQ Score Ranking System

IQ Score Traditional Ranking System
140 + (~.25%) Genius or near genius
130 – 139 Gifted
120 – 129 Very Superior Intelligence
110 – 119 Superior Intelligence
90 – 109 Average/Normal
80 – 89 Dullness
70 – 79 Borderline deficiency
50 – 70 Mild mental retardation
35-50 Moderate mental retardation
20 – 35 Severe mental retardation
< 20 Profound mental retardation (1%)

(The Highest IQ Ever Recorded: Table Source)

NB: An IQ score ranging from 90-109 is regarded as normal and is therefore the safe zone whereas anything above that range is considered superior and anything below that range is considered “needy”

The Highest IQ Ever Recorded In History: How An IQ Test Is Conducted

People going for IQ tests are generally assigned an average score of 100 and their actual IQ scores are compared against the average score of 100 in terms of the standard deviation which is taken as 15 e.g. If you score 5 deviations above the mean score then your IQ score would be 175 i.e. [100 + (15*5)]=175.

The Highest IQ Ever Recorded In History: Things To Note Regarding An IQ Test

  1. The mean (average) IQ score is 100
  2. The IQ standard deviation is 15

NB:

  • The highest IQ is 200
  • To convert a child’s IQ score into an adult’s IQ score you need to do the following:

Child IQ Score/100*age/16*100 = Adult IQ Score. (The number 16 is used to indicate the age at which supposedly the IQ reaches its peak)

So there you have it, The Highest IQ Ever Recorded In History as well as a list of  some of the 13 Highest IQ’s Ever Recorded In History.

It might be a good idea to take an IQ test because you never know; you might be the next world holder of the Highest IQ Ever Recorded In History.

(The Highest IQ Ever Recorded In History: Images above courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net)

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