James Woods has a reported IQ of 180

[edhopper]

he received a scholarship to MIT. Might be the smartest person in Hollywood.

Yet is a deranged supporter of GWB, the Iraq War and the GOP. And says shit like this:

Scratch a liberal, find a fascist every time.

When you give a bully your lunch money, he's still going to beat you up AND he's got your money. Obama's Iran deal is cowardice. Period.

I will be doing the narration for @CarlyFiorina's campaign film. So proud to support this remarkable woman and her historic campaign.

Go figure?

[marym625]

1. it seems that many intelligent people

Are just insane.

[yeoman6987]

12. Hollywood has a very low percentage of republicans

Although they are vocal. I guess they feel they need a voice sine they are so few.

[Kingofalldems]

42. Like DU?

[Drahthaardogs]

112. One should never confuse intelligence with wisdom.

They are not the same thing and it is rare to find them both in the same person.

[Mass]

2. Why? What do you think IQ measures?

It is a reasonably good measure of scholarly success (largely because it measures the two things schools teach : verbal skills and visual skills. But it does not measure any emotional or ethical data, or any form of real-life intelligence.

[edhopper]

3. That is true

[Cal33]

20. Sociopaths -- who lie, cheat, have no compassion for anyone in trouble or

danger -- can also have average, low or high IQs, just like anybody else.

[BlueJazz]

53. What Cal33 said.

[LittleBlue]

45. Memorization and conceptualization

Raw mental horsepower.

Many very intelligent people have different political philosophies. Smart people aren't necessarily nice or compassionate.

[chervilant]

59. Timed IQ tests

measure the alacrity with which test takers "solve" problems. I have a "high IQ," but I noticed a LONG time ago that often the most erudite observations are uttered by those whose IQs are "average" or "below average."

So, maybe IQ tests reflect our species' rather ubiquitous need to impose order on our universe (using math, naturally, the oldest cerebral game ever invented).

Maybe, we just need to take each individual on their own merits...

[TwilightGardener]

4. Family Guy made him into a permanent joke.

[fredamae]

5. Intellect does NOT

automatically mean an individual has Common Sense.
People with a much Lower IQ can be the Smartest people in the room
So he may be a person with the Highest IQ in Hollywood...but jimmy has already proved he is Definitely Not the "smartest".

[edhopper]

6. good point

[ryan_cats]

11. I agree

I agree, after all, who would you want operating on you? Someone with worthless book knowledge and experience or someone with common sense, common sense defined as they believe what I believe today.

[REP]

30. A university-trained surgeon with lots of book knowledge, thanks

Surgery is not a place for "what I believe today."

[ChazII]

106. As you pointed out

a high IQ does not indicate common sense or wisdom.

[notadmblnd]

7. Not all men think with the head on their shoulders

[HooptieWagon]

8. Well, he's not smart enough to know what fascism is.

IQ just measures the potential to learn, not the amount that has been learned. IOW, despite the 180 IQ he's still a dumbass.

[marmar]

9. Proof that crazy doesn't mean stupid. And vice versa.

[dorkzilla]

10. He allegedly also has a big, um, penis, which makes me think he’s spreading these rumors

I mean, how else would someone find out how large an IQ is? Those test results aren’t available publicly, not to my knowledge anyway, so the number probably came from him.

As to the penis rumor...well we all already know he’s just a big dick so maybe someone misconstrued that statement.

[TexasBushwhacker]

114. Nah, Dana Delany said if you put him in a room

with Liam Neeson and Willem Dafoe there wouldn't be room for anyone else.

Apparently they're all packin'.

[tabasco]

13. So?

Science smarts does not equal political smarts or even common sense.

High-IQ scientists were genocidal Nazis.

I thought everybody knows this.

[ryan_cats]

16. What about the scientists that got us to the moon?

What about the scientists that got us to the moon?

Were they genocidal Nazis?

[deathrind]

18. Some were.

[HooptieWagon]

78. This is true. Nt

[tabasco]

35. Do you really have such a poor grasp of logic?

Your post is absurd and brings into question your intelligence.

[ryan_cats]

46. Logic is not my strong suit

Logic is not my strong suit, my feelings trump all.

Are you saying my argument is a false dichotomy? I have no idea what that means but it sure sounds intelligent.

[GeorgeGist]

84. Wernher von Braun

[ryan_cats]

103. Fine, then

Fine, then.
I bet the Soviet rocket scientists were not Nazis.

[Frank Cannon]

14. This is why Wisdom and Intelligence are two different character attributes...

In Dungeons and Dragons.

I've known genius scientists who didn't have the common sense God gave a grape.

James Randi has said that smarter people are actually easier to fool, because they think they are too smart to be misled.

[TeamPooka]

15. I knocked Woods out of a poker tournement once. He thinks he's a good player. nt

[packman]

19. Please elaborate - details, nuances, character analysis, etc.

I equate empathy with intelligence. I think there is a point on the Bell Curve where IQ begins to separate itself from empathy towards others and the person becomes self-absorbed and self-focused. At that point they have distain for all others and view others as inferiors not pulling their weight.

[ryan_cats]

24. ...I equate empathy with intelligence.

I equate empathy with intelligence.
I equate it with weakness but I enjoy knowing that everyone's viewpoint is valid.

At that point they have distain for all others and view others as inferiors not pulling their weight.
I've never felt that way, I have disdain for people who don't pull their own weight.

[edhopper]

29. I am sure you think the "job creators" are great.

and hate the 47% takers.

[ryan_cats]

33. It is a horrible thing

It is a horrible thing to to sentence people...
I would add, "through no fault of their own, but I want to fuel your moral outrage." Am I not compassionate?

... to sentence people to a subservient existence because they aren't competent enough but how much more monstrous is it to sentence the competent people to a subservient existence?

On a related note, is it Ahmed's fate to oppress future peoples? We're the cops using that as their moral guide? Would you kill Hitler when he was 19 and prevent all future unpleasantness?

ETA more birllance by correcting a spelling error.

[edhopper]

37. oh yes

the wealthy are in such dire straights at the hands of all those in poverty.

[tabasco]

36. Wow. Tough guy, huh?

I'm laughing at you.

[ryan_cats]

48. Laughing, that's what my father

Laughing, that's what my father did when he caught me in my mom's clothes. Thanks for the horrible memories.

[Rex]

51. You equate intelligence with weakness? Now that is funny.

Misanthropes abound.

[ryan_cats]

54. You sho

You should reply to #19. Hence the ellipsis in my title.

[Rex]

55. I fear the #19, so I will let you go a head in my place.

ahead?

[ryan_cats]

56. Is i

Is it because of that song?

Na na na Nineteen, Nineteen...

By Paul Hardcastle.

[Rex]

57. Lost my last race to #19.

Was like the Red Baron of the racing circut.

[ryan_cats]

69. That's a terr

That's a terrible story.

There there, you didn't lose because he was #19, you lost because he was better than you.

[Rex]

75. No not at all the Red Baron was #19 it is a curse.

I tells ya.

[ryan_cats]

102. You've got to get over

You've got to get over this Snoopy.
It is unhealthy.

[awoke_in_2003]

66. you equate empathy with weakness? nt

[ryan_cats]

70. Y

Yes, yes I do.

[awoke_in_2003]

71. I tend to think that the more empathy you have

the stronger you must be, or else your soul would be crushed. That is my take on it, anyway

[edhopper]

86. I feel sorry for you.

[Nevernose]

26. Are you familiar with Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences?

I'm a firm believer in it, especially now that there are some fMRI studies supporting it.

This would imply not that smarter people tend to be less empathetic, but you tend to notice people who are high in one area but low in another, although statistically they're probably the same likelihood. Generally speaking, I've never noticed a relationship between intelligence and empathy, because they're not related; just look at some of the cross section of humanity that enjoys torturing animals in some capacity.

[deathrind]

17. High Intelligence is not

...an indication of common sense.

I know plenty of who could build the cross walk sign but still would not know when it is safe to cross the street...

[tavernier]

21. Who?

[lunamagica]

22. HE says he has an IQ of 180. HE says he received an scholarship to MIT

How do we know it is true?

[edhopper]

28. MIT is documented.

IQ test has been verified.
Just take it as true for arguments sake.

[krawhitham]

88. BINGO

He claims he received a 1580 score on his SAT test
He claims he has 180 IQ
He claims he received a scholarship to MIT
He claims he is a member of Mensa

But in 2009 the Mensa Director of Operations said that they have no evidence Mr Woods was ever a member.


If he lied about Mensa what else did he lie about?

[graegoyle]

23. So, some smart people are assholes. Some smart people are psychopaths.

And some smart people are psychopathic assholes. Which part of the Venn holds this guy?

[Javaman]

25. there has never been a direct correlation between intelligence and common sense. nt

[blm]

27. A wellknown pervert in LA who totally fell in w/Bush's version of war, so how

smart can he be to STILL adhere to Bush-Cheney version of history even after all the facts revealed so far have been proving it was a lie.

Bushies at CIA easily flattered him post-9/11 into believing he was a valuable asset to the war on terror because of his peripheral appearance on an earlier flight. Scratch Woods' ego just a little bit (BushInc sure did) and you find an ENORMOUS authoritarian FASCIST underneath.

Hey James - you obedient parrot repeating all the Moonie News talking points planted by BushInc - YOU are the fascist, asshat.

[bemildred]

31. Just because you have a lot under the hood, that doesn't mean you know how to drive it. nt

[hedgehog]

32. In a related story - the magazine for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers

has featured a long running debate in it's letters to the Editor as to whether global climate change is happening, and if so if it's man-made. Proof that knowledge in one field doesn't mean knowledge in all fields.

[ryan_cats]

34. Unless the mechanical engineer is Bill Nye

Unless the mechanical engineer is Bill Nye, then he is all knowing, yes?

[WinkyDink]

39. Okay, just as an FYI: Your post title can lead into the body WITHOUT repetition.

[ryan_cats]

47. It can

It can but where is the elegance in that?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

105. It's a bit off putting and annoying.

[ryan_cats]

107. W

What are the negatives?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

104. Bill Nye, or any competent scientist, can read and understand peer reviewed studies...

... outside their own field of expertise.

What they (scientists operating outside their own expertise) can't do, is make up their own "gut feeling" opinions that are in contradiction with 99% of peer reviewed science - well they can, but they will look like idiots and assholes.

[ryan_cats]

109. ?

?
I'm sure the rigorous studies and coursework an ethnic studies major goes through allows them to also work in advanced victimhood as well but I think science might be a little specific. Else why are there different types of engineer majors?

Is a mechanical engineer really qualified to analyze a molecular biologist's work or comment on their peer review beyond spelling and grammar?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

113. Analyze? Maybe. Maybe not. Read and understand conclusions? Absolutely.

"Advanced victim hood"?

Never mind. I see what you are about.

[WinkyDink]

38. So he's one of those nutty geniuses.

[Cleita]

40. I once worked at UCLA and was acquainted with some of the most brilliant minds in the world

at that time. Yet when it came to common sense, my bird brained parakeet was smarter.

[rockfordfile]

41. Sometimes a person is a dumbass

A fascist supports a fascist not shocked. A terrible actor supports a terrible ceo not shocked. A republican fascist is a dumbass not shocked.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

43. And Ben Carson's a brilliant neurosurgeon.

Yet a complete dunce when it comes to politics.

Being smart doesn't always translate to smart politics.

[JI7]

49. james Watson also

And the chess guy

[spanone]

44. i guess that destroys the myth that folks with a high I.Q. are smart.

[killbotfactory]

50. It's hard to reason your way out of opinions you came to believe for stupid reasons. nt

[Rex]

52. Urban legends can be funny and sad at the same time.

James Woods is a funny and sad person, all I really feel for him now is pity.

[pnwmom]

58. The Stanford Binet and the Wechsler Intelligence Scales max out at 155-160.

Some people extrapolate the figures to get numbers that high, but it's all just guesswork.

(A friend of mine is a psychometrist and she just shakes her head when she hears numbers reported that are higher than this. The numbers of people above that level are so tiny the tests can't define them.)

[Rex]

61. Something else, I notice that people who brag about their extremely high IQ

never are able to produce results when called out.

[pnwmom]

64. I'm sure you've also noticed

the smartest people never talk about how smart they are.

[Rex]

74. True. nt

nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

79. Yeah, IQ is measuring "in the top x.y% of the population"

and at the extremes, there's no way to say a test has been able to sort people, even if you accept that what's measured is a permanent ability rather than how well they did on that test on that day.

For every 15 points above 100, it's one more standard deviation above the median, in a normal distribution. Most tables don't bother going as high as the 5.3 standard deviations that 180 represents, because the fraction involved is so small that it's meaningless in most real-world statistics. The fraction outside 5.3 sigma on both sides is 1 in ten million - so that's 1 in 20 million with a supposed IQ of 180 or above. So Woods is claiming he's one of the 16 most intelligent people in the USA.

160 is about 1 in 32,000. That is, as you say, about the believable limit of what tests might be able to measure. It would be the 10,000 most intelligent people in the USA.

[pnwmom]

89. Thanks for the explanation! Too bad Woods doesn't know how ridiculous he sounds.

But narcissists never do.

[name not needed]

60. "Scratch a liberal, find a fascist every time."

Seeing what this place turns into during primary season, he might have a point.

[pansypoo53219]

62. racsm makes you stupid. and too much money.

[pintobean]

63. Says who, his publicist?

[madville]

65. Politics aside, he was good in

"My Name is Bill W." Alongside James Gardner, I think he won the best actor Emmy for it.

[revmclaren]

67. I think the 180 IQ

is in dog years or something......

[Greybnk48]

72. Such nonsense. I've been hearing this for years now but

what has he ever done in the past 40 years that bears this out? Nothing. Ben Stein tries to push his intellect too, which is hilarious. Neither are stupid, but geniuses...hardly.

[Reter]

68. Well, he's technically supporting the most liberal Republican running out of like 17 candidates

So at least he's not for Trump.

[xmas74]

73. Supposedly this guy's IQ is 180+

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masi_Oka

His mother moved him to the U.S. when he was young because she felt they didn't offer enough programs for the exceptionally gifted child in Japan. Graduate of Brown and worked at ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) as a programmer before crossing over into acting. H worked on graphics for the Star Wars prequels. His work has been steady over the past several years in television, on Heroes, Hawaii 5-0 and the upcoming Heroes Reborn.

Most of all, he's a genius yet you never hear about him making douchebag comments. He always seems extremely polite and doesn't seem to make nasty comments about anyone.

[edhopper]

87. That's because he is from the future

and is here to save us.

[xmas74]

90. That's just Future Hiro

who should be Present Hiro in the new series.

Are you going to watch? It starts Thursday. I liked the first season and the second season before the strike. After that it was all a big mess. Maybe this will be better.

[edhopper]

93. Yes,Iam

I loved the first season, but it went downhill worse than Lost.
Hope it captures the first season.

[xmas74]

95. All the dropped storylines midseason

in S2 really lost me.

My daughter says we have to record it Thursday night while she's at practice.

[edhopper]

96. And keeping Silar as the perennial villian

got boring.

[xmas74]

100. He was fun in the beginning

but we really needed a change of pace after a couple of seasons.

New season of Doctor Who last night, Heroes Reborn this Thursday. Last season of Haven coming up, then Walking Dead and American Horror should all keep me busy for some time. OH, and Jessica Jones on Netflix by the end of the year. I like my sci-fi and comic book/superhero shows.

[edhopper]

111. Me as well

Gotham. Arrow, Flash, Shield, the new Supergirl...things have changed since the Wham! Pow! days.

[xmas74]

116. I notice the kid and I also see those kinds of movies at the theater.

We don't go for much else, since movies are not cheap. We are seeing the last Hunger Games in November, she is talking about camping out for Star Wars in December (depends on school and work but it won't be tents and waiting in line like she thinks. It'll be ordering tickets as soon as they go on sale for the midnight show). In February she has promised to be my Valentine's Day date for Deadpool. (She's not really a kid-she's a teenager. No way I'd take a kid to see Deadpool!)

She posted the entire list of when the Marvel movies are scheduled for release and has the list of when DC is releasing their movies on the refrigerator door. We're really looking forward to Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel and Black Panther. Oh, and Suicide Squad (come on-Harley Quinn!) and the second Guardians of the Galaxy. Who I am kidding-we'll see them all, we're just really looking forward to those movies.

[Half-Century Man]

76. Before reading the other responces I must point out...

Smart doesn't rule out crazy.
Smart doesn't rule out programmed.
Smart doesn't rule out evil.

Just saying.

[branford]

77. If there weren't so many very smart and successful people

who nevertheless said and did very stupid things, as a commercial litigation attorney, I would quickly run out of clients.

[treestar]

91. Yes.

Remember those two prisoners who escaped from a prison in New York. One of them was very smart. But also a criminal

[deutsey]

80. Often people who may be brilliant in one area

believe they must be brilliant in all areas.

I worked for someone who was a Harvard-trained M.D. and well-known (in some circles) scientist and medical researcher. I wouldn't deny his brilliance in his field. But he also thought of himself as some kind of Renaissance man, brilliant also in art, literature, psychology, etc., and he tried to pass himself off as this affable, down-to-earth guy.

In our working relationship, what really irritated me about him was he knew nothing about me personally, but he smugly believed he had me all figured out. He could also be quite petty behind that affable veneer of his and he wasn't above screwing with people's lives (which I know from direct experience when I had a better job opportunity and he used his connections to block it).

One of the best days of my life was when I told him I had another job and was leaving. It completely blind-sided him and he couldn't do anything to block it this time (it was far outside his realm of influence). I could tell it really irritated him that a non-Ivy League schmuck like me caught him so off guard and figuratively knocked him on his ass.

[treestar]

92. Definitely.

And the odd thing is, they had to do so much training for their field, you wonder why it does not occur to them that it's the same for others and therefore they should be aware of how little they know of other fields.

Reminds me of that saying that the more you know, the more you realize how much you don't know.

[YoungDemCA]

99. +1.

Good story.

[Warren DeMontague]

81. I'd speculate as to what might cause an otherwise intelligent person to sound so stupid

But i dont need any more lawsuits, thx

[madokie]

82. i guess old back woods madokie

really is back woods cause I have no idea who james woods is.

Amazing what not watching tv will do for a person

[Android3.14]

83. IQ is less of an advantage than people might think

[Inkfreak]

85. Some like to think Republicans are stupid.

They are not. Nor should they be treated as such and it is at our own peril to think it. There are smart people on the right who are actively trying bring about their ideas to fruition. Whether it's stifling women's rights or screwing over the working class in favor of the rich..they're not to be underestimated.

[Arkana]

94. Ben Carson's a book-smart guy too; doesn't mean his politics aren't bonkers.

[hunter]

97. "IQ" needs to be buried along with eugenics and a lot more early twentieth century crap & woo.

[YoungDemCA]

98. +1

Oh, so you have a high IQ. Congratulations on doing well on a test whose results find that wealthy, university-educated people are generally "smarter" than everyone else. Oh, and according to IQ tests, men tend to be smarter than women, and PoC and working class /poor people are generally not as bright as middle-class white people.

This is the kind of elitist, odious shit that Charles Murray promotes. (Pseudo) scientific racism, anyone?

Yuck.

[RufusTFirefly]

101. MIT's Howard Gardner argues that there are 8 types of intelligence

1. musical–rhythmic
   
2. visual–spatial
   
3. verbal–linguistic
   
4. logical–mathematical
   
5. bodily–kinesthetic
   
6. interpersonal
   
7. intrapersonal
   
8. naturalistic
   

Typical IQ tests only measure linguistic and logical-mathematical abilities.

Also, as far as I know, there is no reliable correlation between IQ and ethics or morality. In other words, you can be a genius and still be a deluded, self-serving, Machiavellian SOB.

(I realize I may have been redundant, but I didn't want to leave anything off!)

[6000eliot]

108. The fact that he's also a loon has to figure into the equation somewhere.

[Dont call me Shirley]

110. Looks like we're in for another amusing "Clint Eastwood moment". Ha!

[TexasBushwhacker]

115. When asked what his IQ was, Stephen Hawing said

"I have no idea. People who boast about their IQ are losers"