a number of noble prize winning scientists have had IQs that would not even qualify them for Mensa, an organization who’s members must have a measured IQ of at least 132, a number that put’s you in the upper 2 percentile of the population.
I think the vast majority of the Flynn effect was moving the bottom up, not moving the top up, so I don’t expect the Flynn effect to be super important here. Relevant quote from Wikipedia:
Some studies have found the gains of the Flynn effect to be particularly concentrated at the lower end of the distribution. Teasdale and Owen (1989), for example, found the effect primarily reduced the number of low-end scores, resulting in an increased number of moderately high scores, with no increase in very high scores.[15] In another study, two large samples of Spanish children were assessed with a 30-year gap. Comparison of the IQ distributions indicated that the mean IQ scores on the test had increased by 9.7 points (the Flynn effect), the gains were concentrated in the lower half of the distribution and negligible in the top half, and the gains gradually decreased as the IQ of the individuals increased.[16] Some studies have found a reverse Flynn effect with declining scores for those with high IQ.[17][13]
He gives three examples in the next paragraph: Richard Feynman (IQ: 126), James Watson (IQ: 124), and William Shockley (IQ: 125), all of whom are 20th century scientists. (All IQ are from Ericsson).
I remember seeing a thread on Less Wrong that started with someone hearing that Feynman had an IQ of 115, and being surprised, and then asking what’s up with that.
I can find the thread, now, but I remember mostly people saying that that number was false, and offering various explanations for why one might think that was Feynman’s IQ, including that the test in question was from his teen-aged years, and IQ often stabilizes later in life.
In any case, Feynman was named a Putnam Fellow (top five scorer) in 1939, which gives some context on his general mathematical ability (aside from being a ground-breaking, noble prize-winning, theoretical physicist).
Did he adjust for the Flynn effect?
I think the vast majority of the Flynn effect was moving the bottom up, not moving the top up, so I don’t expect the Flynn effect to be super important here. Relevant quote from Wikipedia:
Interesting, thanks.
I don’t know?
He gives three examples in the next paragraph: Richard Feynman (IQ: 126), James Watson (IQ: 124), and William Shockley (IQ: 125), all of whom are 20th century scientists. (All IQ are from Ericsson).
In the case of Feynman, I just don’t believe that his IQ was only 126.
I remembered gwern talking about this and found this comment on the subject: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1159719
I remember seeing a thread on Less Wrong that started with someone hearing that Feynman had an IQ of 115, and being surprised, and then asking what’s up with that.
I can find the thread, now, but I remember mostly people saying that that number was false, and offering various explanations for why one might think that was Feynman’s IQ, including that the test in question was from his teen-aged years, and IQ often stabilizes later in life.
In any case, Feynman was named a Putnam Fellow (top five scorer) in 1939, which gives some context on his general mathematical ability (aside from being a ground-breaking, noble prize-winning, theoretical physicist).