Paulhus et al. (2002) posed a question in a survey in the United States to ask people to list the top 5 people that they considered to be intelligent. After the results had been compiled, this was the top 10 list of people considered to be intelligent by the general public (in order):

  1. Einstein
  2. Bill Gates
  3. Bill Clinton
  4. Stephen Hawking
  5. Isaac Newton
  6. Shakespeare
  7. Darwin
  8. Beethoven
  9. Oprah Winfrey
  10. Madonna

See, I learn things in psychology. Like, Madonna is considered intelligent enough to grace a top 10 list with the likes of Einstein, Newton, Darwin and Beethoven. But personally, I wouldn’t have put Shakespeare down. Sure, he wrote a lot, but a lot of his stories were basically copied from his contemporaries. Besides, he even spelled his own name differently depending on which work you’re looking at.

3 Responses

  1. Maybe people sometimes confuse talent with intelligence?
    Idk, there’s an argument for Madonna’s intelligence. But if her intelligence has to be argued, she shouldn’t be on this list.

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