Poll: How smart are you?

Re:Poll: How smart are you? by misterbwong on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @01:19PM (#129831)

Not wanting to threadcrap, but what is the point of this poll? Are you compiling these stats for something?

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by curi on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @01:25PM (#129839)

To see if the results come out heavily skewed or not.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by Xichekolas on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @01:37PM (#129849)

Like the experiment that shows that most people consider themselves to be above average?

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by ardit33 on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @02:06PM (#129881)

smarter people are probably more likeley to say "average" as they are more likely to know their limits, while clueless people don't know their limit, hence they think they are better than everybody else.

Kinda odd, like that experiment where good students rated themselves as average, while crappy students rated themselves as better.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by kennon on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @02:56PM (#129928)

Right, and then you could argue that people who actually think of themselves as "smart" will know of such experiments, and will thus rate themselves as "average," knowing that such a label actually indicates that they really are smart.

So basically this kind of survey says very little at all.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by mixmax on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @03:33PM (#129967)

The parent link is actually referring to an established study in behavioral economics. It is extremely interesting to learn how the human mind is sometimes way off in relation to reality.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by misterbwong on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @03:02PM (#129935)

Just a thought. Couldn't a user that is below average who thinks he is above average take this fact as a cue to vote as average to show that he is above average? Wouldn't it then skew the above-average-average-voters downwards?

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by curi on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @01:42PM (#129853)

Yes, well, it could have been like that, but "exactly average" has taken the lead...

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by mrtron on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @01:44PM (#129857)

This sort of poll is why I think polls should have to be pre-approved by an editor, or something of that sort.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by moog on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @03:05PM (#129938)

I think you should pay for them in karma points. 50-100 would do it. New members can still register and 'Ask YC', so they won't be penalised too much.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by curi on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @03:15PM (#129950)

If you do that, please let people make polls as long as it won't reduce their karma below 1. What's the point of money if you can't spend all of it?

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by mrtron on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @03:38PM (#129978)

Give users the ability to post a poll every 100 points?

For existing users, just give them (karma mod 100) points, or don't do this to prevent the flood of new polls from occurring.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by curi on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @02:00PM (#129877)

Can I be an editor? I voted that I'm in the top 5%.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by Electro on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @02:27PM (#129898)

Sorry, but people in power are rarely in the top 5% in intelligence. However, if it was popularity then sure! Everybody loves a pretty face.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by Xichekolas on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @03:36PM (#129974)

I think you missed the irony. The fact that he voted himself in the top 5% almost ensures that he is in fact not (according to the original study... assuming I remember correctly)... so he would make a great Editor!

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by curi on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @02:59PM (#129931)

If only you were in the top 5% you would have noticed I was joking ;p

Edit: Oh come on. He's saying an editor would have blocked this poll. I posted the poll so I should be disqualified, but suggested that I be an editor. And based that on my own arrogant self-evaluation from within the poll that a good editor would (apparently) have blocked. And I didn't even say I am in the top 5%, only that I voted that way, which is a ridiculous way to assert intelligence.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by pg on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @01:18PM (#129829)

This could produce misleading results if there is a difference between voters and lurkers, because voters are only a few percent of visitors.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by brlewis on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @01:27PM (#129843)

Pointing out a single aspect of this poll that "could produce misleading results" is a form of humor so subtle that only the smartest 5% of news.yc readers will get it.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by emacdona on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @02:23PM (#129896)

Actually, I laughed at your (less subtle) comment.

I did not laugh at the one to which you replied, which is allegedly more subtle, though I could only know that if I was in the top 5%. I didn't find it funny, ergo I am not in the top 5%. I guess I'll vote "average".

Well, at least that's settled.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by Xichekolas on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @02:33PM (#129907)

I voted for every option... everyone has good and bad days.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by ph0rque on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @02:30PM (#129903)

can you explain it for the other 95% of us ;~) ?

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by brlewis on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @02:56PM (#129927)

This poll is uniquely distorted by the multitude of different reasons people might have for not voting, or for voting a certain way.

Ideally, "I'm going with my gut" as curi asked.

Sometimes "I'm a confident winner, so I'm voting top 5%"

Sometimes "It would be arrogant to vote above average; I'll vote average."

Sometimes "This poll is dumb. I usually vote but I'll lurk."

Sometimes "This poll is hilarious. I usually lurk but I'll vote."

Sometimes "This poll is so dumb I'm voting bottom 5% just because I considered voting in it."

Sometimes "I'll vote for all options; everybody has good/bad days."

Sometimes "Can you really vote more than one? Let me try..."

For pg to casually mention a source of error that applies to all news.yc polls is like walking up to someone who's been splattered head to toe by a passing truck and saying, "You've got something next to your mouth, right there."

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by ph0rque on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @09:31PM (#130226)

Thanks, but I was going for subtle sarcasm...

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by brlewis on Thursday March 06, 2008 @08:28AM (#130524)

Oh. I think only the top 3% got it. ;-)

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by mixmax on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @03:36PM (#129973)

If the votes are accurate, which of course they must be, then voters are smarter than lurkers.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by curi on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @04:06PM (#130007)

No, you don't get it at all. Voters in my poll are smarter than people who don't vote in my polls.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by Prrometheus on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @01:18PM (#129830)

I really don’t know how to compare myself to YC readers. I imagine the population is quite intelligent, and I am quite intelligent as well. I guess that I would be within a standard deviation of the mean.

Didn’t vote.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by curi on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @01:19PM (#129833)

Don't let that stop you. The rest of us don't know how to compare either.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by lackbeard on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @04:59PM (#130042)

Add an "I don't know" option. I would pick that.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by comatose_kid on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @02:02PM (#129878)

Rushing off to create a new poll: "How smart does your mother think you are?"

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by pchristensen on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @01:37PM (#129851)

Dang, this is no fun. It mostly fits a bell curve. Normally if you ask this, you'll get like 75-90% of people saying they're above average ("How good of a driver are you?" is a classic).

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by mixmax on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @03:39PM (#129980)

I think the problem is that the voters are smart enough to know the statistical classification for this kind of poll and vote accordingly to plug the holes.

So in this poll I'm pretty dumb.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by curi on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @01:47PM (#129863)

Maybe news.yc readers are above average, compared to those other people :)

Or maybe they have heard about those other results and are intentionally voting for underrepresented options to make the poll come out less ridiculous.

Or maybe voter/lurker bias is the real problem ;)

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by apgwoz on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @01:10PM (#129818)

Can't I be just be the average news.yc reader?

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by curi on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @01:17PM (#129827)

Choice added.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by asmosoinio on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @03:43PM (#129982)

I'll vote whatever this guys votes:

http://dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/images/dilbert2008...

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by ilitirit on Thursday March 06, 2008 @05:35AM (#130475)

Where is the "Smartest person on YC" option?

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by DaniFong on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @06:49PM (#130114)

Betcha the poll would have come out different had you hidden the results as you took them.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by cedsav on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @02:40PM (#129915)

Voted bottom 5% (must not be that smart since I don't understand the point of the poll)

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by socratees on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @01:26PM (#129842)

How do we compare? What's the metric? - I guess this poll needs to be more specific.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by mhb on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @02:00PM (#129876)

On which metric did you base your answer?

1) gut feeling

2) SAT score

3) GRE score

4) other standardized test

5) none of the above

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by moog on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @03:08PM (#129943)

6) Escaped from Colditz POW camp twice?

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by bootload on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @04:11PM (#130012)

"... 6) Escaped from Colditz POW camp twice? ..."

7) Escaped from Colditz POW ... in a glider?

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by curi on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @01:45PM (#129861)

Go with your gut feeling.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by sammyo on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @02:44PM (#129918)

Lie liberally.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by ivankirigin on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @02:35PM (#129908)

I'm from Lake Wobegon, so I know I'm smarter than average. Like everyone else.

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by edu on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @06:08PM (#130087)

The average is not a good reference! Median for president!

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by raghus on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @02:12PM (#129887)

Lake YC-gon: where all the readers are above average

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Re:Poll: How smart are you? by rokhayakebe on Wednesday March 05, 2008 @01:53PM (#129867)

what is "smart"? and please do not give me a link to wikipedia.

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