Who is smarter on average? Men, Or Women?

[Anonymous]

A simple question. Who do you think is smarter? Take every facet of reason into consideration? Human interests, history, the way they tackle the world. Anything that comes to mind really.

Which gender has a more powerful brain?

(Yes, I'm asking you to make a generalisation. Don't get buthurt.)

PS. Don't give me that it's a "different type of intelligence" nonsense. Just think that if you encompass all world's problems, who would you give them to first?

Men

Women

They're equal

[EyeSeaYew]

Definition of smart: "characterized by sharp quick thought."
Definition of intelligence: "capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar forms of mental activity."

Smart and intelligent are often used interchangeably, but they're actually different. Intelligence for starters is something you're born with, and not something you can increase. Intelligence is how big of a capacity you have for certain forms of mental activity such as how to work out a complex problem. Men in general are often of higher intelligence than women. I know plenty of guys who have genius-level IQs. Many women just have slightly to moderately above average IQs.

You can be an intelligent genius and not be smart, though, just as you can be very smart with average intelligence. Smart is more about being good at identifying good choices. Smart is hand in hand with having good common sense. The same genius guys I mentioned above severely lack in common sense. Whereas most of the average to moderately above average IQ women I know have a heck of a lot of common sense and smarts.

That being said, I feel women in general are smarter than men. Men in general are of higher intelligence than women. Both have their pros and cons. Intelligence isn't better than smarts and vice versa. They both just are what they are.

[rthomas43]

I like this post.

[Asker]

I disagree with the idea that people with higher intelligence will be less smart. There is not reason for that, and people with higher intelligence capacities show and have more aptitude to grasp common sense. If you claim men are more intelligent, you have no basis on which to claim women are smarter.

[EyeSeaYew]

Didn't say that people of higher intelligence are automatically going to lack in the common sense department, just as having high common sense doesn't mean you have a low IQ.

Definition of common sense: "good sense and sound judgment in practical matters."
Many geniuses who are wonderful at figuring out complex things, are not good at making sensible, practical decisions on simple matters. That's just how it is. Some people, although they are so intelligent, can be convinced of ridiculous things if you present it to them in a seemingly complex and logical way. Because they're not very smart. And that describes each and every single genius I know. My father and several of my closest guy friends included. They're so used to thinking in a complex manner than when simple, practical decision making is needed, they have a hard time thinking on that level.

[Asker]

Wrong.

Common sense has nothing to do with simplistic thinking, practicality, or decision making ability.

Common sense is an ability to clearly see what is, and to use logic without making mistakes to process it. It's about being clear with your thoughts and observations and about being consistent.

[EyeSeaYew]

It obviously does, since that is literally the definition of it xD

[molan]

True, although is common English smart is use synonymous as intelligence.

[darkfoxjj]

Women are without a doubt (in my opinion) smarter in social situations.

[wölfin-fräulein]

men are more intelligent. it was men who created the history mainly, who were all our scientists? artists? who built the very definition of science? Men. though that does not mean women are not smart or necessarily less intelligent. but the ways of thinking are different. as the brain structures and the ways of working are different to a point.

This may seem a bit out of topic, is about autism sex and science. but autism here is considered the extreme of the male mind, and Simon Baron-Cohen does say some good points about men and women differences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEYy1GXaNNY

[Tokana]

After reading your questions and some of your opinions on this siteI have to ask you to do mankind a favour and please don't reproduce. You look like a hipster but think like Bill O'Reilly.

[wölfin-fräulein]

"that does not mean women are not smart or necessarily less intelligent. but the ways of thinking are different."

I don't know about the questions, and about reproduction it is my own business, I try not to consider your insult as it is a result of a typical misunderstanding.

but about this question, read again. it seems you didn't quite read what I have said. Men in general have slightly higher IQs. though the real challenge is in science related fields when boys over populate women in every field. and in the last 50 years with all the freedom there wasn't any major difference in higher places of scientific societies. that does not necessarily mean that women do not have the ability, but more that they do not have the inclination. and again as they are not attracted to some fields they are attracted to other ones, mostly working with feelings and memory instead of solid analysis.

[wölfin-fräulein]

as a woman I do not care about gender. women have all the chance now. I would like to see a Steve Jobs coming out of our gender in such situation as him.

[TheSnarkKnight]

There were female poets and writers. They're literature was published after they died because men reused to publish anything written by a woman. Smarter women were often used for making medicine and often accused of witchcraft. In history, men weren't as accepting of successful women as they are now. I'd say they are pretty much equal in intelligence.

[feral_shade]

It's difficult to gauge in terms of comparable behavior. Even between individuals of the same sex, they've yet to devise an effective IQ test.

There are some minor fundamental differences in the respective neural architectures that notably impact cognitive performance, such as tissue density. Logically, one can conclude that, barring social influences, if a brain has the capacity to think more efficiently, then the owner of said brain is generally smarter. In this case, that would be women.

[front2back]

Intelligence is more of an ididvidual thing than a sex thing. Also, there's so many ways to define intelligence that saying one sex is smarter than the other is misleading. Smarter at what? Math? Science? Social relationships? Comedy? Parenting? Sports? Finances? Hosting a party? The list goes on.

Some say that because women mature faster than men it makes them smarter. Maturity doesn't have anything to do with intelligence, although they do intertwine a little bit. Maturity is based on moving from dependence to independence to interdependence. Most of that can be achieved without laying a hand on a textbook.

Also, dorm say men are smarter because men make up the majority of highly difficult fields. Sciences, Engineering and Mathematics degrees are overflowing with men and only a marginal amount of women. But you can be smart and not get a degree in a STEM field. Just because someone becomes a teacher instead of a telescope engineer doesn't mean they're dumb. It's a different passion.

So overall, I'd say it can only logically be equal. There's too many variables and perspectives to consider one sex "smarter" than the other.

[Anonymous]

The answer is quite obvious you know this :). Also of course everyone should be treated as equals at the end of the day regardless of who is smarter.

[dupe666]

Men are definitely smarter.

And in fact I find it to be a judge of intelligence whether woman is capable of seeing that (it takes smarts to know what smart is) and whether she is intellectually honest enough to admit it. It's a good tool for guys to asses girls in fact. Just ask a woman this question on the first date and you'll know what overall level of intelligence you're dealing with.

[jointhepatriarchy]

You have a very good point.

[jointhepatriarchy]

Men. We have to work harder to please women than vice versa. We also work more dangerous jobs where being stupid means getting killed. Women mostly work as bank tellers, cashiers, waitresses, etc. And I can't tell you how many times I've gotten the wrong amount of money back, or got the wrong order. If I made careless mistakes like that at work me or someone else would get killed, or we'd have thousands of dollars worth of machinery tore up. So men are smarter out of necessity. Stupid men mostly get killed off or weeded out of the gene pool. A woman can be dumb as a brick but still get a rich man to provide for her and her offspring if she's fairly attractive.

[cavmanier]

No one knows and there isn't one criteria for intelligence. Many disciplines will look at intelligence in different ways. Without a clear definition there is little point for debate. Obviously peoples strengths vary depending on the individual greater than the sex. Objectively men do have 10% larger brains on average (this is why Bruce Bochy is a genius, size 8.5 hat), but I don't think that necessarily makes them smarter.

[molan]

There is a standard IQ measurement uses world wide.

[cavmanier]

@molan Which is based on one disciplines arbitrary criteria, and even that test can't measure whether it's learned knowledge or innate ability and it can't rule out environmental factors such as stress, attention, concentration, fatigue among thousands of other things which play huge roles in test taking scores.

[molan]

True indeed, however you said "there isn't one criteria for intelligence" and that is partly untrue, as I said, there is this admittedly arbitrary, but still standardised IQ measurement methods.

However as you've said, true intelligence has a wider definition that regular IQ. But even regular IQ does exclude knowledge and culture as benign part of the measurement. Take Mensa's IQ test, it's culture and knowledge independent.

Stress, attention, concentration and fatigue always matter of course.

[cavmanier]

@molan I'm kind of tired right now and even busy but what I mean is there isn't one kind of intelligence. Intelligence isn't objective like measuring a line or a volume of water. We're good at different things which that topic can even be complicated beyond the 1k gag character limit. So I don't agree with IQ tests as a benchmark.

Even if we did try to measure sometimes ability at something like math they even have strengths and weakness within that narrow subject. So how do you rank that person? Do you average their overall cumulative ability or break down each area and rank each separately? (Say I'm great with fractions but horrible with division)

I said nothing of culture but I believe the routine you have ingrained started by patents means so much for perception and concentration which I think are important for a good mind personally. No one has a right answer to this question she asked imo.

[molan]

@Opinion Owner

The short response is, I agree with you I know your are right.

We can't objectively compare intelligence (there is 9 types of intelligence to my knowledge).

But the closest thing we got, it the logical/mathematical unified standard of IQ measurement.

Of course as you said, in truth one has a right answer to this question since it doesn't exists.

[Anonymous]

I honestly think women are. That's why nobody blinks an eye when we date older guys but its outrageous for a guy to date an older woman.

Mentally and emotionally a girl at 18-20 can be on the same level as a 30 and way above guys her own age. I date guys 10+ years older then me (I am 19 and currently seeing a 30 y/o)/just because its easier to connect. Plus better sex but I digrees;)

[Asker]

Young girls of 16 get turned on by college guys. Does that mean they're smart?

[Opinion Owner]

I think it means they're thinking ahead if guys their age, yes:)

[rthomas43]

Your reasoning behind why you think women are smarter is not a very good testament to the whole idea of women being smarter.

[Opinion Owner]

@rthomas43 I guess we just see intelligence differently. I'm talking more about maturity level and critical thinking skills... men are are just generally more behind on that it feels like.

[Asker]

I agree with @rthomas43

[rthomas43]

Men are lacking when it comes to critical thinking? You've just lost all credibility.

[Opinion Owner]

@rthomas43 lmao, well I mean in the end these are all sweeping generalizations anyway. In *my* experience guys take forever to mature, so its hard for me to talk to most my age. Most other girls I know say the same thing..

[rthomas43]

Fun fact. Most girls between the ages of 14-22 think they are more mature than they really are.

[molan]

I fail to see the relation to smartness or IQ in this?

[Janoside89]

I feel a need to interject here. The rate and starting point of development is not an indication of mental capacity, simply where their physical features (brain included) are along the line of development.

That being said, on average, women hit puberty earlier in life than men do. Puberty is where the brain begins taking on adult features. If you're basing how smart someone is based on when they hit puberty, what do you think of those late bloomers who don't hit puberty till 15 years old, or even later? There is a medical condition that prevents the sufferers from ever hitting puberty, at all. What do you think of them?

[rjroy3]

I think it's funny that we compare intelligence, to maturity as if it mattered. Go to an advanced placement middle school. Little geniuses all over the place. More than half are highly immature.

[molan]

Don't guess, read:

www.psychologytoday.com/.../men-women-and-iq-setting-the-record-straight

and

www.forbes.com/.../

[Asker]

Thanks.

[jointhepatriarchy]

I tried reading the first one and it had feminist propaganda written all over it. "Women have been stupider for the past 10,000 years, but it's because those meany face men were keeping us oppressed with their evil penises. In a few years we'll be smarter than men! Just wait and see!" I know it wasn't worded like that, but it's how it came across to me. Never mind the fact that for HUNDREDS of years women have dominated education and made up the majority of school teachers...

[molan]

@jointhepatriarchy

The difference in score is completely insignificant. We have only use the IQ for about 100 years or so, so we can't possibly know how it was 10.000 years ago.

So your conclusions are all wrong.

[jointhepatriarchy]

We know damn well men have been smarter than women for pretty much all of written history. Nearly every invention or discovery was made by men with few exceptions. And men purposely embellish those exceptions and downplay any male contribution in order to boost the self-esteem of women. Just look at Joan of Arc. She never wielded a sword but we revere her as some kind of war hero when she was really just a cheerleader waving a battle standard around and screaming like a lunatic. History channel even pretended she could beat William the Conqueror in one on one melee combat to pander to women. Even with the war on boys going on in education for the past half a century men are still surpassing women intellectually. Anyone who thinks women are smarter than men is delusional.

[HeyJustBeingMe]

Woman bigger brain in size. However there are things most woman can't do well because they miss something in their brain and a man can do those thingflawless.
So if i had to vote whos brain is bigger id choose woman. But this is about smarter. Id still choose woman.

[molan]

False, men have the bigger brain size, but that doesn't translate into higher IQ.

"However there are things most woman can't do well because they miss something in their brain and a man can do those thingflawless" really like what?

[222fallguy2]

The only woman with a larger brain gave this awesome answer an up vote lol

[HeyJustBeingMe]

Haha yea i forgot it was the other way around my god.. i am such a fool sometimes.

[JustinCaseUDontKnow]

I'm smarter as a male cause I don't give into females
to use me for sex than tell me bye i want something
real in life like marriage why do these girls let guys talk
them into having sex just makes me wonder why can't
a couple have love, romance, share kisses, hold hands
cuddling without anything sexual happening yes i agree
both males and females are equal

[CommieDearest]

You're telling me to make a generalization on something that shouldn't be generalized. Some men are smart, some women are smart. Generally, they do have different inclinations to be better at different things, but apparently I'm not allowed to say that either haha.

[rjroy3]

Men.
The make of the majority of Inventors, scientists, government and everything that made up our society. One could reason it's because women's rights, but that's not the question. The question was an average, therefore numbers. And numerically speaking, there have been more proven intelligent men than women. 2000 years from now, maybe that changes.

[Janoside89]

It depends on what you are calling "smart." Men tent to be more mathematical and logic oriented, while women tend to have a much stronger understanding of emotions and better communication skills.

[molan]

indeed.

[darkfoxjj]

I don't get why women are supposed to be better emotionally and communication wise? Because I dont think that's true.

Women never say what they mean directly - personally I think that is a very confusing thing. It takes EXTRA effort and time to decode the meaning of everything.
Are they more fun to communicate with because of this? Definitely.

Stronger understanding of emotions can be argued against too. They do talk more freely about them, which is GREAT.

[Janoside89]

It's not that women are SUPPOSED to have a better understanding of emotions and communication. This is merely an average. There are women who are more logic oriented, and there are men who are more emotion oriented. The most significant reason for this, that I am aware of, is that the part of the brain that connects the 2 sides is thicker and more rich in women (again, this is an average).

You say that women don't say exactly what they mean. You're not the only man with this issue. On the other hand, women tend to understand each other, and even men, just fine. This is because women tend to be more socially oriented and talk with their friends more than men. This leads to them communicating with more than mere words, but tones, minor body language, facial expressions, reading-between-the-lines, subtle hints and suggestions, and I'm sure that there are other things that I can't think of at the moment.

[Aristotle]

Men have a higher IQ, women have a higher EQ. Both genders are better and faster at different things. Women kick our ass in education though, more are accepted into university. Mainly cause guys are lazy as fuck in general, whereas women are usually extremely organized.

[RichardBoehner]

at least when it comes to history, women fail miserably

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqNgqSVTVEM

[RichardBoehner]

If you asked me who to give all the worlds problems too i would also say men. not because women are dumber per se but because men are more prone to fixing problems and women are more prone to complaining about them and expecting people to listen for hours about their feelings on the matter rather than actually doing something.

[molan]

IQ and knowledge is NOT the same.

See the dumb American you-tube videos as well.

[Anonymous]

Men are smarter by a small ( imperceptible margin - like 0.1-0.2% ).
This may be due to errors in the test.

Men have more brain mass, however women use their smaller brains BETTER than men.
If women had brains as big as men, they would be smarter.

The answer "equally" is pretty accurate since every gender is SPECIALIZED for different things.
Women have "emotional intelligence" off the charts.
Men are better with logic and spatial reasoning, perhaps due to our "hunter" ancestry.

[Univerise]

My experience with women goes strongly against your emotional intelligence hypothesis.

[Opinion Owner]

Meaning?

[Univerise]

What else needs to be expained? I'm simply providing my anecdotal observations

[Opinion Owner]

And as you all know rarely consist accurate data for such a study.
It is - as you adequately put it - "anecdotal" and biased by your own emotions.

[DodgersGM]

They're of equal overall intellect, with each gender having the potential for strength in areas where the other might not be quite as strong.

[molan]

True indeed.

[Univerise]

elaborate?

[DodgersGM]

@Universe: basically, this: www.sciencedaily.com/.../050121100142.htm

It's an interesting read, actually. Worth checking out. :-)

[DodgersGM]

@Univerise (woops)

[why_not_anonymous]

Average is misleading. Average is the same. But men have the higher variability, which means more geniuses and more severely retarded. So that averages out the same as women who have less variability.

So, who's smarter? On average, nobody.

[FlyingTurtle]

On average? I don't think there's a significant difference, but I heard somewhere in America women had a slightly higher college graduation rate than men, if that means anything about intelligence.

[Asker]

Nope.

[cavmanier]

College graduation as a benchmark 😕

[StickStickity13]

Most of the world's greatest scientists and great minds where men.

[UberTroll]

A lot of that had to do with women being subjugated throughout history though.

[StickStickity13]

Even today

[Asker]

@UberTroll no one stopped women from inventing, no one is stopping them today. I'm sorry but that bit of feminist propaganda is utterly ridiculous.

[UberTroll]

It's definitely much easier today than it was in previous centuries, but it's still a bit of a problem. And if you think nobody was stopping them 500+ years ago then you haven't been paying much attention to history.

[WhaChaChaKing]

I think they have proven the average woman has an IQ higher than the average man. A larger majority of women are of average IQ while men have more above average and below. I don't remember where I found the study but I think that's what it said.

[FurtileSpermRelease]

Men are smarter, women are just a bunch of dumb broads

[TheSnarkKnight]

Says the idiot who can't even put a period at the end of his sentence.

[FurtileSpermRelease]

And we allllll know that placing periods at the END of a SENTENCE is indicative of genius we are.

[Roarke]

bulfuck you... men are philosophical, women prone to action. collectively that adds up to intelligent progress. Period.

[KBob93]

It's the other way around. Men are prone to action.

[Roarke]

i don't give a shit.. it still adds up.

[Asker]

@KBob93 but women aren't more philosophical.