Why the High-IQ Comedian Struggled While the Lower-IQ One Became a Star—The Limits of Measuring Human Ability with One Number
Many years ago, I watched a television variety show that measured the IQs of the two members of a popular comedy duo.
One was a major star who appeared on television constantly. This comedian could host shows, carry conversations, and instantly turn an unexpected question into a joke.
The other, with all due respect, was rarely seen unless he was with his partner.
But their IQ results were the exact opposite of what their careers might suggest.
The star scored 95. The other comedian scored 125.
Because this was a television segment, the results cannot be treated as equivalent to a formal intelligence assessment. Even so, the reversal was fascinating.
In the real world of entertainment, IQ 125 was losing decisively to IQ 95.
What does it actually mean to be intelligent?
What IQ 125 Cannot Do
When I watch a successful comedian at work, I cannot believe that someone unintelligent could do the job.
The comedian does not know what a fellow performer will say. If someone suddenly turns to them, they must understand the intention within seconds, judge their relationship with the other person, read the atmosphere, and determine what is acceptable on television.
Then they have to make people laugh.
They do all of this almost in real time.
While an ordinary office worker might freeze and say, “Well…” after being asked for an unexpected opinion in a meeting, a successful comedian would already have produced several laughs.
So this should be the first question we ask:
Does an IQ test really measure every form of human intelligence?
IQ Measures the Abilities That IQ Tests Can Measure
When we hear that someone has an IQ of 150, we automatically form an image of an extraordinarily intelligent person.
But intelligence tests do not measure every human ability.
They measure cognitive abilities defined by the test, such as verbal comprehension, reasoning, working memory, and processing speed.
No matter how exceptional an ability may be, it earns no points if it is not included in the measurement.
A 100-meter sprint tells us nothing about how fast someone can swim. A bench press tells us nothing about how well someone can play baseball.
Yet IQ is somehow treated as though it were a numerical measurement of human intelligence itself.
We Begin to Believe That Measurable Things Are Important
This is where the subject becomes even more interesting.
People do not merely measure what matters. We also begin to believe that whatever can be measured must matter.
In school, it may be standardized academic scores. In business, revenue. On social media, follower counts. For intelligence, IQ.
Once something becomes a number, it can be compared. Once it can be compared, it can be ranked.
Between IQ 130 and IQ 100, 130 wins. Between an academic score of 70 and one of 50, 70 wins.
People love simple hierarchies like these.
The problem is that abilities that cannot be reduced to numbers begin to be treated as though they do not exist.
Consider someone with an IQ of 125 who struggles with conversation, and someone with an IQ of 95 who can instantly read a room of 100 people and make them roar with laughter.
Put only the numbers side by side, and the person with 125 is still labeled “the intelligent one.”
That is an extraordinarily crude conclusion.
The Problem Is Not IQ but People Who Trust Numbers Too Much
Of course, IQ tests have value.
They measure particular cognitive abilities and can help assess intellectual disabilities and determine appropriate education and support.
The tool is not the problem.
The problem is people arbitrarily expanding the range of what the tool is supposed to measure.
A thermometer is useful. But a reading of 36.5°C does not mean, “Your health score is 100 out of 100.”
It measured only body temperature.
IQ is the same.
Yet once people see a single number, they try to use it to infer personality, talent, job performance, and future potential.
People are greedier than the measuring instrument.
When there is a large gap between a test result and someone’s performance in the real world, we should ask what the number measures and what it leaves out.
Believing that one number is enough to understand a human being is, ironically, the behavior that should make us question someone’s intelligence most of all.