Are you smarter than me?

[scottie]

Thanks wals.

And to discuss the result of the thread.

Obviously, it was pretty predictable that the yes answer would win - people think that they are above average drivers for no good reason, why not smarter too?

Additionally, it is probably the case that people who think they are smart (or are smart) are more likely to enter this thread.

Furthermore, there are very few people who are good at everything. I myself can pick up maths, physics and programming very quickly, but struggle with anything to do with music - If I were to meet Mozart, I would be thinking: "I am much better at maths than him, and maths is clearly a better indicator of intelligence than music, therefore I am smarter than him." While he would be thinking of himself as smarter than me because music is clearly a better indicator of intelligence. We tend to rate more highly the importance of things we are good at (and be good at the things we rate as more important).

Amusingly enough, when people are asked about how good they are at not being biased about things, most people will rate themselves as above average.