Member call out thread. :P Who's the smartest person here past or present?

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Oct 9, 1999
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I disagree about Ruby. She's definitely smart, but in my experience people who drop that sheer number of technical terms in everyday conversation are not as smart as they appear - they're just really good at appearing smart. I'm going for Dr Pizza.

who let the retard get on a keyboard?:hmm:
 

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
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If Davinci and Picasso conceived a baby and it was carried by surrogate in a drunken Ernest Hemingway the resulting baby would too awesome for one fetus.

The twin wonders of Spaceman and Nemesis1 would be offered to the world for us to behold.
 

Timorous

Golden Member
Oct 27, 2008
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Depends how you define smart.

From what I have read in the forums I frequent I would probably say Dr Pizza or IDC. The problem is you can define smart in many different ways. For me there are two main areas, one of which you can gauge on a forum and another that requires a closer relationship with the individual.

The two areas are ability to break down complex concepts or ideas into easier to understand concepts or ideas and the second is the ability to use knowledge in an interesting way by applying it to a scenario that they have not encountered before but still coming out with a positive result.

Some people have a great ability to store and retrieve information but you put them in a situation that they have not faced before and they can find it difficult to relate their existing knowledge base to the problem in front of them and these people I do not consider smart in the more traditional sense.
 

Possessed Freak

Diamond Member
Nov 4, 1999
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If I were to be on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and had at my disposal exactly one member of this forum, it would be... Rubycon.
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
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Oh, I see. I do think Dr. Pizza is very intelligent due to the fact he can break things down like you pointed out. Rubycon is a nerd. She doesn't know how to un-geek her speek. Many engineers can't do that.
I don't think it takes anything away from her. But I am awe struck with those with a great teaching ability like Dr. Pizza.
While I'm nowhere near her technical level, I do still encounter that - try to explain a technical thing to someone, and all the analogies or references I can think of on short notice would also require significant explanation.

"How does an LED work?"

"Well there's a p-n junction, and....the electrons.......Well, the atoms used make monochromatic light of a specific frequency.....
It makes green light."

"Oh, ok! Cool!"

P-n junction, electrons, atoms, monochromatic light, the fact that light has a frequency....yeah, that won't cut it. "It's green" is about all that some can handle. (I got to blow some minds once when I explained that radio waves are the same basic thing as light - EM radiation. At the same time, I also got to use the words "radiation" and "irradiated" a lot, and tried to dispel the notion that radiation=instant death.)



If they were so smart they would be saving the world and shit...
Saving the world, one nef at a time. :D
 
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Capt Caveman

Lifer
Jan 30, 2005
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Depends on the subject area. Some of the ones listed already, show high intelligence in particular areas but have made ignorant/unintelligent posts in other areas.
 

Chapbass

Diamond Member
May 31, 2004
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After spending some time in highly technical (reading, not posting obviously :p ), I've always been really impressed by Cyclowizard. Dude has some serious grasp on a lot of theory that I can only begin to comprehend.

I could see where a lot of people say Ruby, though. She definitely has been around some very serious hardware.
 

TridenT

Lifer
Sep 4, 2006
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it is absolutely not me

It is definitely not you.

It is definitely me.

Also, I think people who can use that highly technical jargon BUT explain things with good analogies and whatnot to those who are not as informed are definitely above those who can only speak in jargon. I seriously don't think it's a matter of intelligence with many of these topics but simply a matter of how much training, education, and informed the person is that really determines their quality. But their quality is only relevant to their field, and thus is just expertise... not intelligence.

A lot of these people who are informed about their field(Math, EE, CS, Med, etc.) will not suddenly be experts in all other fields. It would be stupid to think that just because one is a doctor that means that one is smart. Same for all fields that are held as "omfg you must be geniuz to dew dat".
 
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Gigantopithecus

Diamond Member
Dec 14, 2004
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Ruby knows enthusiast-level hardware. Pizza knows math and is exceptionally gifted at explaining it. Cyclowizard has an impressive grasp of physics and chemistry in particular. William Gaatjes is an extremely curious individual who picks up on explanations and asks smart follow-up questions.

And of course, I know evolution. :p
 

Gibsons

Lifer
Aug 14, 2001
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After spending some time in highly technical (reading, not posting obviously :p ), I've always been really impressed by Cyclowizard. Dude has some serious grasp on a lot of theory that I can only begin to comprehend.

I could see where a lot of people say Ruby, though. She definitely has been around some very serious hardware.

Cyclowizard knows a lot of chem/structure/materials stuff for sure.

I'm really surprised that I'm the only one (?) to mention pm though.