Why so many smart peoples on WP?

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In this thread http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt117620.html most of those who have answered fell in the "gifted" range. It didn't suprise me as I'd already suspected that a lot of people on wrong planet fell on it.
What I don't get is... why!? It's not only on Wrong Planet, this french asperger forum got the majority of it's menbers in the "gifted" range: http://www.aspergeraide.com/phpBB2/
How come? Maybe that asperger are "smarter" in general, but in this case it go way beyond waht we should expect statistically. So why aspergers going on aspies forum are (generally...) so smart?

1. I think people more inclined with computers are generally more intelligent.
2. People with lower IQ's are less inclined to say their IQ.

^^ I agree with the above. No one who suspects that their IQ will fail to make them look good is going to post the truth. They will either lie or not contribute to the thread at all. However there are people who have said that their IQ is in the average range and to me, I think that's the truth about most members here. Look at how many members there are and how many posted their IQ. If everyone who joined up to this site took a scientifically accurate IQ test and were honest about their results, there would be far less gifted people. Internet tests seem to inflate peoples scores anyway so don't take that thread too seriously.

I agree. I've taken many internet IQ tests and ended up with scores of 127, 140, 99, 105, etc.
My real IQ is above 90. That's what the psychologist at the university told me. So I am average I guess. My dyscalculia and ADD probably contribute to making my score lower. But whatever...average is better than less than average I guess.

My real IQ is 113 and I'm not afraid to admit that. I might be a dim light, compared to most WP members, but I'm not ashamed of that. I thought that an Internet IQ test score of 139 was too high to be true, for me anyways.

Aye, online tests are always considerably higher than actual IQ tests.

Last time I took an IQ test (a real one) I scored 117, while my online results are usually in the 130-140 region.

My IQ is supposedly in the 120's.

When I was younger I tested 165. Bunch of crap. The test just hit on all my strengths that was all. I usually test about 121.

So I don't believe in it.

I do think that Asp/Aut folks have a heightened sense and/or skill and their brain also over performs in that specific area. All we need to do is be aware of what that one thing is that our brains are so wrapped up in doing.

You hear about counters, memorizers, people with photographic memory, composers, writers etc.

But what of other talents that are never discovered. I wish there was a test for that.

Watched Temple Grandin's story her talent noticing animal behavior and environment combined with her brains ability to put these ideas into pics who would know that - lucky she came from a rural area...

I don't think Aspies, on average, are smarter than anyone else. I do feel that we process information differently, and tap into skills most NTs do not have. Because we have insight that not every NT has, I think we are percieved as being "smarter" and "gifted." Then again, "gifted" depends on who the giver is, and who's standards gifted applies to.

I think aspergers people being intelligent is quite common, often laymans who are NT don't have social problems because they aren't deep thinkers.

But aspergers doesn't ensure someone is smart. I've known several dumb sh*ts with aspergers. Maybe they are intelligent deep down but they act really stupid.

Firstly, we don't know how many of the respondents are answering truthfully (or at least in a fully informed way)

Secondly it seems to be an established fact that those with AS have IQs that are average or above average.

This means that the AVERAGE IQ for those with AS must be higher than 100, perhaps considerably higher.

I also suspect that our 'bell curve' (if it applies to us at all) may not follow the same distribution as the general population, of which those with AS represent less than 1%.

Our 'curve' could be distributed with a 'fatter tail' on the right hand side.

If 'gifted' is the term that is applied to the top 10% (with an IQ above 115 (US) and presumably around 124 on the Mensa scale, (half way between the mean score in the general population and the Mensa entry level) then since we are already mostly distributed in the right hand side of the general population 'bell curve' it doesn't seem unreasonable that our average IQ is closer to the top 10%

Genius seems to be reserved for an IQ of 150 (US) which I think is around 180 on the Mensa scale.

I barely qualify for Mensa entry with a Mensa score of 149 (131: US scale)

Oh, I think it's also worthy of mention that I think a more normal distribution of IQ's would be present if you were tallying all people with autism, not just mostly aspies.

I think "gifted" are the top 2% (IQ > 130).

If the "giftdness" in AS was simply a question of excluding people with mental retardation (other 2%) of the diagnosis, the share of "gifteds" within AS should be 2,04% (2/(100-2)), in practice undistinguishimble of the general population.

Probably it is more a case of inteligent people being over-represented in internet forums.

Thanks for reminding me about the gifted threshold.

I should remember this as it is also the threshold that Mensa uses and I am very borderline gifted at 131

I think the 10% or 15% threshold is what is some consider necessary for a enrollment on Undergraduate programs.

I think it's likely that Aspies generally do more in-depth pondering than NTs, which might be expected to lead to us having a stronger intellectual grasp of life, the universe, and all that, possibly at the expense of an emotional grasp on things. Possibly it's similar to the way a blind person is likely to have better hearing than a sighted person.

But I don't know if it would show up on IQ tests. I've heard that the typical Aspie performance on IQ tests is to score brilliantly in some areas and very poorly on others. Also there are some questions on IQ tests that look so daft and boring that I can hardly bear to attempt them....I think Aspies have a much greater problem doing anything that doesn't particularly interest them. I've only ever completed one IQ test, as I have a low opinion of the usefulness of the concept of IQ (why would anybody want to reduce the myriads of different human mental powers to a single number, unless they're trying to create a pseudo-meriitocracy?), and that one was an online one, and I got a high score, which impressed me so little that I've forgotten the number.

Spectrum-wise its like we are in tuned with a need to know what ever our intense focus is at the time...