Ask A Genius 1044: On ‘Smartest Man in the World’ and ‘Longevity’ Claims
Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2024/07/28
Rick Rosner, American Comedy Writer, www.rickrosner.org
Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Independent Journalist, www.in-sightpublishing.com
*Updated July 30, 2024, based on minor new information.*
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Someone else [Ed. He did want name mentioned: Thor Fabian Petterson.] mentioned in passing: If you’re the ‘smartest man in the world,’ you should be able to solve certain things, like their theory. They read the Life Extension Foundation magazine interview, so figured time is ticking! As you, and I, noted in “Ask A Genius 1042: The Matthew Scillitani Session,” everything should be taken with skepticism, especially the more grand the claim, oe.g., health and intelligence claims. As far as I can tell, in our relationship, I tend to be more firm on the skepticism. I’ve been skeptical of any claim to being the smartest in the world, including, maybe especially, friends and/or colleagues. Our work for your website have ‘Smartest Guy in the World’ in air quotes, the About web page biography starting with cautionary note:
*High range testing (HRT) should be taken with honest skepticism grounded in the limited development of the field at present, even in spite of honest and sincere efforts.
The bio incorporating “According to some semi-reputable sources listed here, Rick G. Rosner may” [Emphasis added]. It’s sprinkled here and there as a caution.
Rick Rosner: So yes, I am more modest. I’m in the parking lot of one of my gyms, and someone said, “Hey, aren’t you the second or third smartest man in the world?” And I’m like, it’s just IQ. But she knew me from Twitter. It’s nice to get recognized, but yes. Anyway, go ahead.
Jacobsen: Yes, so, it’s where we must be more modest about many of these assumptions. Any standardized test goes from 40 to 160 on a standard deviation of 15 with the WAIS likely as the gold standard. The Titan, Mega, Power, and Ultra tests were the only ones that appeared to have enough sample size and strength to measure that, based on some new statistics by David Redvaldsen. So Titan and Mega appear to, in fact, go to 168+ and 170+ on an S.D. of 16., respectively.
Rosner: I did kick ass on those tests way back when. But that was when I first took the Mega in at 25. So that’s 39 years ago. I’ve had some success and some evidence that I’m not a complete moron. I did TV for a long time. I’m working on this book. I’ve been working on it forever. But, like, we’ll see. The clock is ticking. But like claims of extraordinary giftedness, I’m pretty smart, but is that worth anything?
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