(Audible sigh and exhale of breath)
Thank you for the contribution Thomas… Though I suspect you clearly have not grasped the sense of irony that this post was laden down with and just about every entry in this blog is… And thank you for your lovely list of female names… I had no idea any of these people existed or graced our planet, I’ll go google them and get educated.

You clearly have not grasped the concept of ‘most’.

I find it amusing that after explaining that you are intelligent you dismiss the evidence as being silly. Yes of course there are many intelligent women, but on “AVERAGE” men are more intelligent(the study claims). Similarly,just because the average height of a male is 5′ 9″ does not mean that all men are that exact height. It’s simply an observed correlation between height and intelligence.It in no way says that taller people are “always” more intelligent that shorter people, or that men are always smarter than women.You providing evidence of intelligent female writers/mathematicians/friends in no way negates the studies validity.

I’d say every theory that I ever write about has room for improvement Johnny… I would not want it any other way, that is what makes the discussion so enjoyable… For me at any rate 🙂

Thanks for your contribution here, Adam.

Im a 5″8″ male with a 23.5 inch circumference head. My head is rather large for my height and so is my brain. it is often larger than most taller people.

Therefore this theory has room for improvement, as it does not consider people who fall outside of the norm for the percieved norm.

Suppose one could apply the same ideas of perceived intelligence to height perhaps?

But, obviously, I wouldn’t know….what with being female and under 5ft tall. It was a struggle to remember how to switch on the laptop. Silly little me! 😉

Love Martin’s response. It is quite brilliant and sums things up nicely. His closing point is very interesting also-the definition of intelligence. IQ tests have their uses I suppose. They do give some indication of academic ability. But they are a very blunt tool at best I reckon and remain very biased towards those with a standard education. And they in no way predict success. Plenty of Mensa members work in shops alongside people with perfectly average IQs…

Actually came back to read this because I missed it during the week (you were being particularly productive and had some great topics) and because I also wondered about something: do women tend to seek out partners more intelligent than themselves?

I’m also informed that Einstein was 5 foot 9. Which, according to the research, doesn’t make him that intelligent at all. I’m not sure but I am beginning to think the research done on this question is a bit like the movie Valentine. In that film, you could drive a truck through the plot holes and I think you might at least be able to drive a car through the holes in the research done on this question. Also, research is not proof. Findings have a long way to go before they become fact. What we have here is evidence of a kind and not a conclusion. The jury, as they say, is still out.

I’d hazard a guess that I’m taller than both Carol Voderman and her successor on Countdown, Rachel Riley. But both those women could kick my bum to the curb when it comes to maths and quite a lot of other things to do with the intellect.

Some people have been kind enough to say that I’ve got a pretty powerful mind and some have even called me “brilliant” over the years. But any intellectual prowess I have isn’t, as far as I believe, connected to my gender or my height. Surely, if we take these findings as they are then the whole process of learning goes out the window? Why bother going to school if you’re short? Why bother going to school if you’re female? I mean, seriously.

At university, I was outnumbered by women. Which was fantastic as far as I was concerned. Seriously, I’m not that good on beauty secrets and the fashion police have a file on me. But if a woman talks about Dickens, Shakespeare or science to me, I find it incredibly sexy. Intelligent women are amazingly sexy. In fact, most (if not all) women are intelligent. The only thing that is more sexy in a woman than intellect is passion and personality. A powerful mind is good but there has to be some driving force, something that gets her up in the morning and helps her enjoy life. Even though I don’t know because I don’t tend to fancy blokes, I assume similar attributes are sexy in men.

Intelligence is one of those things you can’t contain or predict. So many factors contribute to it. A short person who lives in the rich side of town and has access to books and learning materials may well end up more intelligent than a person from the rough side of town who can’t read books all day as he/she has to go out and feed their family.

Besides, what is “intelligence”? Are we talking maths puzzles, skill with words? What about emotional intelligence? What about creative intelligence? It’s a rich tapestry and we all have a lot to be proud of.