IQ
Entry updated 12 October 2026. Tagged: Theme.
Sf authors generally pay little heed to the limitations of Intelligence Quotient (IQ) measurement and the general consensus that figures much above 200 are meaningless; higher values are nevertheless claimed for a few real-world celebrities. IQ 160 is generally regarded as genius level and is often estimated – that is, guessed – to be the appropriate figure for Albert Einstein (see Icons).
As noted in the entry for Intelligence (which see), a useful strategy in tales about the boosting of this quality is to begin with a mentally subnormal character whose progress readers can at least up to a point comprehend. Thus in "Flowers for Algernon" (April 1959 F&SF) by Daniel Keyes, the protagonist Charly begins with a "moron" IQ of 68 and steadily progresses to a peak of 185 (with some adaptations suggesting over 200) before his tragic relapse. The Superman from the future in Time Trax (1993-1994) avowedly has IQ 204. A woman proud of her high IQ in Piers Anthony's Macroscope (1969; cut 1972) scorns the protagonist's modest rating of 110 (little knowing of his other personality) and is dismayed to learn that her boyfriend, who claimed a lower figure for the sake of their relationship, "outranks" her by far with an IQ of 215.
Beyond this, IQ number games in sf tend to be increasingly silly. Figures in the 300s soon become commonplace as intelligence rises across the world in Brain Wave (1954) by Poul Anderson. The infant protagonist of Percival Everett's Glyph (1999) clocks in at 475; that of Kamen Rider (1971-1973; vt Masked Rider) at 600; that of Philip E High's The Mad Metropolis (1966 dos; vt Double Illusion 1970) registers 612. Kim Kinnison in E E Smith's Gray Lensman (October 1939-January 1940 Astounding; 1951) scores 875. with his nearest Lensman rival (the Alien Worsel) trailing at 800; the two are referred to by awed librarians as the "High Tension Thinkers". A E van Vogt's "The Storm" (October 1943 Astounding) features a hero with a second brain having an IQ of 917, while the same author's Supermind (fixup 1977) lurches through a risible sequence of IQ leaps culminating in the triumphant figure of 10,000. What this could possibly signify, even van Vogt evidently did not know.
Lower IQ figures are sometimes deployed for purposes of Satire. The glorification of mediocrity in William Tenn's "Null-P" (January 1951 Worlds Beyond) brings about the election to the US presidency of a perfectly average man, presumably with an IQ of exactly 100. In Arthur Herzog's IQ 83 (1978), attempted Genetic-Engineering improvements go awry and reduce the intelligence of those treated to that level. In Ishmael Reed's The Terrible Twos (1982) the US President is a male model with an IQ of 55.
The question of intelligence testing comes up in many Utopias and Dystopias, and is interestingly analysed in "Intelligence Testing in Utopia" by Carolyn H Rhodes in Extrapolation for December 1971. Among the works she discusses in which this theme is central are The Messiah of the Cylinder (June-September 1917 Everybody's Magazine; 1917; vt The Apostle of the Cylinder 1918) by Victor Rousseau, Player Piano (1952; vt Utopia 14) by Kurt Vonnegut Jr, The Rise of the Meritocracy (1958) by Michael Young, The Child Buyer (1960) by John Hersey and World Out of Mind (1953) by J T McIntosh. Further examples include Janusz A Zajdel's Limes inferior (1982), Nick Sapien's Drosophila (2005) and Damien Broderick's Quipu (2009), all set in societies obsessed with IQ tests. [DRL]
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