http://www.didyouknowthat.net/william-james-sidis-had-an-iq-between-250-and-300/2007/10/16/ Nice to know facts Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:18:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3 http://www.didyouknowthat.net/william-james-sidis-had-an-iq-between-250-and-300/2007/10/16/#comment-5 Joe Sat, 22 Dec 2007 23:55:47 +0000 http://www.didyouknowthat.net/william-james-sidis-had-an-iq-between-250-and-300/2007/10/16/#comment-5 The 250-300 IQ claimed by Wikipedia and "The Outiders" (at Prometheus) are based on wrong information derived from Amy Wallace's book "The Prodigy: A Biography of William James Sidis, America’s Greatest Child Prodigy". "The Prodigy" claimed that Sperling said: “In recent years I have tested more than five thousand people. Of all the mentally superior individuals that I have seen, nobody begins to approach the intellect and perspicacity of William Sidis. According to my computations, he easily had an IQ between 250 and 300.” Sperling's own version, found in "A Story of Genius", is: "Helena Sidis told me that a few years before his death, her brother Bill took an intelligence test with a psychologist. His score was the very highest that had ever been obtained. In terms of I.Q., the psychologist related that the figure would be between 250 and 300." According to Sperling's version, he based his comments on hearsay from Helena. Helena may have stretched the truth like she reportedly did with other claims about William Sidis' language skills, which were recorded in "The Prodigy" as fact. No known adult IQ test exists today that can accurately measure 250-300, and none existed in the 1940s. The 250-300 IQ claim is a myth. The other claims of newspaper reports and Sidis' language skills are mostly misleading half-truths and misinterpretations. Source: Myths, Facts, and Lies About Prodigies - A Historiography of Willia James Sidis. The 250-300 IQ claimed by Wikipedia and “The Outiders” (at Prometheus) are based on wrong information derived from Amy Wallace’s book “The Prodigy: A Biography of William James Sidis, America’s Greatest Child Prodigy”. “The Prodigy” claimed that Sperling said: “In recent years I have tested more than five thousand people. Of all the mentally superior individuals that I have seen, nobody begins to approach the intellect and perspicacity of William Sidis. According to my computations, he easily had an IQ between 250 and 300.” Sperling’s own version, found in “A Story of Genius”, is: “Helena Sidis told me that a few years before his death, her brother Bill took an intelligence test with a psychologist. His score was the very highest that had ever been obtained. In terms of I.Q., the psychologist related that the figure would be between 250 and 300.” According to Sperling’s version, he based his comments on hearsay from Helena. Helena may have stretched the truth like she reportedly did with other claims about William Sidis’ language skills, which were recorded in “The Prodigy” as fact. No known adult IQ test exists today that can accurately measure 250-300, and none existed in the 1940s. The 250-300 IQ claim is a myth. The other claims of newspaper reports and Sidis’ language skills are mostly misleading half-truths and misinterpretations. Source: Myths, Facts, and Lies About Prodigies - A Historiography of Willia James Sidis.

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