Why Does No One Talk About Marilyn Vos Savant, The Person With The Highest IQ In The World?
It is said that if you achieve more than 140 points on an IQ test, you are close to being a genius. Albert Einstein was a genius in terms of intelligence. He had an IQ of approximately 160 points. Leonardo Da Vinci had 180 points, whereas Isaac Newton scored 190. But have you heard of Marilyn Vos Savant, the person with the highest IQ of 228 in the world?
Back in 1956, when the world got to know about Marilyn, many people questioned her intellect. They said all intelligence exams have comparable tasks and puzzles that you can practise every day and learn how to score maximum points. They reasoned how many people know about Marilyn Voss Savant. People thought she had a lot of money. It’s impossible to score so much on the first try, but all doubts vanished when they discovered she was a 10-year-old kid.
It’s unlikely she trained for years at such a young age to achieve this result, so it became a sensation. However, Marilyn Vos Savant as an adult questioned the validity of these tests. Intelligence is complex and cannot be tested by a series of logic puzzles. She would be the first to say that a high IQ score isn’t the only factor that determines a person’s intelligence. According to the certified genius, when it comes to smarts there are a number of things at play, even for those we consider ‘experts’.
“When we call upon experts, we hear them say whatever it is they have to say, but that doesn’t mean they have any analytical ability, that doesn’t mean they have the ability to process the information at hand — that’s really more what intelligence is”
In 1986, Marilyn entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the owner of the highest IQ on the planet. Her record was broken in 1990, but they stopped publishing IQ champions that year for the same reason that Marilyn had voiced that IQ is not the only indicator of a smart mind, but let’s get back to our story.
Marilyn entered the university to study philosophy. She chose this path in the name of her paternal ancestor, a famous Austrian physicist and philosopher although her parents wanted her to choose a more practical profession. When she turned 20 she joined her parent’s small business. Soon she discovered her talent, the capacity to manage projects and cashflows.
However, Marilyn never aspired to make a lot of money. She also enjoyed writing, so in the 1980s she moved to New York to become a writer. She was already quite a celebrity at the time, so finding work wasn’t an issue. One of the magazines offered her a full-time job. Soon they gave her a separate column called “Ask Marilyn.” Readers sent her questions on the topic of logic every day, and she gave them the answers. Even now, she continues to lead this column. But one day in 1990, Marilyn received about 10,000 letters against herself, including those of famous scientists. All of this occurred as a result of one logical puzzle.
Monty Hall Problem
“Suppose you’re on a game show, and you’re given the choice of three doors: Behind one door is a car; behind the others, goats. You pick a door, say No. 1, and the host, who knows what’s behind the other doors, opens another door, say No. 3, which has a goat. He then says to you, ‘Do you want to pick door No. 2?’ Is it to your advantage to make the switch?”
A reader inquired about her thoughts on the Monty Hall Problem, a well-known riddle that some scientists still argue over. Imagine you’re on a TV show where you can win a new car. You’re in front of three closed doors. There are goats behind two of them. And the prized automobile is only available in one of the entries. You have one chance to get it right. In layman’s terms, your chances of winning now are one in three. In your thoughts, you already know which door it is. You want to make a decision.
The host of the show opens one door and there is a goat. You have two doors left. The chances are one in two. Does it make sense for you to change your mind and choose another door?
Yes, Marilyn stated that if you change the door your chances are two in three. If you don’t, your chances are one in three You should always update your initial choice to increase your chances.
At first glance, such a decision appears unreasonable. How is this feasible if there are only two doors left and only one of them has a car? It is evident that your chances of winning are 50-50. But Marilyn didn’t think so, and a lot of people didn’t like her answer. Scientists, teachers, and employees of various fields and ages didn’t like it. They sent her indignant letters. Someone even referred to her as a goat. People asked to discontinue the column and fire Marilyn from the magazine. As a result, she got approximately 10,000 letters criticizing her. Someone set up a special website where people could contest all of Marilyn’s answers.
Fortunately, she wasn’t bothered. She kept working and went to TV shows where she showed her point to people, and she quickly succeeded. In the beginning, just 8% of readers believed her; nevertheless, by 1992, this number had climbed to 56%. Marilyn’s supporters now include philosophers, mathematicians, educators, and scientists. They apologised for their angry letters.
The Monty Hall problem has become one of the most discussed probability puzzles in theory. However, what was most astonishing was how quickly Marilyn answered it while the rest of the world thought the answer was different. Marilyn went on to write several books with her answers to the most complex and exciting questions that readers sent her. She also published scientific articles on mathematics and logic.
Photo by Mario Ruiz/Getty Images
On a personal front, Marilyn always wanted to meet an equally intelligent husband so that her descendants would be smart as well, and so, after two failed marriages, she met Robert Jarvik, a scientist with an IQ of 184 points. His main accomplishment was the creation of an artificial heart. He founded his own company, and Marilyn began working there as a financial director. The company studies heart problems and invents technologies that save the lives of thousands of people. Now Marilyn is over 70. She continues to answer reader inquiries, write books, and help operate the company. She lives a peaceful life and does not brag about herself.
