Are we more intelligent, or do we just think we are?

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I often 'mess' with normies by intellectually running rings around them and bafling them with my superior logic

At least, this is how it seems in my head.

Do you think this is actually how it is, or maybe it's a some kind of grand delusion? Like, some inception/matrix-level s**t that I can't even comprehend...?

Most people think they're smarter than average.

I'm aware of this, of course, because I am also smarter than average.

The average person has the IQ of a wombat. Every day I feel like I'm a genius, not so much because I am, but because I'm surrounded by people who make me wonder how they find a door to get out of the house in the morning.

I think sometimes it has to do with the Dunning–Kruger effect.
I know I'm often feeling like people should understand what I'm talking about, but then I get told that I need to "dumb it down" for them.

Dunning-Kruger Effect on Wikipedia

I feel you guys should read and study Gardner's theory of "multiple intelligences."

You guys might be able to run "rings" around people in one area--but I'm certain there are people who could run "rings" around you in other areas.

Don't rest on your laurels.

I do feel smarter than most people. Sometimes I wonder if I'm just falling victim to the Dunning-Kruger effect, or if I really am smarter than most people. Then I remember that when I had psychoeducational testing a few years ago, my IQ was in the 78th percentile, so according to that, I am smarter than most people.

I think my overall intelligence is likely to be average or even slightly less.
I did well at school and I used to think I was bright. People used to comment that I was smart but rote learning doesn't mean intelligence.

Nowadays I realise most people have better use of their cognitive skills than me. I'm only good for rote learning and fitting bits of information together. I'm not a good communicator, I have trouble explaining what I mean, I don't know how to repair things. Working life is a struggle even though my class grades were high.

I wonder, to what extent, if any, does the Dunning-Kruger effect apply to estimations of intelligence? It seems to pertain to self-assessment of specific skills, and intelligence is meant to be a more generalized profile of cognitive ability.

Also, unlike most specific, individualized skills, intelligence has no widely-agreed upon meaning, and assessments with respect to unclear standards are more likely to be meaningless than correct or incorrect.

True that most people tend to believe they are above average in intelligence. But if most people were above average that would become the new average... lol. I think culture would also play a part too.

True that intelligence cannot really be defined as there isn't an agree upon what intelligence actually is. Reminds me of the phrase 'if you judge a fish on it'so ability to climb a tree it would go through its whole life believing it's stupid'.

But there are a lot of people who think they're highly intelligent, but in reality, are actually very stupid. ie. the Dunning-Kruger effect. (It states that the more unintelligent someone is, the more likely they are to think of themselves as highly intelligent). I know one such person in real life. (he thinks he knows everything because he's a teacher, but he's the biggest idiot I've ever met).

You could be the most intelligent, talented, etc. person in the world.

But in some ways, you could be, at the same time, a total idiot.

No it doesn't, at least not in the Wikipedia article that was linked in this thread. See my comment above for expansion on that point.

Maybe not more "intelligent", but I have this impression that NT's brains are more ape-like. There way of thinking is more simple and less empathic, thats how I feel it.

It's hard to tell without at least a rough transcript of a sample conversation.

When you say "intellectually running rings around them", what are some specifics? Are you both tasked with understanding something and you get it long before they do? Are they unable to do something that you are able to do because they don't understand how it works?

When you say "baffling them with my superior logic", again what are some examples? And can you be sure that their bafflement arises from not understanding what you said but rather why you said it? Well, you already know you can't be sure or you wouldn't have made this thread.

On the one hand, I have seen Twitter transcripts of some breathtakingly clueless people and there are real people behind those tweets so it is entirely possible that you have been talking to similarly clueless people. On the other hand, I've heard people leave giant chunks of info out of what they say and then call people stupid for not understanding them. I've also heard people say things so weirdly out of left field that I was baffled at why they said it. For all I know, they thought I was incapable of 'getting it' while I was wondering 'why did he just say such a random thing?'

Without a rough transcript, it's hard to tell.

I've always had the ability to help NTs figure out stuff that has been puzzling them for a long time.
I believe in paying forward--I help them out first--and trust that if I need help in the future, someone will help me out. Seems to work pretty good so far...

I'm an autist and I'm not particularly smart. But maybe I'm just the exception to the norm. That's especially what I think when I see so many people on here talking about how intelligent they are, and having high IQ scores. But maybe the less intelligent aspies just don't find their way to this forum?? I don't know.