IQ Test Results of Nαzi Officers From the Nuremberg Trials

    by Skychu768

    28 Comments

    1. pakkieressaberesojaj on

      All that IQ and no one though “maybe we shouldn’t go to Russia in the winter”

    2. They had recently gone through a time of severe, lethal competition within their own ranks.
      Not surprised some of the smartest survived their internal wars and the general war.

    3. MeMayMaMoMeMooMaMay on

      IQ scores are ‘relative’. In the way that the average IQ will ALWAYS be 100. If your whole society gets smarter, the average IQ will still be 100.

      If the general public wasn’t as bright as it was today due to having less education back then, these ‘high IQ’ people are only more intelligent compared to their generation.

      They would score lower if they took the test today. A rough estimate would be that an IQ of 130 in 1940 would be 105 in 2025

    4. IQ testing is incredibly inaccurate and we have no idea what test was used here.

      But it isn’t surprising that these are higher than average. They were high up officials in highly paid positions.

    5. High ranking officers are those who found a way to rise up in the society which they belonged, in this case, nazi germany. This naturally selects for intelligence, not morality (one might argue it selects against morality for many societal structures).

      Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil by Hannah Arendt documents his trial and shares this type of perspective and imo, her general conclusions are a sufficient explanation of how entire societies and intelligent people can be manipulated to commit atrocities.

    6. Warm_Regrets157 on

      >merely con- firming the fact that the most successful men in any sphere of human activity-whether it is politics, industry, militarism, or crime-are apt to be above average intelligence. It must be borne in mind that the IQ indicates nothing

      Our current status as a kakistocracy desperately begs to challenge this conclusion.

    7. Sarcastic_Backpack on

      Imagine that military officers are more intelligent than the average. Like this isn’t a typical result. You could test modern day officers from various countries and get the same general results.

      Officers usually are college educated. Back in pres WW2 Germany, they were typically the upper class & nobility, so I’d be surprised if they didn’t score above average in IQ.

    8. Icy-Conflict6671 on

      Yeah their top officers were smart af. Too bad they put it towards the wrong purposes

    9. Lotta people reflexively crapping on this because “Nazis”, but its incredibly important to recognize and accept that smart people can be absolute monsters, too.  Its not praising Nazis to recognize that some of the leadership was functionally intelligent.  If anything, it is a great reminder/warning that smart/rich/attractive people can be massive pieces of shit.

    10. Crime-of-the-century on

      There is also the fact that they believed themselves to be very superior no matter how good you are underestimating your opponent is always risky.

    11. Why are people so pissy in the comments about this?

      Yes, evil people are sometimes pretty conventionally intelligent. Nazi officials were quite educated and the cream of the crop from their respective fields. They had impressive generals, engineers, propagandists, scientists, etc. Men from academies, universities and the like.

      Nazi Germany was riddled with a lot of talent, albeit talent used for evil of course. That’s why these guys were at the top of the food chain.

      Intelligence does not mean you are moral. Intelligence does not mean you are always correct. Intelligence does not negate ego and narcissism.

      Plenty of serial killers are cunning, high IQ individuals. I would say most of the most the people we consider the most evil in humanity were likely quite intelligent, and they were able to wield that for their gain or cause.

      People like to have it both ways, where evil is always so incredibly stupid like in the movies (“how could someone beleive that or do that?”) but then neglect to understand why that evil is actually a threat, why it has power and how it got that power. Evil does not always bumble around, it only makes you think it does.

    12. IQ is just a measure of one’s abstract thinking ability. I’m sure inffering what the next number in a pattern will be, has absolutely no baring on whether or not you’re a reprehensible goon.

    13. ShiggyGoosebottom on

      Aum Shinrikyo (the cult that gassed the Tokyo subways, among other crimes) would look similar. High IQ but but weak-minded, easily led, and willing to follow orders from a madman.

    14. Just another reminder that being smart and well-educated doesn’t necessarily make someone a good person.

    15. Do not mistake education for intelligence or kindness. These are non-overlapping, independent personality features. Fostering each- in everyone- is imperative for global wellbeing.

    16. STOP USING THE IQ SYSTEM AS A MEASURE OF INTELLIGENCE. IT IS REMARKABLY FLAWED. 

      Seriously whenever anyone brings up IQ all I can think of is Donald Trump and how he uses this as some sort of guidance as to whether a  person deserved respect or not. 

      It’s a horse sh*t scale made by old racists. It should not be used and people should not be judged based on there “score” ,good or bad

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