Highest IQ Ever Recorded and the Science behind Extreme Intelligence

Albert Einstein, Hypatia, Lady Gaga, and Leonardo Da Vinci all have one thing in common. Do you know what it is? They have the highest IQ ever recorded. What does high IQ mean? Why is it important? And is it even important? We will answer that question today.

In this blog, we’ll go through the history of IQ tests, their origins, results, the highest IQ ever recorded, and the criticisms of them. We will also talk about EQ and why it is as important as IQ.

So, without wasting too much time, let’s get into IQ.

IQ Explained: Calculation Method, Score Ranges, and Meaning

In 1912, German psychologist William Stern coined the term ‘IQ’ to quantify intelligence by creating a standardized ratio. It is calculated by dividing one’s mental age by chronological age multiplied by 100.

IQ=MACA×100

And then these scores are divided into 6 categories, which are:

• Average: 90–109
• High Average/Above Average: 110–119
• Superior: 120–129
• Very Superior/Gifted: 130+ (e.g., 130-144 Gifted, 145+ Highly Gifted)
• Below Average/Low Average: 80–89
• Borderline: 70–79 (or 70-84)
• Intellectual Disability: Below 70 (ranges from mild to profound)

Let’s assume Maria is 15 years old, and her mental age is 25. So now, using the calculation, we can assume her IQ is around 166-167.

And based on this score, we can assume that Maria is a very superior or gifted person.

Five Individuals with the Highest IQ Ever Recorded in History

Before we discuss the problems and limitations of IQ tests, let’s talk about the highest IQ ever recorded in history.

Now there are names such as Stephen Hawking, Marie Curie, and Albert Einstein, who have gifted IQs. But they never took an IQ test to be absolutely confident about their IQ.

But here are the five people with the recorded highest IQ of all time:

1. YoungHoon Kim (IQ 276)

YoungHoon Kim holds the record for the highest IQ ever recorded, proven through high-range tests. This South Korean intellectual serves as an advisor to global high-IQ societies. 

He studies psychology and linguistics to understand how the human mind works. No one has proven his theories wrong, as he focuses on leadership and intelligence research rather than physics or math.

2. Terence Tao (IQ 230)

Terence Tao is a world-famous mathematician who won the Fields Medal, the “Nobel Prize” of math. He taught himself to read at age two and solved complex calculus by age seven. He currently teaches at UCLA. While he is rarely “wrong” in his work, he admits to failing a quantum physics exam as a child due to poor preparation.

3. Marilyn vos Savant (IQ 228)

Marilyn vos Savant became famous when Guinness World Records listed her as having the highest IQ ever recorded among women. She writes a famous column where she solves logic puzzles for readers. Thousands of people once claimed she was wrong about a math problem called the Monty Hall Problem. 

4. Christopher Hirata (IQ 225)

Christopher Hirata became the youngest American to win a gold medal at the International Physics Olympiad at age thirteen. He started working with NASA on Mars projects when he was only sixteen. Today, he researches dark energy and the early universe. Scientists have not proven his complex theories wrong, as they remain leading ideas in modern astrophysics.

5. Kim Ung-yong (IQ 210)

Kim Ung-yong was a child prodigy who spoke four languages by age four. He worked for NASA as a teenager but later decided to live a normal, quiet life as a professor in South Korea. Some people called him a “failed genius” for leaving NASA. He corrected them by stating that a happy life is the true measure of success.

However, it is important to remember that Guinness and other record books eradicated the category.

The Problems with IQ Records and the Case for Better Intelligence Measures

Now that we spoke about the people with the highest IQ ever recorded, let’s talk about why Guinness, Limca, and other record books removed the category.

Here are a few key reasons why IQ tests are so controversial today:

• Cultural and socioeconomic bias: Tests often favor Western, middle-class norms, disadvantaging diverse groups through language or references unfamiliar to them.
• ​Narrow focus on cognitive skills: Emphasizes logical, verbal, and mathematical abilities while ignoring creativity, emotional intelligence, practical skills, or multiple intelligences (e.g., Gardner’s theory).
• Ignores non-cognitive factors: Fails to account for motivation, anxiety, test-taking skills, or environmental influences that affect scores.
• Limited predictive validity: Predicts academic success but not real-world achievement, leadership, or adaptability in complex scenarios.
• Outdated ratio method issues: The original MA/CA formula works poorly for adults or extremes, leading to deviation scoring but retaining construct debates.
• ​Risk of misuse and labeling: Scores can stigmatize individuals as “slow” or justify discrimination without a holistic context.

Better Ways to Measure Intelligence beyond Traditional IQ Tests

So, what’s the solution? There are many solutions to get the highest IQ ever recorded. Here are a few ways we can tackle the problems faced by modern IQ tests:

1. Multiple intelligences frameworks: Howard Gardner’s theory expands assessment to eight intelligences (e.g., musical, interpersonal), using portfolios or project-based evaluations instead of single scores.
2. ​Emotional and social intelligence tests: Tools like the EQ assessments measure self-awareness and empathy, complementing cognitive focus for better real-world predictions.
3. Dynamic and game-based assessments: Adaptive tests adjust difficulty in real-time via games or simulations, reducing cultural bias and capturing practical skills.
4. Situational judgment tests (SJTs): Evaluate decision-making in job-like scenarios, predicting performance up to 70% accurately per studies.
5. ​Cognitive skills batteries: Platforms like BrainsFirst test specific abilities (e.g., decision speed, attention) tailored to roles, improving hiring matches.

​Multiple Intelligences: A Broader View of Human Ability

In 1983, Howard Gardner introduced the theory of multiple intelligences. His theory changed how we perceived the highest IQ ever recorded. He proposes that intelligence isn’t a single entity but a collection of distinct, relatively independent abilities, challenging traditional views focused on logic and language. 

He identified several core intelligences, including Linguistic, Logical-Mathematical, Spatial, Musical, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Naturalist, suggesting everyone possesses these to varying degrees, and they work together to solve problems.

According to his theory, there were 8 intelligences.

• Verbal-Linguistic: Sensitivity to language, words, and meaning (writers, poets, lawyers).
• Logical-Mathematical: Ability to reason abstractly, see patterns, and solve numerical problems (scientists, mathematicians).
• Visual-Spatial: Thinking in images, maps, and charts; good with directions (architects, artists, navigators).
• Musical: Recognizing and creating musical patterns, rhythms, and sounds (musicians, composers).
• Bodily-Kinesthetic: Using one’s body to solve problems or create products (dancers, athletes, surgeons).
• Interpersonal: Understanding and interacting effectively with others (teachers, therapists, salespeople).
• Intrapersonal: Deep understanding of oneself, emotions, and motivations (philosophers, writers, entrepreneurs).
• Naturalist: Recognizing patterns in nature, identifying plants, animals, and natural phenomena (biologists, farmers, chefs).

The theory puts out the idea of multi-façade nature of intelligence. To put it in simpler words, not everyone is dumb, but not everyone is smart in the same subject.

Basically, I might be a great writer, but that doesn’t make my intelligence exceed in, let’s say, cooking. Meanwhile, someone might be a great cook, but can’t understand writing.

It doesn’t mean one of us is more intelligent than the other; rather, we are equally intelligent in different aspects of education.

The Key Differences between IQ and EQ

But Intelligence isn’t the epitome of humanity; emotions are. And to calculate that, we have EQ (Emotion Quotients).

Here’s how these two are different:

EQ (Emotional Quotient)	Aspect	IQ (Intelligence Quotient)
Ability to understand and manage emotions in oneself and others	Definition	Measure of logic, reasoning, memory, and problem-solving ability
Self-awareness, empathy, emotional control, motivation, and social skills	Core Areas	Analytical thinking, pattern recognition, verbal, and mathematical skills
Self-assessments, behavioral feedback, and emotional ability tests	Measurement	Standardized intelligence tests and cognitive tasks
Developable through learning and experience	Adaptability	Largely stable with strong genetic influence
Leadership, relationships, collaboration, workplace impact	Best Predicts	Academic success and technical performance

According to research, women outperform men on emotion perception tasks, especially subtle cues, per meta-analyses and fMRI studies showing greater empathetic brain responses. What does that mean? You may wonder.

To put it simply, women have better EQ than most men. And that also results in them scoring higher on intrapersonal IQ tests.

Conclusion

And that brings us to the end of the topic. The highest IQ ever recorded was YoungHoon Kim, but that doesn’t actually prove anything. Intelligence is multifaceted and unique to everyone. In the end, it is important to remember that intelligence cannot be quantified perfectly and is affected by several factors, including our upbringing, surroundings, lifestyle, and social circle.

If anything, the highest IQ ever recorded just proves one thing: human intelligence has no bounds. So, find your intelligence and figure out your skill.

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