The end of the year invites reflection, a look back to the mistakes we've made and the successes we've achieved.
There is no question that a high IQ brings plenty of both.
The following list has more than its share of tortured geniuses along with some ordinary folk doing their best to get along in the world.
Measuring IQ is an inexact science, and the following list is sometimes based on rumors and hearsay, but that's the only way to measure the smartest people in the world.
Paul Allen is alleged to have an IQ of 160
Alleged to have nabbed a perfect 1600 on the pre-1995 SAT, Allen beat out his Microsoft partner Bill Gates by 10 points, and according to the Megafoundation is reputed to have an IQ of 160.
Allen must be smart to have convinced IBM, in 1980, that five year old Microsoft had a Disk Operating System which would work on Intel chips when it didn't.
It was the pivotal move leading to the IBM contract, which has defined personal computing ever since.
Age: 58
Nationality: American
Job: Chairman, Vulcan Inc.
Stephen W. Hawking is alleged to have an IQ of 160
In an interview with MSNBC Hawking said: "People who boast about their IQ are losers." However, his IQ is widely rumored to be 160.
By his own account Hawking didn't learn to read until he was eight and went to University College, Oxford, where his two lackluster final exam scores required a third, oral exam.
After being diagnosed with ALS, he declined taking a doctorate as he didn't expect to live long enough to make it worthwhile.
Though his life expectancy exceeded his expectations, concerns that the disease would diminish his genius prompted Hawking to take the Mensa test to confirm his intellect remained unaffected.
Age: 69
Nationality: English
Job Theoretical physicist and cosmologist
Robert Byrne is alleged to have an IQ of 170
Byrne first showed his genius on the chess board in New York City and was one of the "Collins Kids," along with Bobby Fisher, taught by 20th century chess great John W. Collins.
According to Career and Test Byrne is reported to have an IQ of 170.
He was the chess columnist for the New York Times from 1972 until his retirement in 2006, at 78.
Age: 83
Nationality: American
Job: Professor, writer Chess Grandmaster
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