As a psychology undergrad, I’d just like to contribute (as my name suggests) my ha’pence ‘orth… (for those who don’t know it’s an old phrase from here in North West England for ‘my little bit’).
There seems to be much confusion about IQ and what it is and isn’t. IQ testing was developed in the early 20th Century by Binet and Simon as a measure of child cognitive development and not as one of intelligence per se. It is therefore a useful diagnostic tool for SpLDs (specific learning difficulties) such as dyslexia or dyspraxia; it is not a ‘who’s cleverer than who’ contest. It is true that organisations like MENSA use it as a criterion for membership, however this is coupled with other tests.
Further, from a purely psychological perspective there is no actual single definition of ‘intelligence’ and as such is referred to as being ‘context-specific’. Even academic intelligence, such as mathematical ability, is context-specific, see Nunes and Bryant “Children doing Mathematics” (1996) where Brazilian children’s mathematical ability differed depending on the setting (market/school).
And on the whole Gedolim more intelligent than scientists/philosophers thing. Twaddle. Rubbish. Hevel havolim. Just because someone is a gadol does not mean that they are, by definition, a prodigal genius who’s mental acuity outstrips even the greatest mind that the non-Jewish world has to offer. People who aren’t frum Jews can be intelligent, perhaps even more so than gedolim. Chochmo bagoyim ta’amin, kabel ho’emes mi’mi she’omro. These are the words of Chazal, not some throw-away to be followed by ‘yeah, but…’. Just because you are wrong, or hold views that are heretical does not make you less intelligent than someone who’s views are not. I’m pretty confident that Isaac Newton was a lot cleverer than me. Well, at least he had a higher IQ anyway…