In honor of St. Patrick’s Week, I decided to post about Irish American comic Rosie O’Donnell. Rosie is one of the most successful talk show hosts in history. At it’s peak, The Rosie O’Donnell show, which ran from 1996 to 2002, was second only to Oprah in the ratings, and when she returned to TV in 2006 as co-host of The View, she single-handedly put that show on the map. Since then, she briefly did a show on Satellite radio and briefly hosted a cable show on The Oprah Winfrey network: OWN. So what is her IQ?
$100 million dollars
Thanks to her incredibley successful talk show in the 1990s, Rosie is worth about $100 million dollars. In another post I cited data suggesting the average self-made U.S. decamillionaire has an IQ of 118 (U.S. norms) and the average self-made U.S. billionaire has an IQ of 133. I do not have any actual data on the IQs of self-made centimillionaires, but we might guess it’s roughly half-way between: IQ 126. The next question is whether Rosie is likely smarter or dumber than the average self-made centimillionaire.
Pumpkin Head
When Rosie appeared on TV, her head would look very big. This caused her former arch nemesis, shock jock Howard Stern to viciously ridicule her for being a “pumpkin head”. One day I saw Rosie come out on her show and ask the audience if anyone had a bigger head than her. One person stood up and shocked the crowd by announcing their head circumfernce was an astonishing 24″. Rosie said hers was 24.5″ and that unless your head is bigger, don’t mention it. 24.5″ is an astonishing five standard deviations above the mean for U.S. baby boomer women. Little did Rosie know that Oprah, the one talk show host she couldn’t beat in the ratings, has an even bigger head. It’s unlikely either women are aware of the link between intelligence and head size, as this is dismissed as 19th century pseudoscience, at best.
The correlation between IQ and sex adjusted head circumference is about 0.21. If the average self-made centimillionaire has an IQ that is 1.73 standard deviations (SD) above the U.S. mean, then, to over-simplify, we might crudely expect them to have sex adjusted crania that is 1.73 SD(0.21) = 0.36 SD above the U.S. average. That makes Rosie’s crania about 4.64 SD bigger even than the average self-made centimillionaire.
Assuming the 0.21 correlation between IQ and sex-adjusted head size holds among centimillionaires (and it should, given that the full IQ variance surprisingly seems to exist within economic classes), then we’d expect Rosie’s IQ to be 4.64(0.21) = 0.97 SD higher than the average than the average self-made centimillionaire’s. In other words, we’d expect Rosie’s IQ to be about 140 (in both U.S. norms and U.S. white norms).
Is an IQ of 140 plausble?
An IQ of about 140 is extremely high, making Rosie potentially smarter than 99.5% of U.S. whites. Many people would argue that Rosie can’t be that smart since she believes in 9/11 conspiracy theories and turns to actress Suzanne Somers for medical advice. However I heard “American’s smartest man” Chris Langan in an interview express suspicion about 9/11. Further, conservatism is a sign of low IQ, and there’s nothing less conservative than questioning the official story of 9/11 or being distrustful of the pharmaceutical industry. Indeed Rosie is so unconservative that she infamously called Americans terrorists
Rosie, like Oprah and perhaps even Donald Trump, turned against the Iraq war before it began, but Rosie is so unconservative that rather than being proud of her enormous wealth, like Donald Trump and even Oprah, she told Oprah financia guru Suze Orman that she’s embarassed by it.
Rosie vs Trump
Speaking of Trump, Rosie famously made fun of him in 2006 when she was co-host of The View. Rosie’s tirade inspired screams of laughter from the crowd, and when Hillary Clinton appeared as a guest on the show in the next segment, she commented on how funny Rosie was. Trump and Hillary were still friendly at the time, so Trump must have been furious that he could be mocked so successfully on an afternoon lady’s talk show. Indeed Trump was so shell-shocked by Rosie’s attack that he spent weeks calling Rosie a fat low IQ pig loser on every show that would listen.
At the time I was very disappointed in Trump, who I generally like, because I expect a billionaire to behave with more class, and to be smart and secure enough to ignore such taunts, but instead Trump took the bait, diminishing himself while giving Rosie more ratings.
Indeed, Rosie and Obama were perhaps the only two people to get the better of Trump in the exchange of public insults. Obama did so by mocking a red-faced Trump to his face at the White House correspondence dinner, but the difference is, Obama had the best comic writers in America writing his material, while Rosie did it off the cuff. So even though I think Trump is very bright, it’s possible Rosie is 15 IQ points higher.
Indeed it seems Trump still isn’t over Rosie’s attack, as evidenced by him recently losing the Iowa Republican Primary arguably because he didn’t want to debate there, because he was still mad at moderator Megyn Kelly for asking him about Rosie.
On the other hand, Rosie is now a has-been, and Trump is almost the President of the United States.
Other evidence
Further evidence that Rosie has a high IQ is that she appeared on Celebrity Jeopardy and won, which shows an ability to absorb information, and retrieve it rapidly. On her show she was famous for knowing the lyrics of almost every song that came up. I also recall her once boasting about doing well on a game show called Win Lose or Draw, where you draw a picture and others must guess what you’re drawing. This game requires lateral thinking.
On the other hand, I recall Rosie once saying she did not take Advanced Placement classes while in high school and I also seem to recall her saying she got a combined score (verbal + math) in the 700s on the old SAT (way below average for a college bound teen), but she also said it was because she was trying to cheat off a friend, but it didn’t work because the friend had a different copy of the SAT. She has said that growing up, she was great at Geomrtry but bad at Algebra. But academic tests don’t suit Rosie. She’d be better off taking a more holistic intelligence test like the Wechsler, preferabley an older version (adjusted for the Flynn effect) that included fun tests like Picture Arrangement.
Rosie vs Oprah
Overall, I think Rosie, like Oprah, has a genius IQ of around 140. Both women are freakishly extreme on the two most Darwinian correlates of IQ: money and brain size; and both women are examples of how brilliant people with mediocre educations can rise to the top through real world adaptive behavior, drive, personality and luck. Rosie has huge wealth (though not nearly as huge as Oprah’s) and Rosie has a huge head (though not as huge as Oprah’s). You would thus expect Oprah to also have a higher IQ, but because Rosie comes from a much higher IQ race, the two women are probably about the same. Here’s Rosie reflecting on what it was like to compete with Oprah on daytime TV:
Pumpkin Person 
Pumpkin Person“An IQ of about 140 is extremely high, making Rosie potentially smarter than 99.5% of U.S. whites.”
I really like talking to people smarter than me. When I say something they automatically understand. I am still at odds though, I kind of form an identity around my life experiences. I remember the feelings of life events. I do not have to put any effort into remembering them. They are just there. It is not surprising that IQ of 140 shifts you into the range of genius. This can form into an ego of superiority. With me I do not feel that need to be opinionated. I just have ideas I would like to expand on. The shear willpower to keep any thought in my head probably shows how much I can relate to Jewish thoughts as in verbal comprehension. So I just like talking about ideas in a meaningful way so I can understand the gestalt of where I may be missing a critical component to fit it all together. Telling people what I thing is less enjoyable than the feedback I can get from a high intellect without an egoic bias. Subsequent relationships with those people I meet I can ask questions. I love asking questions yet I do not like being ignored. If I could I would love to have dialects somewhere in the range of 140 and above so they would compliment my difficulty in holding simultaneously many thought at the same time. And especially they could help me when I get stuck and know what I meant to say. The following dialog would help me out.
Alex Jones has claimed to be 140.
He is always attaching people and
misrepresenting peoples positions.
Ray Kurzweil never claimed he was God.
He is definitely an egoic personality.
Alex Jones might have an IQ of 140 but I bet he flunked the SAT. Always interesting when high IQ people flunk the SAT and still become super successful by sidestepping the Ivy League gate keepers
I did horrible on the SAT. I went to a “special school” for kids with behavior problems and I was around 90 percent blacks. I didn’t learn anything new and when it came time for me to take the SAT, I didn’t know anything on it so I didn’t do well. I know I’m much more intelligent than that. Iirc I got around a 700 both times, this was in 2006 and 2007.
My IQ was tested at 108 at 17, after I did horribly on the SAT. I’m much more intelligent than my SAT score says, obviously.
You got a 700 on the reading and math combined, or on the reading, math and writing combined?
On what test did you score 107? Was it an individually administered IQ test?
I went to a school for kids with behavior problems too (briefly). More evidence for genetic similarity theory!
What was your behavior problem?
Whoa I just stumbled on this, why did PP and RR go to schools for bad kids? ?? You are good people!
peepee needs lovin’ from moby dick.
she’d grow up and stop pretending she was a white guy.
’cause we are all made of stars…
trump is a huge prole, but o’donnell? she said she grew up in an area where a camaro was a desired car, and she’s a fat ugly dyke.
do one on margaret tobin brown peepee.
a movie was made about her…along with a broadway show…and she was an irish american feminist.
quite a profound work of art from moby.
we are all made of stars…including those (famous) people (stars) “we” most look down on.
and these stars include ron jeremy and tommy lee…famous for their large dicks.
did kato have a big one too?
he posed in playgirl.
has peepee posted on the oj trial?
…i followed it while it was happening and the wisest both black and white verdict was
…oj did it
AND
he was framed.
of course my former prosecutor dad, who’s very sympathetic to the blacks…so to speak…
he actually walked into a black bar on the night king was assassinated…
he was asked to leave…
he told me that:
1. the prosecution was incompetent.
2. the judge gave way too much leeway.
do one on margaret tobin brown peepee.
Your ancestor, or your ancestor’s wife
if she hadn’t made it off the titanic, i wouldn’t be here.
my blood was there on the north atlantic at midnight.
Just re-watched OJ miniseries from last year, felt ashamed for the prosecution and that Johnny Cochran was such a cynical race-baiter.
you can’t be this guy peepee:
so give up.
just like bruce jenner can’t be this gal:
fugget about it.
btw,
to demonstrate my prescience…
the next president of the united states WILL be…
Donald Trump.
100 to 1 odds ON.
Rosie says he will NEVER be president:
Guess she’s not as smart as we thought.
if he is assissinated yes.
otherwise…
and trump’s support is not a mystery except to the retarded elites who run america-stan.
more than any society present or past, america selects for:
1. obedience
2. striving
3. pushiness
4. stupidity
trump was born sliding into home, so he’s never had to be “socialized”.
noteworthy,
the last billionaire to run for president was also very anti-NAFTA. that was perot.
carl icahn calls trump’s election a “no brainer”.
duh troof…
the american electorate has largely woken up. they know now that what chomsky has been saying forever is TRUE.
You were right!
Here’s what I don’t get; how can head circumference/size alone be key in determining IQ, rather than a ratio of some type, relating to body size. My head circumference is 24 inches, near Rosie’s, however I am 6’2” and large framed. My Global IQ is nowhere near 140. Is it really possible that the median of my potential IQ values is 140?
There should be a quotient, not just pure brain size as a measure. Rosie’s organs weigh less than mine, and she needs less brain space to take care of that, that’s why she is expected to be smarter than me, solely based on head size, and nothing else.
Both absolute brain size, and brain size relative to body size correlate with intelligence. The latter is used more between species (where humans have the biggest brains relative to our body size) and the former is used more between species, though Rushton noted that whites sometimes had bigger heads than East Asians until adjustments for body size were made.
It’s also important to note that adjustments for body size are NEVER a ratio. The problem with ratios is that bigger people and bigger animals tend to have lower brain size/body size ratios. Instead the proper adjustment is how big your brain is compared to others of the same fat-free natural body weight.
Also, you’re probably a guy. The brain size IQ correlation stronger within sexes. When men and women are matched on head size, the woman will have a higher IQ. That’s because there are large sex differences in head size, but tiny sex differences in IQ.
So intuitively that would mean brain space needed for bodily function increases at low correlation..compared to actual weight, meaning that brain space should not have as strong of an increase as is expected, as weight increases.
More or less. It would seem to imply that the brain size as a function of body size is non-linear Once you have enough to govern basic bodily functions, you need less brain mass per unit of natural fat-free body weight.
If you don’t believe the conspiracy, you’ve not looked into it enough.
More evidence she may have a high IQ: her dad is an electrical engineer (per Wikipedia).
If a woman is a disgusting liberal, then she probably has a high IQ. I may just be convinced enough to apply this to my prejudices.
“great at Geometry but bad at Algebra”
So higher non-verbal than verbal I’d assume.