STUDY: Internet Explorer Users Are Dumber

Published on 07-29-2011 12:42 PM

A research firm posted an IQ test on its Web site and then compiled the results from more than 100,000 users.

It found that there was no substantial difference between users of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Opera.

But Internet Explorer users had IQs below average.

That's a switch from five years ago, when IQs were more or less the same across all browsers.
The company, Aptiquant, bills itself as a "psychometric consultant." Its main business is creating tests to help businesses hire well.
Now before all you Opera users get too satisfied with yourselves, there are lots of possible reasons why IE users scored so low:

IE has about twice the installed base of any other browser, so IQs are more likely to tend toward the mean.

IE is the default browser of 95% of people who don't know how to download and install a new browser, which drags down the average. (Mac users in this boat stick with Safari.)

People who use other browsers include a disproportionate number of computer geeks, which brings their averages up.

Online IQ tests -- or IQ tests in general -- are silly.

IE users really are kind of dumb.

Whatever the reason, here's a chart showing the average IQ of users for each browser in 2011 (red) and 2006 (blue):

And here's a chart showing the percentage of people in each IQ percentile who use each browser -- for instance, Firefox (the dark green line) has a low percentage of dumb users (on the left side of the chart) but the highest percentage of average (middle) and smart (right) users.

Bigger versions of the charts are available in the study. You can download and read it for yourself here(PDF file).

Categories:
Software

23 Comments

whatcdfan - 07-29-2011, 01:16 PM
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People who use IE doesn't know what a "browser" is, let alone being smart.

merwais - 07-29-2011, 01:19 PM
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and Who studied it ? another dumb ? He should've included himself also as a dumb.

IdolEyes787 - 07-29-2011, 01:44 PM
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Originally Posted by merwais

and Who studied it ? another dumb ? He should've included himself also as a dumb.

You're using IE aren 't you?

predateur - 07-29-2011, 02:04 PM
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is it true opera is the best browser ? ...:p

Originally Posted by merwais

and Who studied it ? another dumb ? He should've included himself also as a dumb.

lol IE here!

duke0102 - 07-29-2011, 03:21 PM
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In this study they claim to have used 101,326 people to produce there findings. According to exploredia there are 1,966,514,816 using the internet so that's roughly 1 in 19,408 used, which a pathetically low number of people, to make there charts and findings to say IE user are less intelligent.

whatcdfan - 07-29-2011, 04:33 PM
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Originally Posted by duke0102

In this study they claim to have used 101,326 people to produce there findings. According to exploredia there are 1,966,514,816 using the internet so that's roughly 1 in 19,408 used, which a pathetically low number of people, to make there charts and findings to say IE user are less intelligent.

You ironically don't need any percentile of users to determine this crystal clear fact.

IdolEyes787 - 07-29-2011, 05:38 PM
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Originally Posted by duke0102

In this study they claim to have used 101,326 people to produce there findings. According to exploredia there are 1,966,514,816 using the internet so that's roughly 1 in 19,408 used, which a pathetically low number of people, to make there charts and findings to say IE user are less intelligent.

Math is not your friend. It would only take 16,589 respondents to give you 99% confidence with only a 1% margin of error.

As you can see by this table required sample is not directly proportional to population size.

Attachment 81443

Anyway statistics or not you lot are going a long way to disproving the whole study anyway.

mjmacky - 07-29-2011, 05:46 PM
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A study wasn't even necessary, was it? I don't even think I needed anecdotal proof, but I guess I get both.

P.S. merwais is the anecdotal evidence

stlcardinal9 - 07-29-2011, 06:19 PM
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I got here using Chrome! YES

ILikeToParty - 07-29-2011, 06:54 PM
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It's even dumb to install IE in the first place.

megabyteme - 07-29-2011, 06:59 PM
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Browsers? I sift through the data of the Matrix.

Quarterquack - 07-29-2011, 07:14 PM
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It's pretty obvious what needs to be done. Someone integrate an IQ test into the first start-up of a browser.

IdolEyes787 - 07-29-2011, 07:17 PM
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I'm so old I remember a time when only smart people used computers.

Justsomeguy - 07-29-2011, 11:25 PM
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I'm so old I remember no computers! Well NASA maybe had a few the size of a small Hotel

OlegL - 07-29-2011, 11:50 PM
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I am a firefox user, but I really doubt that many IE users have IQs that are below 100.

IdolEyes787 - 07-30-2011, 12:00 AM
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Statics don't lie mate,statics don't lie.

anon - 07-30-2011, 02:07 AM
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Opera users are S-M-R-T.

mjmacky - 07-30-2011, 08:00 PM
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Originally Posted by anon

Opera users are S-M-R-T.

You're missing some letters...
O-D-D

maldini 3 - 07-31-2011, 11:54 AM
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Originally Posted by ILikeToParty

It's even dumb to install IE in the first place.

What we gonna do if this crap comes with Windows, IE is the dumbest software I've ever seen...

mjmacky - 07-31-2011, 08:53 PM
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Originally Posted by maldini 3

Originally Posted by ILikeToParty

It's even dumb to install IE in the first place.

What we gonna do if this crap comes with Windows, IE is the dumbest software I've ever seen...

IE does come with Windows, and for a very important reason. Though this should be updated:

Attachment 81680