An Alternate View on William Sidis

The prevailing belief that William Sidis had an IQ between 250-300 is part cultural folklore. However, is this another case not unlike Babe Ruth's famous "Called Shot" home run during the 1932 World Series at Wrigley Field in Chicago?

Immediately after the home run, a legend was born. Not surprisingly, it could never be proven that Ruth had indeed pointed to center field gesturing he would hit the ball in that direction. Nonetheless, the myth persisted. The camps of nay and yay clearly defined and divided.

In recent years, new film footage had been found about that famous moment. One definitely confirms he was pointing but in what direction remained unclear. A second film purchased by ESPN from the family who owned it seem to conclude that he was in fact pointing to the Cubs dugout. Why, who knows?

Cubs pitcher Charley Root went to his grave with the thought that Ruth did no such thing as call his own home run at his expense. History and new evidence seems to have vindicated him.


The closest thing we have on record about the moment is from Historian Donald Honig who later wrote this exchange between Root and Ruth:

Root: You never pointed out to center field before you hit that ball off me did you?
Ruth: I know I didn't, but it made a hell of a story, didn't it?

What if Sidis is just that? A helluva story? Sidis was undoubtedly highly intelligent. He probably was indeed a genius. Heck, he may well have been one of the smartest men in America - though the claim he was one of the greatest minds in world history seems a bit of a stretch. How in the hell do we measure intelligence spanning such a long period? How do we measure intelligence period?

The fact is that there is no evidence Sidis had an IQ of 250-300 but the Sidis Archives is sticking to it. To some it remains conjuncture and hearsay - much like Ruth's home run. Until the evidence presents itself it must be treated as a myth.

I discovered an alternative position about Sidis on a site called The Logic.

In any event, given Sidis' commitment to the principle of Okamakammesset (anonymous publishing) it's possible that something as trivial as an IQ figure would not concern him greatly.

After all, his mind was occupied with ideas and thoughts of higher importance and consequence.