Just how Intelligent is Kirk?

[Ravenlock]

In Star Trek 11 they mention his aptitude tests are off the charts. I know he graduated from Starfleet Academy in three years, he reprogrammed the computers to win the Kobayashi Maru, and he always alluded to beating Spock at chess in TOS.

So just how intelligent is he? Would he be considered a genius?

 

[john titor]

Its so strange because his personality is totally at odds with being intelligent. I'd say hes really intelligent but has a case of add and tourettes.

 

[Elder Knight]

In "Trouble With Tribbles," he's just a step ahead of the titular characters, which is what makes it funny.

 

[Keith1701]

Very

 

[I_am_not_Spock]

Well he's Iowa's only genius level repeat delinquent, apparently.

We all know incredibly smart people who just don't have the motivation or drive to turn their smarts into something more focussed.

Kirk needed starfleet to give him that focus. And sure, it's contrived and scripted but when Kirk struts on to the bridge of the Enterprise in his gold command shirt fior the first time, you can see a true leader who has both the keen intellect, energy and charisma of a true leader.

 

[JuanBolio]

In Star Trek 11 they mention his aptitude tests are off the charts. I know he graduated from Starfleet Academy in three years, he reprogrammed the computers to win the Kobayashi Maru, and he always alluded to beating Spock at chess in TOS.

So just how intelligent is he? Would he be considered a genius?

Having done all that and been the captain of a starship, often coming up with brilliant, desperate solutions to impossible-seeming problems, I'd definitely peg him as genius or near-genius level, with a minimum IQ of 140 to 150, probably higher.

 

[captcalhoun]

not as clever as Data.

 

[Pemmer Harge]

Cleverer than Aristotle, Darwin and Einstein put together.

 

[JuanBolio]

not as clever as Data.

In a sense he was - he was far more inventive.

 

[Yeoman Randi]

I never really got the sense that he was such a genius, or "a stack of books with legs", as he was said to be....i kinda feel the way JuanBolio does...far more inventive with an excellent mind for thinking fast on his feet.

 

[HairOfTheDog]

Kirk was a 23rd century Renaissance Man.

 

[EnsignRicky]

Way smarter than a fifth grader.

 

[Timo]

I'd rather argue he was a specialist who knew where his strengths lay. Picard seemed to know a little bit about everything - a true mark of the Google generation, and no longer quite as noteworthy as in the 15th century Europe... In contrast, Kirk had specific hobbies, such as 19th century United States history, but he didn't appear all that diverse.

His roots seem to lie firmly in the skipper of Forbidden Planet. He's more likely to take pride in his ignorance and caveman ways than be ashamed of it. Doesn't mean he wouldn't have intelligence or education or knowledge, or a combination thereof. He just doesn't flaunt it much in TOS.

We have to remember, though, that the retired Kirk was able to readjust the deflector machinery of a brand-new starship in ST:GEN. It's really unlikely that an average individual would have possessed that specific skill... Either Kirk happened to have made a really fortunate choice of retirement hobbies, or then he really had more under his wig than met the eye.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Mach5]

over 9000

 

[CoveTom]

not as clever as Data.

I would say that he was not as intelligent or knowledgeable as Data. But clever? When it comes time to find a creative and inventive solution, Kirk would outperform Data every time, IMHO.

 

[john titor]

not as clever as Data.

I would say that he was not as intelligent or knowledgeable as Data. But clever? When it comes time to find a creative and inventive solution, Kirk would outperform Data every time, IMHO.

Data, when he was given the chance, proved to be a far more lateral thinker than any starfleet captain. To support my case I cite the episode in which he was given command of a vessel and exposed the romulan ship using a tachyon field. His thinking was so creatively clever that Jean Luc Picard himself commended him; "nicely played." Data is the smartest character in trek, followed by seven of nine and spock. I'm not doubting that Kirk is a very intelligent human, but note the characters I've mentioned had superhuman intelligences aided by artificiality or alien evolution.

 

[Red Ranger]

Well, Kirk did beat Spock, who is a genius, on a regular basis at chess -- he alludes to that by saying in Court Martial, "Who knows? You might be able to beat your next captain at chess." And we see Kirk beat Spock at chess in Where No Man Has Gone Before.

We also see in The Doomsday Machine that he has enough knowledge to aid in repairing the Constellation. And he frequently offered solutions to Scotty on how to fix certain problems in many eps.

So Kirk is certainly intelligent. He's also unpredictable in how he arrives at solutions to seemingly insoluble problems. He may not be a genius, but he comes close, I'd say.

Red Ranger

 

[Cyke101]

not as clever as Data.

In a sense he was - he was far more inventive.

I would add that at the very least, Kirk was also more intuitive as well.

 

[childofdarkness]

Kirk was certainly very resourceful and intuitive, with an exceptional talent for data synthesis and pulling solutions out of his @$$ in a crisis.

 

[PhasersOnStun]

My psychology degree may be decades behind me, but I do remember that the definition of "general, non-species specific intelligence," as defined by researchers, is "goal directed adaptive behavior." Kirk absolutely exhibits an exceptionally high ability to adapt his behavior to achieve his goals.

That's not to say that he is necessarily the ultimate critical thinker, or has the best knowledge of any particular subject—or even the best chess player. But his inherent capacity for directing and adapting his thoughts and behavior to achieve a goal is exceptional.