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Michael Penn
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| Posted: 26 January 2009 at 1:19pm | IP Logged | 1
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If the specialist rule applies, would not Prof. X then top the list of terrestrial brains?
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
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| Posted: 26 January 2009 at 1:24pm | IP Logged | 2
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Depends on how we measure "smart" (even if we mean it as a synonym for
"intelligent"). Xavier is very smart -- he invented Cerebro, after all! -- but
we cannot cross pollinate his mutate powers with intelligence. He could be
dumber than dirt and still have "the most powerful mutant mind" on Earth.
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David Ferguson
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| Posted: 26 January 2009 at 1:28pm | IP Logged | 3
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I debated having him on the list as I wondered how much of his knowledge was "borrowed" from other people.
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Ernest Voyard
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| Posted: 26 January 2009 at 1:39pm | IP Logged | 4
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I think that list is pretty good, but it got me thinking
that for a lot of these characters, their intelligence
has been ramped up in the same way as the Hulk's
strength or Wolverine's healing.
For example, the mistakes that gave several of them
their powers would seem ridiculous if you applied them
to the characters as perceived now - Bruce Banner's
errors with Gamma Radiation, Reed Richards mistakes with
Cosmic Rays, Pym's Ultron and so on. I think that maybe
only Tony Stark gets a pass on his invention being
dangerously flawed from the outset (I am leaving out
corporate/IP theft). Though my memory could be faulty.
All of the characters smarts got ramped up as the
threats got ramped up and suddenly the guy who didn't
put enough radiation shielding (a mistake he wouldn't
make now) was designing inter-dimensional portals.
Edited by Ernest Voyard on 26 January 2009 at 1:50pm
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John Bodin
Byrne Robotics Member
Purveyor of Rare Items
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| Posted: 26 January 2009 at 1:55pm | IP Logged | 5
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John Byrne wrote:
Xavier is very smart -- he invented Cerebro, after all! -- but
we cannot cross pollinate his mutate powers with intelligence. |
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Interesting to even see Xavier on this list -- even more interesting to see how different people interpret the title ("7 smartest people in the Marvel U"). For example, I interpreted "smartest people" to mean "top scientists/inventors," and even though Xavier "invented" Cerebro, I've never really seen any OTHER clues (aside from Cerebro and the Danger Room) to indicate that Xavier is a scientist/inventor along the lines of Reed Richards, Tony Stark, or Hank Pym.
As far as Xavier goes, I have always taken for granted that he "invented" Cerebro, but never really considered/believed that he actually DESIGNED and BUILT it himself -- I've always assumed that he came up with the idea, then somebody like Reed or Tony or Hank actually did the design and construction (or perhaps Xavier tapped into the necessary "great minds" in the design and construction realms and used THEIR knowledge to allow him to accomplish the task on his own).
For me, Xavier has always been the top expert in genetics, but not one of the top scientists/inventors of the Marvel U. That would still leave him as the leading expert in biological mutations, but not necessarily qualify him as one of the top scientists/inventors.
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Geoff Gibson
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| Posted: 26 January 2009 at 2:00pm | IP Logged | 6
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(or perhaps Xavier tapped into the necessary "great minds" in the design and construction realms and used THEIR knowledge to allow him to accomplish the task on his own).
Not huge on X-Men lore so I'll ask -- has Xavier ever done this (Taking knowledge from others) in a non-emergent situation? Isn't that like stealing? Or at best ethically challenged? It doesn't "feel" like terribly noble thing to do and I've always thought of Xavier as a noble person.
Edited by Geoff Gibson on 26 January 2009 at 2:06pm
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Peter Martin
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| Posted: 26 January 2009 at 2:04pm | IP Logged | 7
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Mortals:
=1) Reed Richards
=1) Doctor Doom
3) Modok
4) The Leader
5) Hank Pym
6) Tony Stark
7) Professor X
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Ted Downum
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| Posted: 26 January 2009 at 2:09pm | IP Logged | 8
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I'd say (in no particular order) Reed, Doom, Professor X, Tony Stark...and then a few characters we haven't heard about yet. Why should we have met ALL the smartest people in the M.U.?
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
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| Posted: 26 January 2009 at 2:09pm | IP Logged | 9
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As far as Xavier goes, I have always taken for granted that he "invented"
Cerebro, but never really considered/believed that he actually DESIGNED and
BUILT it himself -- I've always assumed that he came up with the idea, then
somebody like Reed or Tony or Hank actually did the design and
construction (or perhaps Xavier tapped into the necessary "great minds" in
the design and construction realms and used THEIR knowledge to allow him
to accomplish the task on his own).
••
With no textual evidence to support this supposition, it falls very much in
the same category as those fans who say they don't like some development
in a character or storyline, and are therefore going to "pretend it didn't
happen."
Since the whole process of reading these adventures is a game of "let's
pretend", it is important to understand who is doing the pretending --
and it's not the readers. To assume anyone other than Xavier designed
and built Cerebro is to go against the information we have.
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Greg Reeves
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| Posted: 26 January 2009 at 2:33pm | IP Logged | 10
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Since we're talking about Xavier, what do you all think (JB too, please) about a recent X-Men issue whereby Xavier spied on a compound by "seeing" it through a bird's eyes? Can he do that with the history we know of him and the presumed differences of human and avian brains?
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Scott Daggett
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| Posted: 26 January 2009 at 2:43pm | IP Logged | 11
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What is he, the Crow now?!? I don't think that Prof. X can do such a thing.
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Craig Markley
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| Posted: 26 January 2009 at 2:52pm | IP Logged | 12
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All those characters were introduced in the beginning years of Marvel. They set the bar that it seems no one is allowed to equal or pass.
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Topic Closed)
