you only have to look at child prodogy Sufiah Yusef who is now working as a prostitute.

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I was going to post something about Peter Parker, then I read this story John Webb posted....Man, is that tragic. Just goes to show that intelligence and wisdom don't necessarily go hand in hand.

"you only have to look at child prodogy Sufiah Yusef who is now working as a prostitute."

Please...don't give Joe Q any ideas!

I agree with Dave Avenell. Peter is well above average but not a genius. In the world he lives in supervillains can build secret bases and war-satellites singlehandedly. The Flash Rogue's Gallery (if we allow DC stories to be counted) were common thugs who invented fantastic weapons in the prison workshop ! 

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When Reed Richards and Hank Pym are impressed by your intelligence you are a genius.

>>I agree with Dave Avenell. Peter is well above average but not a genius.<<

very often we become glib about throwing out superlative titles to easily, but this seems to be a rare instance when folks are getting conservative more than they should be.  if you have an I.Q. of 140 or better, yer a Genius -- two standard deviation above average -- which I think it's safe to say, Peter clearly is.  Of course, as you point out, so are most supervillains these days -- at the very least building body armor far in advance of what Peter's built.  Heck - crazy as a loon, the Scorpion was able to throw random electronic devices in his tail and wind up with a laser that fired at will.  Peter isn't a Mensa level genius, or even "Top of his field" genius -- but he's a genius nevertheless.

Heck - crazy as a loon, the Scorpion was able to throw random electronic devices in his tail and wind up with a laser that fired at will.

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I always thought Scorpion paid for the tail upgrades.

IMO he's definitely got the potential to be a bona fide genius, but only if he hung up his webs and did whatever Reed Richards had to do to get to that level. Like Einstein said, genius is 1% inspiration ... 

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That was Edison, but I agree.  I think he's got the genius, but not the drive.  His drive has been in the area of his powers.

Also, Hank McCoy discovered the source of the mutant gene, and created a mutagenic compound that affected it.  He also cured the Legacy virus.  I'd say as a biochemist and doctor he's got to be in the genius ranks.  I don't know if he's Hank Pym or Reed Richards smart, but I know plenty of high IQ "geniuses" who create nothing, discover nothing.