Spurious Accusations: The Controversy of YoungHoon Kim's Stated IQ

Dr. YoungHoon Kim appeared on X.com and made several statements that caught the public's attention. Dr. Kim seems to be a VERY polarizing character. Some people love him, and some people hate him. In this way, he is very much a love or hate type of character, just like USA president Donald Trump, whom Kim fully endorses. And in that, we see the first problem. The idea is that if someone is as smart as Kim is, how can he support President Trump, who, these dissenters often see as a threat in one way or another? This is not to mention some of the very controversial things that Dr. Kim has said, according to the secular mindset, which prioritizes neutrality and some misplaced sense of non-commitment. Surely, these are the same sort of people who claim truth is unknowable and so anyone who claims to know the truth is automatically untrustworthy. And in a sense, that is what draws many people to Kim's spicy takes. Because, you see, Kim's stance is very much in line with many Evangelicals, who are very much like Kim in that they think there are certain stances that we do not bend on and no compromise can be had. Take Kim's first viral Post, for example, where Kim confidently declares that Jesus is God. This is sure to spark controversy among the more "intellectual" (read: skeptical) types who can hardly commit to any orthodox Christianity, let alone feeling they could confidently say Jesus is God.

I myself am somewhat of a controversial figure as well. As far as I know, I don't have a lot of haters on X.com, but I can for sure tell you that if you stand for common sense, you will run into lots of problems with the more "neutral" and secular crowd. I know this because I have been banned by more than one online forum for stating what should be obvious: that men are men and women are women. I say this to illustrate that anyone who enters the public square and declares their confidence in a fundamental principle will likely get themselves in trouble. "No good deed goes unpunished."

We live in a secular world, just as former President Barack Obama declared we live in a "post-Christian" society. Ever since then, political correctness has been on the rise. It used to be that family members could go along to get along, even if there were a sharp political divide between family members who were democrats vs republicans. This polarization of our society is based somewhat on our growing liberal mindset, which is something done through less than moral means, if not downright illegal methods. Kim, as such, is someone who is not going to play this stupid and "benign" ideology of "tolerance" and diversity for the sake of diversity. These armchair humanities professors are full of change for the sake of change--chaos incarnate.

But enough about the cultural problems that are the reason why Dr. Kim is having problems in the first place. Here, I would like to point out some of the factual errors that you may come across when trying to decide if Kim is someone to be trusted or not.

First of all, as the elephant in the room is concerned, Kim's stated IQ is 276. People claim this cannot be accurate for all kinds of reasons. So, let me correct some of those misgivings here.

Kim's accomplishments are well documented. As such, there is sufficient evidence for the claims that Kim (and others) have made about his IQ. But let's talk about where people go wrong.

First, and primarily, let's talk about Kim's Wikipedia page. What I have to critique is the Wiki's section on "Claims about his IQ."

We read, "In July 2024, the World Mind Sports Council, an organization that has listed Kim as one of its managers, certified Kim with an IQ score of 276 points." But this is deceptive. Why? Because Kim was made a manager of the World Mind Sports Council AFTER they had recognized his IQ. So, at the time they recognized his IQ, he was NOT affiliated with them. The Wiki makes similar claims about the World Mind Sports Council, the Giga Society, and the World Memory Championships. The problem is that Kim joined these AFTER they recognized his IQ, just like with the World Mind Sports Council. This is mentioned nowhere on the Wiki. The way it is written on the Wiki is to make you believe that Kim is a fraud, and all these organizations are affiliated with Kim. But Kim was only affiliated with them AFTER they had already recognized Kim's IQ. A basic question to ask is, "If someone just did the impossible in your relevant field of interest, don't you think you would want to work with them?" Of course, these companies would want to work with Kim given his talents! That's just the obvious thing for them to do!

As far as Giga Society is concerned, yes, it is a completely separate organization from another Giga Society. The founder of the Giga Society, Paul Cooijmans, is just bitter at Kim's success. Cooijmans has no actual qualifications in a relevant field of his own. Kim does not need permission to be a part of another Giga Society. Additionally, although I'm not entirely certain, I believe the founder of the Giga Society, of which Kim is a part, was Tom Chitteden, not Kim. Chitteden has written a letter of approval for Dr. Kim, and Kim's IQ score is somewhat associated with Chitteden, who actually has a doctorate in statistics, so he is far more qualified than Cooijmans to make any judgments on Kim's IQ. In short, Cooijmans has done precisely what he is accusing Kim of doing.

In closing about Dr. Kim's wiki, it should be acknowledged that Cícero Moraes, ZDFheute, and Vice are not reliable sources of information regarding Kim as they either have no qualifiactions themselves, are biased and seem to have some grudge against Kim, or are far to the left of anything you could call a reputable source.

Also, keep in mind that in South Korea, where YoungHoon Kim is from, they sometimes use the standard deviation of SD24. Given Kim's remarkable talents in achieving perfect scores on high-range IQ tests and his IQ rating of 210 for SD15 (a perfect score), which would equate to a perfect IQ score of SD24, Kim's claim of an IQ of 276 appears legitimate. Further, Kim has shown that a person can have a possible IQ of 276 based on a peer-reviewed article about the subject.

In closing, the resistance YoungHoon Kim faces stems from political correctness and jealousy among those who dislike his conclusions, his confidence in his beliefs, and his polarizing character. I would further say that, based on my own personal observation of Kim since June 18, 2025, I can say confidently that Kim for sure believes what he says and is not trying to con anyone. He will continue to face opposition for who he is as a person, but I stand by his side.

That's it for this one.

God bless you! Until next time!