Does Internet Explorer Lower Your IQ?

Survey Says: IQ Related to Your Browser Choice

According to a report entitled "Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and Browser Usage" (PDF), users of alternative web browsers such as Firefox and Google Chrome tend to have higher IQ's. I'm sure they didn't mean to imply that merely using Microsoft's Internet Explorer will lower your IQ, so let look into Aptiquant's methodology.

The firm invited Web surfers to take an online IQ test; approximately 100,000 people did. The respondents were grouped by age, and "age-appropriate" IQ tests were given to each group. (Respondents under age 16 were excluded.) The firm then grouped test scores according to the browsers that test-takers used. The results were interesting.

Subjects using any version of Internet Explorer scored significantly lower than others on the IQ test. Users of Internet Explorer 8 did slightly better than users of other versions. There were no significant differences between the IQ scores of Firefox, Google Chrome, and Safari users. They all scored higher, on average, than Internet Explorer users. Users of Opera, Camino, and a special version of Internet Explorer called IE with Chrome Frame scored highest of all, on average.

In addition, this year's results were compared to an unreleased study of a similar nature conducted in 2006. There has been a significant drop in average IQ among Internet Explorer users since that time, while the average IQ scores of Firefox and Safari users have remained steady. Opera users saw the biggest jump in average IQ during the 5-year period.

The results were sorted again, grouping subjects by IQ percentile. The percentage usage of the top 10 browsers within each percentile was calculated. Again, the results were interesting. The higher subjects ranked in IQ percentile, the less likely they were to use Internet Explorer. Firefox and Chrome were the runaway leaders in the 50th percentile and above. Opera, Camino, and IE with Chrome Frame are virtually unused in the lower 50 percentiles, but see sharp increases in usage among the most intelligent subjects.

What Does the Study Really Show?

Aptiquant concludes: "The study showed a substantial relationship between an individual's cognitive ability and their choice of web browser. From the test results, it is a clear indication that individuals on the lower side of the IQ scale tend to resist a change/upgrade of their browsers."

Web developers have long decried Internet Explorer, which does not adhere to international HTML standards. IE's non-standard ways of rendering Web pages costs developers millions of labor hours to ensure that Web pages will display correctly in both IE and non-IE browsers. Users who cling to outdated versions of IE only make the problem worse. This study gives developers "scientific proof" that those infuriating people who insist on using IE are "dumb."

The war to stamp out Internet Explorer is similar to the war on cigarette smoking. Smokers are stupid. They endanger their health, just as IE users are more prone to computer virus infections. Smokers and IE users make life more miserable for the rest of us. There is a social stigma, if not outright prejudice, against Internet Explorer users. And it's gradually working, just as the campaign against smoking is working.

Internet Explorer once claimed more than 90 per cent of the browser market. Today, its lead is down to just over 52 per cent, according to research firm Netmarketshare.

Of course, I could just as easily make the argument that resisting the urge to constantly change or upgrade your software is a GOOD thing, since it requires a significant amount of time to learn the features and quirks of the new program.

So, what do you think... are IE users dumb? Post your comment or question below...