How smart is the average Harry Potter reader?
filed in Arts & Humanities on Jan.22, 2010
I don’t mean adults who read the book because everyone else is reading it. I mean how smart can these kids be? Look at the quality of their posts. Asking a stupid question in a complete sentence is one thing, but asking a stupid question in some hyper-hybrid language that would baffle the Sphinx is another.
I wouldn’t complain so much if the Books & Authors section wasn’t clogged with inane chatter about Harry Potter.
January 22nd, 2010 on 6:58 pm
I dont know about intelligence, but it seems very lemming-like that everyone and their great grandmother wants to read the series, often just to "fit in". They are decent books, but there is so much out there.
January 22nd, 2010 on 6:58 pm
I love Harry Potter and have read every book about 20 times. I get straight A’s and took Algebra in 7th grade.
January 22nd, 2010 on 6:58 pm
i’m pretty smart, thanks and i’m 14. i get a’s in all my classes except science where i have a b+
January 22nd, 2010 on 6:58 pm
i’m 11 and have been reading them ever since the first one came out… i’ve gotten straight a’s since 1st grade and take 8th grade math and english classes [i'm supposed to take 6th grade classes], so i guess pretty smart
January 22nd, 2010 on 6:58 pm
Just finished answering one Harry Potter question. ; )
Can you please explain the logic that lets you to question the smartness of kids reading Harry Potter (a book for kids, at least initially) and at the same time think that adults reading it "because everybody else does" are clever people?
Here’s what I do when I come to Yahoo answers: I only react to questions that I want to react to. The rest I just pass and forget. Yours was really enchanting chitter chatter! I had to answer it right away!
January 22nd, 2010 on 6:58 pm
I’ve been reading the books since I was 8. My third grade teacher recommended them to me. I’m smart. I was one of those kids in elementary school who got put in advanced classes after taking an IQ test, and the people telling my I was ‘gifted.’ There are a lot of HP questions and stuff in here, but the last book is coming out very soon, and fans are excited.
January 22nd, 2010 on 6:58 pm
Interesting.
Someone who seemingly loves to read, advocating a form of censorship.
January 22nd, 2010 on 6:58 pm
Well there’s always going to be smart people and there’s always going to be stupid people. Just because most of the HP questions are asked by stupid people doesn’t mean everybody is. And just because it’s a popular series doesn’t make me love it any less.
January 22nd, 2010 on 6:58 pm
In case you hadn’t noticed, there are a lot of illiterate posts made on subjects other than Harry Potter. There are also literate posts made about Harry Potter. I do think that a subforum for Harry Potter would be useful. A forum I belong to has a Books subforum and a separate Harry Potter subforum for fangirl material. However, I don’t think it’s fair to say all the big Harry Potter fans are stupid. I find the Dogs forum much more frustrating than this one as far as stupid questions and unintelligible English but that doesn’t mean the Chihuahua fans (for example) are all stupid.
January 22nd, 2010 on 6:58 pm
I’m in the 7th grade and I guess I’m here to tell you how stupid I’m not. I have algebra on my schedule this year and get a 4.0 GPA all year. I hate it when people automatically declare me stupid for being well, in the 7th grade. And what I think, is that I’m smarter than most high schoolers. I take advanced classes and work hard.
PS, I don’t think our posts are idiotic and I hope that you no longer think we are stupid. As you can see, all the people on here answered with correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Don’t judge someone by what they look like.
January 22nd, 2010 on 6:58 pm
umm i started harry potter in middle school, still reading it and I’m in college making straight A’s. I think a lot of people on here do short cuts. I do that when I don’t feel like typing every word out. Either way I wouldn’t judge anyone by their posts on here. They’re probably excited about the next book coming out soon.
January 22nd, 2010 on 6:58 pm
i have an IQ of 140 and am a straight-a student in high school.
i agree with you, though. there are a lot of idiots posting on this site.
January 22nd, 2010 on 6:58 pm
We are extremely smart because we choose to immerse ourselves in a world of literature instead of sitting on our behinds and playing video games for half the day. And, If you don’t want to hear about Harry Potter on this site then don’t ask a question about him yourself. And as far as it stopping goes, It’s not going to happen because all of the die hard Harry Potter fans on this site, including myself, outnumber you greatly and won’t stop asking questions until we get our answers. So, unless you have answers to such questions as: Is Dumbledore dead? Is Harry a Horcrux? Is snape good or evil? don’t expect the questions to stop.
January 22nd, 2010 on 6:58 pm
I hear you. it seems like every other question in books and authors has something to do with harry potter. twilight comes in close second though. anyway, i have read both and i like them, but i really don’ t get why everyone’s so crazy about them. but i do believe you ask an unfair question. a lot of harry potter fans only read harry potter, and that doesn’t make them stupid it just explains why they can’t type decently. but a lot of other people are actually really smart; harry potter is just one of their reading choices.
January 22nd, 2010 on 6:58 pm
The question of kids being smart has nothing to do with whether or not they read Harry Potter. The problem is today’s culture. Ever seen that commercial (T-mobile I believe) where the mother is trying to talk to her daughter and the daughter talks in text messaging language? Text messaging and other similar elements of today’s culture do not serve to mark a kid’s intelligence level, though they can serve to make kids look less intelligent in the eyes of adults.
January 22nd, 2010 on 6:58 pm
considering these are kids should you really be on here asking about their intelligence, if you dont want to read about harry potter by pass the questions and considering harry potter is a book then it fits perfectly into books and authors, personally i love the harry potter series and think that as you get into the books they get much more complex so fair play to the kids who are able to read them and keep up with whats going on.
January 22nd, 2010 on 6:58 pm
I am a Sophmore in High School, and started reading the Harry Potter books back in the beginning of second grade.
I had straight A’s all through elementry school, and A’s and B’s in middle school and in high school.
I started reading chapter books towards the end of first grade.
English has not been my first language.
Spanish was.
I moved to the states when I was only four, and by then I was talking Spanish better then many Spanish speaking adults.
I had to learn English very quickly, and pretty much was a master at it by first grade.
Then, in 8th grade I took French 1, and recieved A’s all through the year. I then took French 2 in 9th grade, and plan on taking French 3,4, and 5.
I am also teaching myself Italian, and getting pretty good at it too.
I really do not consider me to be a stupid person.
January 22nd, 2010 on 6:58 pm
Well lets just say this…I’m in high school..Ive made straight a’s in everything except cooking..baha dont ask..
I started readin Harry Potter in 2nd grade…
2nd grade I had a reading level of a 11th grader…
3rd grade the reading level of a 12th grader…hmm, odd for a kid right?
But by 4th grade I had a higher reading level than most COLLEGE kids.
January 23rd, 2010 on 12:17 pm
I never go so deep of such series, I just enjoy the instant adventures. But I like Harry Potter because Harry Potter a great name to every one. I like most to read Harry Potter and movie also enjoyable.
Thanks J.K Rowling.