I could preface my comments with “I’m a really nice guy and an intellectual midget compared to the most of you…” But you’d all know what I really thought of myself.

I think Steve M. makes a good point. This post (and a plethora of similar comments made in church every sunday) point to a sort of idolatry present in much of LDS discourse.

I’d agree with that, and I think overall they do indeed do this. One such example is Elder Holland’s message this past conference where he prefaced his testimony by saying “As the least of those who have been sustained by you…”

“And I, even I, whom ye call your king, am no better than ye yourselves are.”

As long as religion keeps things in the realm of the untestable, and science handles the facts, I think everyone will get along just fine.

Haha, that’s priceless.

As long as religion keeps things in the realm of the untestable, and science handles the facts, I think everyone will get along just fine.

He was posing the argument sort of jokingly; hence the smiley.

At least I think that’s what he meant. Right?

I tell you that I have a blue shirt on. You look at me and say, “No. It is red.” Everyone who looks at it says it is red. You say “Look, it’s not a blue shirt. It’s red. Just ask anyone.” I reply, “According to the worlds standards, perhaps.”

Have I said anything at all?

Connor, You are the world’s largest deskchair.

According to the world’s standards, perhaps… :)

Which makes your claim all the more stupendous. Pres. Hinckley would have to exceed every other human at all these tests in order to qualify as Smartest Living Human.

This is why I think your claim is very silly.

Sure, but this follow’s Narrator’s #1 item: knowing a bunch of facts. If Joseph said he knows more than all the world because he has access to the Holy Ghost which knows everything, that indicates that while he doesn’t know all the facts right now, he can obtain any fact he righteously needs and desires to know through that conduit, whereas the world at large is left on their own to learn it through diligent study and research.

General intelligence can be measured. If intelligence tests on Pres. Hinckley show that he is, in fact, not the smartest man alive, could we then conclude that he’s not a prophet? Or would that just mean that your logic is flawed somewhere?

Am I even supposed to respond to that? Care to elaborate on why you think that?

I don’t know what I mean by ‘smartest’. I just thought it was a cool quote. :) I’m liable to think that Joseph statement is based on his definition of truth:

And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come; (D&C 93:24)

However, he who is ordained as prophet, seer, and revelator has, in my mind, easier and/or increased access to direct revelation on an abundance of issues.

John,

I agree that Joseph is teaching us a principle. While I think that the Prophet has greater access to such knowledge than the rest of us, he is teaching us (just as Christ did) that we are all entitled to the same privilege. Indeed, this is the crux of a prophet’s mission.

me + infinity = infinity;
:: you + infinity = infinity;

I don’t think Joseph Smith is trying to build himself up, he’s trying to teach us a principle.

Anyone can be the smartest man in the world, if he listens to God, right?

Then I thought that perhaps it was about Socrates.

Now I know who it is about, but not quite sure why. What do you mean by ‘smartest’? There are several ways in which one could be considered the ‘smartest’. Here are at least 4.

1. Knows the largest number of true propositional facts.
2. Believes the least # of false propositions.
3. A proportional mix of 1 and 2
4. The ability to utilize propositional facts.

Now Joseph’s claim can be used to support 1-3, though not necessarily. 1. Has the HG taught him more propostional facts than those around him? 2. Did his relationship with the HG lead him to be skeptical of everything but that which is revealed by the HG? The former, of course, assumes that Joseph Smith actually received more from the HG than others around him. The latter assumes that JS became skeptical of all non-HG ‘truths’.

If the HG makes JS smarter in the #4 sense, then could one say that JS is really all that smart, or that it is actually the HG that is smart?

I could go on and on, but i need to go teach my class.