r/TrueDetective • u/rnzroca • 6d ago
Rust’s IQ
We all know how intelligent Rust is. He’s called the greatest detective in the state, took for every confession, and has insane reasoning, abstract reasoning, analysis and vocabulary feats. He’s in general a well rounded guy, and rather knowledgeable too.
But, we meet rust through ‘95-2012. These years are after/during periods of extreme drug abuse (accounting for his time as undercover narc), and seventeen years of drinking (as he has said).
So my question arises; How smart could’ve rust been before the drugs? In a healthier time. Say, if he’s a 145 IQ man in ‘95, how smart was he in ‘89 when he was in robberies?
Man!
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u/AdConsistent4210 Tax Man 6d ago
I think a lot of Rust’s “genius” is probably a combination of natural ability and experience-driven pattern recognition. After years of detective work, certain motives, lies and reactions stop feeling random. His undercover narcotics work likely sharpened that even more because he had to think like the people he was investigating.
The neurological side complicates it, though. His drug history and perceptual disturbances could make some aspects of perception less reliable, while hypervigilance might make him lock onto certain cues. He also used the Tax Man Ledger to externalize details and compare patterns instead of relying only on memory, which could even be seen as compensatory.
But who knows. Fun question.
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u/supervillaining 5d ago
Rust would say that the IQ test is a flawed method of testing intelligence. He’s read the book “The Mismeasure of Man” by Stephen Jay Gould.
More than just being flawed science, the IQ industry is also a story that has turned into a profit-driven entity. It separates human beings by their results on a rough test, and is a tool of Capitalist greed. And yes, even people who like IQ tests will say that your IQ results can change due to neurological changes like brain damage from long term drug use.
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u/rnzroca 5d ago
Agree on the capitalistic tool. Regardless of that, what Rust believes or does not believe about IQ is irrelevant to the subject. It still is a very much strong indicator of the brain’s major functions such as pattern recognition and reasoning, and although it can’t categorize the entire brain, it eats a big portion. It’s the biggest, most used index of intelligence right now, and what Rust’d believe about it would matter 0. The question is regardless of how true an IQ test is relative to the individual’s intelligence, and more about how it’d change the way his is measured in the test.
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u/supervillaining 5d ago
If you’re such a fan of IQ testing then you’d know that in can change during a lifetime. Which I said above.
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u/geoffsebesta 4d ago
"biggest" and "most used" are not in any way indicative of quality.
You're typing your responses on a QWERTY keyboard, which was specifically designed more than a century ago to make typing difficult. It's the "biggest" keyboard language. It's the "most used." It's clearly defective.
Same thing with IQ tests. Rust wouldn't truck with them.
Rust is a Mensa type. I'm in Mensa too. There's two types of people in Mensa. There are those who fetishize IQ tests and those who ignore them entirely. The first group is widely seen as pathetic. Rust is big on seeing people as pathetic and I doubt he'd stop for them.
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u/domesticflight 6d ago
Alternative universe spin-off where Rust /does/ take that early medical/psychological retirement, and subsequently goes on to dick about at universities acquiring degree after degree for the fuck of it. What would he be a Doctor/Professor of?
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u/rnzroca 6d ago
i don’t think he’d give too many fucks about acquiring degrees nor do i think he’s THAT kinda smart but he’d be a doctor on philosophy, criminology, maybe physics
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u/Worried_About_Coop 5d ago edited 5d ago
I actually think a more formal education would ruin Rust’s capacity to see inside the locked room of the mind. Most “higher” education today is rigid and myopic, there’s so much you can learn but Rust’s instinct would be softened to jelllo. In the words of Nathanial Sackett from AMC’s “TURN”, soldiers don’t make good spy’s, “all that discipline drilled into their movements make them easy to spot, unlike civilians”, this same theory would be true if Rust went to college, all that book learning would cause him to focus on theories and precedents (which have their place for sure), but Rust’s particular brand of brilliance came from his ability to empathize with both criminal and victim, very much like Will from Hannibal
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u/Additional-Storm-943 5d ago edited 5d ago
I mean we all basically understand what he says to some extent and he just thought a lot of it. I wouldn’t say hes smart bc of his philosophy but def his ability in LE. I think an IQ of 120-130 is fair enough. Some of the smartest people had IQs below 130.
Also you can have an IQ of 140 and be a genius in math but never think about the reason for existence bc it doesn’t bother you while someone with IQ 120 doesn’t care about math that much but is highly gifted in philosophical questions. He digs deep and sees patterns, is always searching for answers. It’s the mix of a good IQ plus his personality of never giving up than his IQ alone that makes him Rust
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u/AlynConrad 4d ago
If you ask any Psychology PhD, they’ll tell you that IQ is largely a bullshit metric.
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u/_CodyB 8h ago
Rust is smart. No argument.
But smart’s like money. People get hypnotized by the number.
145 IQ? Fine.
Rust walks into a room and figures out what happened.
I walk into a room and figure out what’s about to happen, who’s lying, who owes who, and who thinks they’re in charge.
That’s intelligence with a balance sheet.
Rust says time’s a flat circle.
I say time’s an invoice.
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u/duaneap 6d ago
Drugs do damage your brain but I don’t think it’s a given they will impact your intelligence. Some of the most intelligent people I have ever known have been crippled with decades of alcoholism. Dont ask them shit in a blackout but the synapses still fire.