The IQ bell curve meme, also referred to as the “midwit” meme, makes use of a graph representation of the probability theory of normal distribution. This graph, commonly known as the “bell curve” for its shape, is a display of the idea that the majority will tend toward what is average while the minority make out the extremes on either side.
Interestingly, the majority in the middle tends to be most disparaged in this meme. These are the people referred to as “midwits” by the conservative population most likely to make use of the format.
What is the IQ bell curve meme?
As a meme, the supposed IQ bell curve is used to declare who and what is “normal,” representing unintelligent or “low IQ” people on the left and intelligent or “high IQ” people on the right. In the middle are the average “midwits,” most often portrayed with a miserable crying Zoomer Wojak.
Those on either side of the bell curve are frequently displayed with identical opinions, usually something simple that’s portrayed as profound, whether it is or not. The midwit, meanwhile, has complicated matters by overthinking or getting confused and ending up with a different opinion.
On the left, the “Brainlet” Wojak, who is drawn to appear as someone considered unintelligent, holds the simple opinion as though they were too incapable of thinking to reach the state of the midwit. Somehow, the Wojak in the Jedi robes on the “high IQ” end of the curve has come to the same conclusion through a process we must be too average and therefore stupid to understand.
The meme is a perfect encapsulation of the “thinking is bad” attitude common throughout the far-right. It’s a form of mental gymnastics that allows them to consider themselves superior to everyone else without having to put effort into deep analysis or self-reflection.
Origins of the IQ bell curve meme
The discovery of normal distribution is sometimes attributed to French mathematician Abraham de Moivre in 1738, but credit is more often given to the man who first used the term: German mathematician Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss in 1823. Math and statistics fans during this era became enamored with the idea of the bell curve and finding the point of absolute average on various topics.
The idea of testing to measure intelligence and express the concept as a “score” or “quotient” traces its roots to the 1800s. Many different tests have been developed over the years, and they became particularly popular with eugenicists around World War II. The term “IQ” was first used by German psychologist William Stern as an abbreviation for “Intelligenzquotient” in 1912.
The validity of “IQ” as a measure of intelligence, including in today’s tests, has been repeatedly challenged. The tests have fielded accusations of gender, racial, and class bias, having been developed by and for middle to upper-class white men.
Just about 100 years later, on February 17, 2012, far-right activist Vox Day coined the term “mid-witted” in a blog post, and it was later adopted by the worst of 4chan users. A bell curve putting Democrats in the middle and Republicans on either side appeared on the forum on January 1, 2017. In 2018, a user put up a similar post with racists using the N-word on either extreme and everyone else in the center.
Bell curve meme spread
Interest in the IQ bell curve meme began to spike in 2020 as it emerged from the sewers of 4chan and into the sewers of Twitter and other social media platforms. The Wojaks were sometimes replaced with characters from popular media, celebrities or other public figures, or other memes to represent who had what level of intelligence.
The meme’s popularity continued into 2024 as people of all political affiliations used it to represent different attitudes and states of being other than what some think of as intelligence. Its original meaning has endured among the political right, however.
Elon Musk‘s use of the bell curve meme as a Trump endorsement
On July 20, 2024, X.com owner Elon Musk tweeted a version of the bell curve meme representing his recent full-throated endorsement of Donald Trump for President of the U.S. The image shows Wojaks in MAGA hats on the left and right ends of the curve, with the Zoomer Wojak in the middle.
“Make America Greater Again,” he wrote.
Unfortunately for Musk, if the graph proved true, his favored candidate would not have anywhere near enough popular support to win the election.
Meme examples
Related memes:
- The sad origins and redemption of the Soyjak meme
- How Wojak became the internet’s all-encompassing reaction meme
- These Black Wojak memes are here to throw shade at white wokes
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