This 11-year-old UK boy outperformed Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking on Mensa IQ test
Imagine being an 11-year-old kid with a higher IQ than some of the greatest minds that have ever lived. A British youngster named Yusuf Shah proved himself as a genius after he scored 162 on the Mensa intelligence test. According to NBC News, Shah has a higher IQ than notable physicists Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking, who had an IQ measuring around 160. According to Mensa International's official website, the intelligence test involves 35 puzzles that an individual needs to solve in under 25 minutes. The test gets progressively difficult and gives a score at the end.
Mensa also confirmed the boy's score to the news outlet, revealing that he is a part of the world's top 2% population who have "great potential." The Yorkshire Evening Post reported that Shah's parents have encouraged him to take the IQ test with no prior preparation. "Everyone at school thinks I am very smart and I have always wanted to know if I was in the top two percent of the people who take the test," Shah, a resident of Leeds, told the news outlet. He is a mathematic enthusiast as well and is currently focused on enrolling in secondary schools. In his spare time, Shah enjoys solving varieties of Rubik's Cube and Sudokus.
Eleven-year-old Yusuf Shah is being hailed as a genius after he made the highest possible score, 162, on a Mensa intelligence test. His performance beats those of physicists Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein, who were both estimated to have IQs around 160. pic.twitter.com/kdBcDFB6O6
— IQ Test (@IQmaxio) May 6, 2023
"It feels special to have a certificate for me and about me," he confessed. "I also never thought I would be on the news." Shah's father also spoke to the news outlet and revealed that when his son was 7 years old, he discovered "a mathematical phenomenon" that he couldn't explain. Shah's family got in touch with a math professor from the University of Cambridge who further looked into the discovery and named the mathematical principle "Yusuf's Square Rule." Shah's parents continue to educate him to improve his work ethic and social life along with nurturing his genius abilities. “I still tell him that ‘your dad is still smarter than you,’” Shah's father joked in his interview. “We take it all lightheartedly. Even if you are talented, you have to be the hardest worker.”
“He just has this natural flair for math, and I guess that’s when we sort of realized. Even his school teachers, every time we get school reports, they’re amazing, they say, ‘There’s nothing for us to teach,’” Shah's father further spoke to First Post about his brilliant son who studies at the Wigton Moor Primary School in Leeds. While he was a student in nursery, Shah's parents noticed that he was learning the alphabet quicker than his peers. “Even in the nursery, we just noticed that he was doing the alphabet and things quicker than other children, but you just thought some kids may pick up the ABCs a bit quicker,” the 11-year-old's father said.
“I was so proud. He is the first person to take the Mensa test in the family. I was actually a little concerned too – he has always gone into a hall full of kids to take tests. We thought he might be intimidated by the adults at the center. But he did brilliantly," Shah's mother Sana beamed with pride while talking about her son, per the outlet. Shah's younger brother Khalid is also looking forward to following in his brother’s footsteps and is planning to take the IQ test once he is older.