IQ Bell Curve / Midwit

About

IQ Bell Curve, also known as Midwit, refers to a series of memes that use the IQ distribution diagrams to mock one of the three main groups represented by the diagram, usually the largest group of people towards the center of the curve who possess average intelligence. The concept of IQ Bell Curve memes utilizes the horseshoe theory, implying that the groups with low intelligence and high intelligence often choose to follow the same goals while being guided by different reasoning. Those who possess average intelligence are referred to as "midwits." While there were many versions of memes illustrating the concept, a variant of the meme using three different Wojaks gained particular popularity in the 2020s on X / Twitter and Reddit.

Origin

The word "mid-witted" was popularized by far-right activist and writer Vox Day. On February 17th, 2012, Vox Day^[1] published the blog post "The tragedy of the mid-witted" in which he commented on a life story article "Lessons of a very sexy pirate costume" by Jennifer Wright.^[2] In the blog post, Vox Day wrote, "Those who possess above-average intelligence and trouble to occasionally read newspapers and magazines tend to genuinely be under the erroneous impression that they possess superlative intelligence" (extract shown below).

The term "midwit," meaning a person of average intelligence, saw use on 4chan starting in late 2013 (example posts shown below).^[3][4][5]

On January 1st, 2017, an anonymous 4chan^[6] user made the earliest found post that used the IQ bell curve diagram to argue about the similarity of political views of groups with low and high intelligence (shown below).

The format did not see further use until December 2018. On December 14th, 2018, an anonymous /pol/ user^[7] used the diagram to make a claim that people of both low intelligence and high intelligence are racist (shown below, left), with another user posting^[8] an edited version of the diagram on the same day (shown below, right).

Note: the images contain an uncensored racial slur; discretion advised.

Spread

Throughout 2019, the the edited image was reposted^[9][10] on 4chan multiple times. On June 24th, 2019, an anonymous /pol/^[11] user posted a Manlet meme referencing the horseshoe theory interpretation of the IQ bell curve (shown below, left). Several variations of the format were posted on /pol/^[12][13][14] in late 2019 and early 2020 (example shown below, right).

The viral popularity of the format began on March 10th, 2010, when an anonymous 4chan^[15] user posted a meme about Ted Kaczynski and the anarcho-primitivistic ideology (shown below, left). On the same day, the user^[16] launched the first "midwit memes" thread which gained 12 replies (shown below, right).

In mid-March, the meme format in which the IQ bell curve was used to ridicule people of average intelligence, referred to as "midwits," gained significant popularity on /pol/ board, with multiple variations of the meme being posted^[17][18] in the following weeks. After the viral spread on 4chan, the format also gained notable popularity on Facebook, with variations of the meme also appearing on other platforms in the following months.

Crossover Beyond 4chan

A version of the meme featuring three different Wojaks arrayed on an IQ Bell Curve chart gained increasing popularity in the early 2020s. At the lowest IQ level is a variant of Brainlet, in the middle of the curve is a Midwit crying Wojak and at the top end is a monk-like Wojak wearing a cloak. In this version, the Monk Wojak and the Brainlet Wojak agree with one another while the Midwit Wojak offers an unnecessarily complicated analysis. The earliest version of this posting came from the X account @owenbroadcast on July 11th, 2020 (seen below), earning over 2,200 likes in the course of three and a half years.^[19]

Following the @owenbroadcast post, versions of the meme using these three Wojaks and this background became dominant across X, Reddit and other platforms. On /r/dndmemes on January 3rd, 2021, the meme (seen below, top) earned over 4,100 upvotes in three years.^[20] On /r/okbuddyphd on October 15th, 2022, a posting (seen below, bottom) riffing off the IQ bell curve format earned over 2,100 upvotes over the course of a year.^[21]

Search Interest

External References