Richard G. Rosner

Richard G. Rosner (born May 2, 1960) is an Emmy-nominated American television writer and reality television personality known for his alleged high intelligence test scores and his unusual career. There are alleged reports that he has achieved some of the highest scores ever recorded on IQ tests designed to measure exceptional intelligence.Morris, Errol,
One in a Million Trillion
" First Person (2000)Prager, Joshua Harris
Let's See Now, Complain Is to Club As Order Takeout Is to Restaurant
' ''The Wall Street Journal'', Wednesday, 14 May 1997 He has become known for taking part in activities not usually associated with geniuses. Rosner claims that he has worked as a stripper, roller-skating waiter, bouncer, and nude model.: "Tied with Sununu were… Solomon Golomb… and Rick Rosner, a University of Colorado physics student who made his living as a roller skating waiter and a stripper. Rosner's method of undressing was to set his clothes on fire." Includes photos of Rosner stripping with paper suit on fire.Rosner, Rick
When Good IQs Happen to Bad People.
''Noesis'' 57, January 1991. Retrieved on 23 December 2007. Rivera, Geraldo. "People with an X-Rated Past", '' Geraldo'', December 1989. He has appeared in numerous documentaries and profiles about his activities and views. He has also appeared in both a Domino's Pizza commercial as well as one for Burger King and sued the quiz show ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'' over an allegedly flawed question he missed as a contestant in 2000.Jennings, Ken. ''Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs'', New York: Villard, pp. 110–111. He wrote and produced for quiz shows and several programs produced by Jimmy Kimmel, including ''The Man Show'', ''Crank Yankers'', and ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!,'' receiving nominations for an Emmy award, as well as for multiple Writers Guild Awards for his work on the latter.Gay, Jason (15 December 2002)
Kimmel Hires Jilted Contestant.
''New York Observer''

Early life and education

Rosner grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He reportedly spent 10 years in high school, leaving in 1987. Rosner began working on a theory of everything around age 21, and had returned to high school at age 26 in order to have "one of those desk-chair combinations" in a quiet place to think about how the theory might work, drawing a comparison in an interview to Albert Einstein's Swiss patent office. Rosner discusses these matters in the first half of the interview.

After he graduated from high school and attended University of Colorado, Boulder on and off, where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity, Rosner appeared as a body builder in early choreography by Nancy Daw Kane.Gibson, Daryl. "'Genius' launches trial flight of scientific theory," ''Boulder Daily Camera'', 5 April 1986.Smith, L.L. "Letter to the Editor," ''Colorado Daily'', 10 April 1986.Jones, Tao. "Worse than you suspected: Boy wonder takes to skies with theory of the Bland Universe", ''Colorado Daily'', 4 April 1986. As an aspiring media figure, he placed a number of ads with titles about physics in the entertainment trade journal ''Variety'' while attending college.Rosner, Rick. Advertisements, ''Daily Variety'': "Gravitation is relativistically attenuated", 22 January 1986, p. 10; "Mach's Principle applies to gravitation", 26 January 1986, p. 30; "In a universe containing only two objects, the objects wouldn't be gravitationally attracted to each other", 2 February 2007.Zaslow, Jeffrey (29 May 1990)
Aspiring actors place hopes in classified ads.
''Chicago Sun-Times'' Rosner moved to New York City and wrote for MTV. When his wife accepted a job offer in California, they moved west.

Although he is not practicing, Rosner identifies as Jewish.

IQ tests

In 1985, he scored 44 of 48 on Ron Hoeflin's Mega Test, sufficient to gain entry into the Mega Society. The Mega Test is described in a history of IQ testing as "a nonstandardized test put out by an obscure group known as Mega, supposedly the world's most selective organization of geniuses." In 1991 he retook the test and achieved 47 of 48. From 1991 to 1997, Rosner was editor of ''Noesis'', the journal of the Mega Society. Rick completed Hoeflin's Titan Test and is the first individual to have answered all 48 questions correctly.

No professionally designed and validated IQ test claims to distinguish test-takers at a one-in-a-million level of rarity of score. The standard score range of most currently normed IQ tests is from IQ 40 to IQ 160. A score of 160 corresponds to a rarity of about 1 person in 30,000 (leaving aside the issue of error of measurement common to all IQ tests), which falls short of the Mega Society's 1 in a million entry requirement. IQ scores above this level are dubious (pending additional research), as there are insufficient normative cases upon which to base a statistically justified rank-ordering. High IQ scores are less reliably reported than IQ scores nearer to the population mean due to the inherently volatile assessment parameters that come from the limited data availability. The Mega Test has been criticized by professional psychologists as improperly designed and scored, "nothing short of number pulverization". Neither the Titan nor Mega tests are considered useful to psychologists in their current format, owing to their lack of supervision and time limits. The Titan test is further criticised for having multiple similar and non independent questions. Both tests have been shown to significantly over-report IQ.

Taking after the clinical views and opinions of Dr. Howard Gardner, Rosner has argued that "the whole idea of IQ is a little wobbly" due to its attempt to measure linearly what he views as a property with many different aspects.

Media activity and appearances

Rosner began writing for quiz shows in 1987 on the MTV series ''Remote Control.'' He then scripted a number of clip shows, countdowns, and outtake programs in the 1990s. Rosner's 2000 appearance on the quiz show ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'' led to a lawsuit over an allegedly flawed question he missed on the elevation of various country capitals. Rosner was asked, "What capital city is located at the highest altitude above sea level?" and given four answer choices: Mexico City, Quito, Bogota, and Kathmandu. Rosner answered Kathmandu; Quito is 8% higher.The Daily Show's Moment of Zen for July 12, 2001: Rosner loses on ''Millionaire''
/ref> Nonetheless, Rosner sued. Rosner's demand letter to the show insisted that a different city, not on the list of four answer choices, was the world's highest capital. The show responded that that did not matter.

Rosner's letter-writing campaign and attempts to get brought back on the show led to his being profiled in the Errol Morris series '' First Person''. Jimmy Kimmel later hired him as a writer, producer and occasional on-air talent. In 2008, he appeared in a Domino's Pizza ad for a line of oven-baked sandwiches.Bialyk, Carl (11 March 2009)
In Ads, 1 Out of 5 Stats Is Bogus*
''Wall Street Journal'' In April 2009 and August 2013, Rosner appeared on Bill Simmons' ESPN podcast '' The B.S. Report''. In May 2009 Rosner was featured on an episode of A&E Television's '' Obsessed''. The episode focused on his obsession with working out due to a fear of aging and dying.

References

Further reading

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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosner, Rick
1969 births
Living people
American television writers
American male television writers
20th-century American Jews
Contestants on American game shows
Writers from Albuquerque, New Mexico
University of Colorado Boulder alumni
Screenwriters from New Mexico
21st-century American Jews
Writers Guild of America Award winners