Greta Thunberg's IQ: The Mind Behind the Global Climate Activist
Jul. 11 2023, Published 2:23 p.m. ET
Greta Thunberg was just 15 years old when she staged her first solo climate strike in 2018, which became a worldwide movement. And the young climate activist has accomplished a great deal since her high school days.
Thunberg has been open about her diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism spectrum disorder. The diagnosis — as well as climate science deniers' false narratives about Thunberg — have both caused some people to question Greta Thunberg’s IQ.
What is her IQ? Here's what we know.
What is Greta Thunberg’s IQ?
Greta Thunberg has never shared her IQ publicly, and it isn't known if she's ever taken an IQ test.
That said, IQ tests are far from the only way to measure one's intelligence or impact on the world.
Greta Thunberg sees Asperger’s as her “superpower.”
According to the Kennedy Krieger Institute, people with Asperger’s syndrome usually have a "normal," and sometimes even genius-level, IQ.
Thunberg, the thrice-nominated Nobel Peace Prize contender, sees her Asperger’s as a benefit rather than a hindrance to her activism. She refers to Asperger’s as her “superpower.”
“When haters go after your looks and differences, it means they have nowhere left to go. And then you know you’re winning!” Thunberg tweeted in 2019. “I have Asperger's, and that means I’m sometimes a bit different from the norm. And — given the right circumstances — being different is a superpower. #aspiepower.”
In fact, her Asperger’s may have helped push her to stage her first climate protest in 2018.
“If I would have been like everyone else, I wouldn’t have started this school strike,” Thunberg told a BBC reporter in 2019. “I don’t think I would have become interested in the climate at all if I would have been like everyone else because now I think differently.”
About her Asperberger’s, Thunberg also told the BBC, “It makes me different and being different is a gift. It also makes me say things from outside the box. I don’t easily fall for lies, and I can see through things.”
Thunberg agreed when the BBC reporter suggested that Asperger’s made her approach topics with “black-and-white” thinking rather than shades of grey.
“You can’t be a little bit sustainable. Either you are sustainable, or you’re not sustainable. That’s a bit black-and-white thinking,” Thunberg said.
Thunberg graduated high school with top marks.
Thunberg graduated from high school on June 9, 2023, and held her final school strike that day, The New York Times reported. Her graduation was delayed because she took time off school to focus on her climate activism, as per The Times.
According to the Swedish newspaper Expressen, Thunberg graduated from her Stockholm high school with top grades in all subjects but one.
Greta Thunberg has achieved more than good grades.
But Thunberg’s accomplishments far exceed just her grades. Between 2018 and 2023, she:
- Wrote three books
- Was nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize
- Was named TIME's Person of the Year in 2019
- Founded a global activism group, Fridays for Future
- Rubbed shoulders with famous people such as Barack and Michelle Obama, Al Gore, Malala Yousafzai, and Leonardo DiCaprio
- Was arrested for protesting
- And so much more.
There’s still no word on whether Thunberg plans to attend college. However, she's already earned an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Helsinki.
