I have gone over there to try and see what research they're cooking up, and I have no idea what I'm even looking at. I'll click through a few posts and all I seem to see are unrelated memes and images. There's hardly ever actual text of people discussing anything. It's just like strange links and indecipherable conversations.
I do have high respect for their intelligence. I consider myself above average but I know my limits- I'm not the smartest guy in the world. I consider people here to be decent intelligence as well. But whatever's going on with that site, I almost get the feeling you need a high level of intelligence just to even figure out what's going on. Or am I just retarded? Lol. Seriously.
familiarity with a specific interface has nothing to do with intelligence. Once you know it, it's as "complex" as everything else you know and don't realize you've internalized.
Just the fact that they use such a complex interface that is so convoluted leads me to this conclusion. I've been using the internet since I was a kid in the 90's. It's always been fairly cut and dry to me. AOL instant messenger was easy to navigate. Rotten.com was easy to navigate. Poop.com was easy to navigate (my first 3 favorite sites LOL). Never had a problem with myspace, facebook, and any kind of forums. But I go on 8kun and I feel like I'm looking at some kind of coded strange land.
a convoluted interface is not evidence of intelligence. Usually, the opposite. In this case, it is simply evidence of elitism (in a good way, for those who value 8kun/chan/etc.) It's just about being in the know, not being "intelligent".