The Flash How smart is the Flash?

[Abishai100]

My favorite Flash (DC Comics) is Barry Allen, the go-to-guy, but I don't want to offend the gender-ites here, so Sela Allen is cool too.

The Flash, generically speaking, is a superhuman whose incredible speed makes him a sight to behold.

In the modern world, we rely on uncongested road traffic, speedy web-browsers, and reliably quick UPS services to keep our mercantile globe running smoothly, which is why we were so shocked when the World Trade Center was attacked in 2001.

Speed is very important to humanity, and the Flash is the ultimate speed-titan.

We know that various Flash individuals (e.g., Barry Allen, Sela Allen) are sufficiently resourceful and quick-witted, but does Flash's overall super-speed afford him any extra 'civilization acuity/sensitivity'?

An Olympics speed-runner is perhaps more sensitive about muscle control and field stability, making him/her slightly more 'sharp' about the reference frames of motion.

We know that strong-guy athletes (e.g., football players, weight-lifters) who take steroids exhibit aggressive behaviors.

So does Flash's super-speed give the superhero any extra mental focus?

 

[Thome216]

The only real stand out show of super intelligence was in the premier. It was when just by sight alone he was able to measure a tire tread left in the dirt and come up with the make and year of the vehicle in a matter or moments.

But special mental ability like that was shown only once, and after that, no... not really.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Have you've seen the Justice League Unlimited episode where Lex Luthor switched minds with The Flash?

The Flash doesn't come close to using his powers to their full potential.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I would thank that any Flash must have superhuman response times, otherwise he would crash into walls, lose his balance, etc. So, logically, he may not be smarter than the average human, but he would think faster, which could look like superhuman intelligence in certain circumstances.

That said, Barry Allen is usually a forensic scientist, suggesting a high level of intelligence and education to begin with.

 

[Web-Head]

In the comics or on the show?

 

[KidFlash6969]

Interestingly enough, when Barry Allen first debuted in the silver age, he was actually depicted more as a capable experimental scientist almost like a Doc Brown/mad scientist type character. He built crazy contraptions like his flash costume ring and the cosmic treadmill, and had a lab in his apartment where he would conduct experiments.

When they originally gave him the job title "Police Scientist", the idea of what a forensic scientist was wasn't very common knowledge (this is decades before stuff like CSI) and he was intended to be interpreted as almost a mad scientist type character who got super speed from a lab accident gone wrong after a bolt of lightning hit him during one of his experiments

 

[Eni]

Well, TV Barry seems capable enough when it comes to his job but clearly doesn't want or can't use his speed force to accelerate his thinking process.

The comic Barry on the other hand, is a totally different story. His mind works at the speed of light, he can walk through a number of outcomes regarding a situation with each single step he takes. He pretty much has one of the most powerful brains when it comes to the DC heroes, as he can draw up solutions for a problem within nano-seconds, while the world around him is apparently frozen in time.

It annoys me to no end that they can never let Barry on the show even come close to such a level of power, as they need him to be dependent on his 'team' so that Caitlin, Cisco, and so on are of use and can have time on the screen.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Have you've seen the Justice League Unlimited episode where Lex Luthor switched minds with The Flash?

The Flash doesn't come close to using his powers to their full potential.

On JLU? Sure. In general over the course of his decades in comics? That's another story.

 

[Syncos]

Have you've seen the Justice League Unlimited episode where Lex Luthor switched minds with The Flash?

The Flash doesn't come close to using his powers to their full potential.

The JLU Flash was Wally though, not Barry.