Quote: the G-man said: Wasn't his mother ALSO a scientist?
Depends on the author. Right now, Superman's not even sure which Krypton to believe in.
Quote: the G-man said: Yes. However, he has superpowers. Powers that, on many occasions, have been shown to require a brain that thinks a lot better than the average guy.
Better than the average guy is not better than Mr. Miracle.
Quote: the G-man said: Look at the way that, for example, Superman will use his X-ray vision to find some disease or something in a human body. Unless you know anatomy like a forensis pathologist, x ray vision doesn't help.
Again, I think that's a bad case of over-writing, but let's go with that.
Learning that much about the anatomy of the human body takes time and memory. Super-speed takes care of the time, but not the memory. To do as he does means he has learned more than most humans are even capable of learning about anatomy, chemistry, physics, engineering, etc., etc., etc. And those are just the sciences. Let's not even get into the aspect of detective work. Even if all that isn't too much for him to learn, even if he's spending a whole lotta time in the library at superspeed (a la Kid Flash), it SHOULD be too much for him to remember.
Otherwise, he's the smartest man on the planet.
Quote: the G-man said: But my point was simply that Superman is often portrayed as a strong, but not smart, guy. I'm simply pointing out that he should be very, very smart.
I agree with half your point. He is often portrayed as too dumb, absolutely true. I think the reason for that is to counterbalance the fact that he's also written as the most powerful being on the planet, sometimes in the universe. Overstating his intelligence is just as bad as understating it, though.
Quote: the G-man said: Why does he require those limits? He's Superman.
Every well written character has limits and faults. Not only would a Superman without limits become boring, but he would mute all other DC superheroes in record time.
Superheroes need limitations to make them believable and more human. The more perfect Superman gets, the less like us he becomes. The less like us he becomes, the less interesting. Lack of interest leads to lack of sales. Fear leads to... never mind, but you get my point.
Heck, even the God of the Bible gets jealous sometimes.
