The Cleverer of the two Holmes Brothers

Well, I was rereading some of the Sherlock Holmes books, and I got to thinking. Exactly who is the more clever? Mycroft has his talents, but his deduction isn't half as good as Sherlock's. Sherlock has his smarts, but no real experience with a good social life, and is avoided because he is, frankly, quite untouchable.

So, WHO IS CLEVERER??? I want to know, but I know its a difficult decision...

Mycroft has the upper hand with age - and status. So he is indeed more intelligent.
However Sherlock is more intellectual and has the fine arts of music - so that is actually classed as a form as emotional intelligence. Mycroft is the "Ice-Man" for a reason..

I think Mycroft is wiser than Sherlock, partly because of his age. I think he is intelligent in a broad range of things, but shallow.
Sherlock knows a lot about a few certain points... which makes him more independent, I guess...

Hmmm... hard choice.

I thought it was a hard choice too. I think in certain areas they are better than the other, so therefore, technically, they cannot be compared. Like England and Japan. Two diverse cultures, totally different.

While I think most people are a bigger fan of Sherlock, in canon Mycroft is described as the more intelligent, but lazier, and thus less useful as a detective.

Ha, he definately is lazy! I cant remember the exact description in the Adventures, but I think it said he was a bit fat?

Yeah, Mycroft is "corpulent" in the canon, which is why they have the running joke in the series about him being on a diet.

Anyway back to the question. He's definitely the cleverest Holmes brother and he does make good deductions - remember in Great Game when John comes back from staying at Sarah's and Mycroft makes the correct deduction about the sleeping arrangements but Sherlock gets it wrong?

Mycroft is clever he's just lazy and doesn't like legwork which is why he chose the job he does and why Sherlock is the one who does the running around solving things. Mycroft would be good at it, if only he could be bothered. It's just not his scene.

Mycroft is said to be more clever by Sherlock in The Greek Interpreter. That is he makes accurate deductions when he can be bothered to and possibly just being 7 years older than his brother gives him an advantage.

In canon, Mycroft is supposed to be smarter than Sherlock but he suffers dredful enui and doesn't bother using his brain like his brother does. He has what I suppose to be an eidetic memory and his brain is like a computer for the British government, they cannot do without him although his job is not really detailed. In Sherlock (BBC), I figure Mycroft thinks he has more of a handle on emotions and how people express them but he is a terrible snob and allows his prejudices to get in the way. I think he does care for Sherlock but Sherlock is stubborn and rebels against Mycroft trying to parent him. All in all I do think Mycroft is more intelligent and possibly wiser than Sherlock but not necessarily the better person.