Note that I am on record here for telling self-declared smart people that intelligence is not something they can take credit for, and that even dumb people have feelings and have talents and deserve respect.
Why are so many presumably intelligent people smug about their IQ and college degrees?
I had a talk with a college professor last month. We agree that most universities are cruel in their eagerness to discard the kids who can't win the academic game. If a kid gets into a college and pays the tuition, the college should assume some responsibility for them.
Of course, electronic design involves hiring smart people; that can't be helped much.
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John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc
lunatic fringe electronics
The computer science/math department at the first school I went to had a department chair who was like that. Brilliant guy, but teaching was an afterthought for him, he was in his mid 30s and trying to make a name for himself through his research.
He taught several of the classes, but it was a complete sink-or-swim attitude. He essentially viewed them as farming grounds for innately talened potential grad slaves who could help him with his pet projects. He played real favorites, I recall two of the upperclassmen would always harshly criticize my projects and hold them to junior year standards, even though I had only learned C last Thursday. Years later, at least one of them works for the department.
Naturally, everyone else couldn't wait to drop those classes and even the concentration fast enough. I didn't give up on tech entirely, but I did transfer out and moved in a slightly different direrction (audio/visual production), and went to another school where the department had a somewhat more egalitarian attitude.
Quote from the article: "The government could, for example, provide incentives to companies that resist automation, thereby preserving jobs for the less brainy."
That's because universities are not about teaching, they are about research. Ask a professor about their evaluation criteria. You will find their performance in the classroom to be way down on the list.
My cynical side rears it's head, and states that by and large, we all need someone to look on in contempt. Society is trying to limit doing that by reasons of race, religion, sexual orientation, and whatnot, so people have to fall back on _something_.
So here we are, not able to make jokes about the Poles or the Italians or about folks of African descent (there's more countries in Africa than in Europe -- yet it's "Africans") or Native Americans or the physically handicapped or the mentally handicapped or people who tend to fall in love with people who are not of the opposite gender from them or people who feel that their gender is different from their physical sex -- so what's left?
So it seems that ranking people who are "just plain stupid" (as opposed to mentally handicapped -- we can't make jokes about them, oh no) as being sub-human is the way to go.
I haven't noticed this phenomenon -- hanging out on rec.crafts.metalworking keeps me educated that there are plenty of people in America who look down on African Americans and other people of color (although they tend to use older, ruder terms to describe them, which I find myself unwilling to use, even in quote marks).
Personally I don't rank people's worth by "smart" or "stupid", because in my experience there's a lot of "soft skills" that have a huge bearing on people's abilities -- I know engineers who clearly got through their advanced math classes with sweat and memorization and who couldn't integrate the area under the curve to save their lives, yet who are damned fine circuit/software/mechanical/whatever designers. On the other hand I think we all know people who are absolutely brilliant academically, yet who couldn't engineer their way out of a paper bag.
I try to live my life as if we all have the same worth in the eyes of God (even though I'm agnostic), regardless of our abilities, or even, to some extent, of our sins. So I work hard at not slotting people into categories that allow me to hold them in easy, unconditional contempt. This leaves me in the uncomfortable position of only having one category to slot people into -- "uncharitable bastard" -- which slotting requires me to be an uncharitable bastard myself.
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Tim Wescott
Control systems, embedded software and circuit design
I'm looking for work! See my website if you're interested
http://www.wescottdesign.com
There's a quote in there: 'As one account of the era put it, hiring decisions were ?based on a candidate having a critical skill or two and on soft factors such as eagerness, appearance, family background, and physical characteristics.?'
The problem with that is that appearance, family background, and physical characteristics (as well as behavioral quirks) can all be used to discriminate against people who don't present themselves as white male heterosexuals -- if we, as a society, could get beyond such discrimination then we could go back to choosing on those grounds. But even today, there's still a huge amount of conscious or unconscious discrimination against people who are "different". I think part of the reason that we choose based on academic performance is because that's something that is much easier to do legally, without opening ourselves to a quagmire of potential lawsuits.
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Tim Wescott
Control systems, embedded software and circuit design
I'm looking for work! See my website if you're interested
http://www.wescottdesign.com
There are universities that are, indeed, about "teaching", but it's a hard thing to balance -- it's hard to stay fresh in teaching if you don't do at least some research, but the big PR and bucks come from research.
"Teaching College" is the label to look for.
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Tim Wescott
Control systems, embedded software and circuit design
I'm looking for work! See my website if you're interested
http://www.wescottdesign.com
Every human also has emotional needs. It is normal for people to want to feel special. It might be traced to a survival instinct. It is boosting ego/self-worth.
So the smart people you refer to may be manifesting their emotional need to feel special. However, I consider "tells" of that kind stupid. "Stupid is as stupid does" is the real test.
Yeah, some tasks require substantive analytical ability, in addition to appropriate training.
The real problem with ALL colleges and universities is accountability... their main sources of income are from Federal and State government... private colleges as well... look at the budgets (if you can see an honest one).
The solution (unobtanium) is to cut off ALL government funding of universities.
All the BS would disappear virtually overnight... but it'll not happen, ever :-( ...Jim Thompson
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| James E.Thompson | mens |
| Analog Innovations | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |
I'm looking for work... see my website.
It's still pretty much the same as it ever was. The best predictor of your social class (i.e. weather you'll end up wealthy, or not) is whether you were born into wealth.
The best indicator of whether you'll get the best jobs, is whether you know people who also have the best jobs.
One thing I've realized from talking with a fair number of self-declared "smart people" is that...they often aren't very smart, at least outside whatever narrow areas their autism spectrum disorder caused them to focus intently upon.
The stereotype of the computer wizard who could whip up the ultimate C++ hack in an hour, but simply has no idea what to do when a girl is around is depressingly common.
Well, government make people expensive: FICA, unemployment insurance, workman's comp, regulation. And government gives tax breaks for buying automation.
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John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc
picosecond timing precision measurement
jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com
And who you know is largely who you choose to cultivate friendships & assoc iations with, and yes, IQ is very significant in that. Folk usually pick wh o they understand & relate to.
The original article imho was boring and... a bit stupid. Yes a variety of skills are wanted in life, no IQ is nothing more than correlation with one of those skills, and that's about it really.
I don't believe that applies exclusively to "smart". Most people tend to stick with things they know and with which they have some level of comfort. I rarely see an accountant working under the hood of their own vehicle. Nor a baker attempting to make a ribeye roast. Nor an EE trying to write poetry.
For most people, they pidgeon-hole themselves into a particular set of friends, activities, and employment opportunities. This is "safe". In many cases, there is downside risk to venturing off that sweet spot -- even if it isn't particularly "sweet"!
How many can afford to *try* to take their career in a substantially different direction -- esp if they have other mouths to feed? How many can approach a design in a radically different way -- given that there is a manufacturing line waiting for that "finished product" to produce?
Even with these external constraints removed, how many have the time/resources to venture into a different direction "on their own time/dime"? Can you afford to "waste" that time/money -- only able to harvest what you've *possibly* learned from the experience?
I bake a lot. I am always tweeking Rx's to see how to improve some aspect (flavor, mouth feel, freshness, etc.). But, I rarely deviate far from my previous attempt(s). I don't want to "risk" the time and materials "invested" being wasted. It's OK to have brownies that are "a bit too chewy -- but still edible". OTOH, having to discard the entire batch (and start over) is too difficult to do -- often.
[This is one reason why ice cream is such a delightful undertaking! There's no such thing as a bad batch of ice cream!!]
The EE who can't solder two wires together? Or, who specifies a
ociations with, and yes, IQ is very significant in that. Folk usually pick who they understand & relate to.
f skills are wanted in life, no IQ is nothing more than correlation with on e of those skills, and that's about it really.
I'm of the Turing machine theory--if it tries hard enough, and is disciplined in the effort, it can solve any problem other computers can. But it's got to try.
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