25 years old and deep in debt

[Ideologue]

You laugh, but it's actually true to some extent.  It's hard to consistently stay on the "super" side of the genius/supergenius divide.

You're good at math.  That makes you smarter than probably anybody currently posting on Languish.  Hamilcar was smarter than you, and so was Vinraith.  But in the land of 1/1/1s the 1/3/1 is king.

Being good at math does not make one smarter than anyone. That just means that person is good at math.

Sounds like somebody who's not good at math would say.

[Ideologue]

I could probably get ahold of him, but iirc he was pretty tired of Languish in general.  Well, who knows?  I can try.  He probably won't have his Swiss mercenary bodyguards murder me.

That was years ago though and we have evolved and changed so much since then.

Disproves intelligent design, doesn't it?

[DGuller]

Being good at math does not make one smarter than anyone. That just means that person is good at math.

In all seriousness, you are way overselling the point, as you almost always do when employing the "Being X doesn't mean anything.  It just means that you are X." template.  Being good at math doesn't by itself make you smarter.  However, people who are good at math tend to be smarter.

[alfred russel]

They were scientists.  Vinraith was a biologist of some stripe and Hamilcar was an astrophysicist who works on galactic evolution and who works at [university, I'm not sure if he'd like me saying where].

I personally knew Hamilcar pretty well, and I occasionally still follow his work and publications.  The man should be basically everything I hate--born with the privilege not only of being European but richer than God, and much smarter than I am--he's not, he's a decent dude, but at the end of the day he's also a brilliant, brilliant guy.

The point being, why does being a scientist mean you are smarter than someone that isn't? A lot of people don't like playing the publication game. Also, money isn't everything, but if I had to guess DGuller will have the highest career earnings. For someone that is so anti academia, it seems odd to just declare that those who stayed in academia are smarter than those who left it.

[crazy canuck]

I could probably get ahold of him, but iirc he was pretty tired of Languish in general.  Well, who knows?  I can try.  He probably won't have his Swiss mercenary bodyguards murder me.

That was years ago though and we have evolved and changed so much since then.

Disproves intelligent design, doesn't it?

[merithyn]

In all seriousness, you are way overselling the point, as you almost always do when employing the "Being X doesn't mean anything.  It just means that you are X." template.  Being good at math doesn't by itself make you smarter.  However, people who are good at math tend to be smarter.

Jesus, DG, do you ever turn it off? I mean, seriously.

[DGuller]

In all seriousness, you are way overselling the point, as you almost always do when employing the "Being X doesn't mean anything.  It just means that you are X." template.  Being good at math doesn't by itself make you smarter.  However, people who are good at math tend to be smarter.

Jesus, DG, do you ever turn it off? I mean, seriously.

I try not to.  I'd rather be a stickler for good reasoning than be a stickler for bad reasoning.  At the very least it would make me more unique.  It may not make me cool, but at least it keeps me from being mediocre.

[merithyn]

In all seriousness, you are way overselling the point, as you almost always do when employing the "Being X doesn't mean anything.  It just means that you are X." template.  Being good at math doesn't by itself make you smarter.  However, people who are good at math tend to be smarter.

Jesus, DG, do you ever turn it off? I mean, seriously.

I try not to.  I'd rather be a stickler for good reasoning than be a stickler for bad reasoning.  At the very least it would make me more unique.  It may not make me cool, but at least it keeps me from being mediocre.

It certainly shows your lack of a sense of humor, that's for sure.

[Ideologue]

They were scientists.  Vinraith was a biologist of some stripe and Hamilcar was an astrophysicist who works on galactic evolution and who works at [university, I'm not sure if he'd like me saying where].

I personally knew Hamilcar pretty well, and I occasionally still follow his work and publications.  The man should be basically everything I hate--born with the privilege not only of being European but richer than God, and much smarter than I am--he's not, he's a decent dude, but at the end of the day he's also a brilliant, brilliant guy.

The point being, why does being a scientist mean you are smarter than someone that isn't? A lot of people don't like playing the publication game. Also, money isn't everything, but if I had to guess DGuller will have the highest career earnings. For someone that is so anti academia, it seems odd to just declare that those who stayed in academia are smarter than those who left it.

I'm not anti-academia, I'm anti-college-industrial complex, and, to a lesser degree, anti-liberal arts (at least as something taxpayers generously fund and millions of people take out loans to study).  Science departments do have their own issues, but I do not question their existence the same way I do with small college history programs or law schools.

Anyway, the initial intellectual capacity and the intensive intellectual cultivation which are required to do anything like what Hamilcar and Vinraith (I assume) do is not common.  Like Meri said, on Languish there's JR, and I think probably DG, and Alfred Russell, sure, why not?   Maybe a few others I'm just forgetting.  But those mentioned are Ark A people.

[DGuller]

It certainly shows your lack of a sense of humor, that's for sure.

There are triggers that turn it off, yes.  You're very well-versed with a couple of them.

[Ideologue]

I was just kidding about everybody else being a 1/1/1.  Don't take it personally.  Everybody here is good enough, smart enough, and doggone it, people like them.  Except Martinus.

[merithyn]

It certainly shows your lack of a sense of humor, that's for sure.

There are triggers that turn it off, yes.  You're very well-versed with a couple of them.

It's okay to be average, DG. Not everyone can be a genius. I mean, being good at math is still pretty good.

[alfred russel]

Anyway, the initial intellectual capacity and the intensive intellectual cultivation which are required to do what Hamilcar (and I assume Vinraith) do is not common.  Like Meri said, on Languish there's JR, and I think probably DG, and Alfred Russell, sure, why not?   Maybe a few others I'm just forgetting.  But those mentioned are Ark A people.

I'd definitely put JR, Hamilcar, and DG ahead of me. Vinraith probably is, but here is the thing....drifting through a rigorous college program can be done. JR sounds really smart on the forum, Hamilcar seems to actually be a productive physicist, and I've seen the actuarially exams that DGuller is passing...Those things are beyond my reach.

But if I really wanted to I think I could have been a really shitty physicist. I'm sure DGuller could have been.

edit--I'm not saying Vinraith is a shitty physicist, btw. I don't know anything about him.

[merithyn]

I'd definitely put JR, Hamilcar, and DG ahead of me. Vinraith probably is, but here is the thing....drifting through a rigorous college program can be done. JR sounds really smart on the forum, Hamilcar seems to actually be a productive physicist, and I've seen the actuarially exams that DGuller is passing...Those things are beyond my reach.

But if I really wanted to I think I could have been a really shitty physicist. I'm sure DGuller could have been.

edit--I'm not saying Vinraith is a shitty physicist, btw. I don't know anything about him.

It's irrelevant. They do science, ergo, they be smart.

[Ideologue]

drifting through a rigorous college program can be done.

You know, Al, I wish you'd been around when I was young.