What Does The Bell Curve Representing Intelligence Look Like?

[dullard]

Just yesterday I finished putting together a Powerpoint with screenshots and highlights because apparently a plain text doc with 7 steps that's 18 lines long (with some of those lines literally just being URLs or the names of settings) is too hard to follow.

Anything more than 5 steps is asking for trouble.

I once wrote a ~10 step, bulleted instruction page which included step #3 "Call Dullard to ask for the password" and step #4 "type the password into the Password box". I think three or four technical and intelligent people attempted it over the years. Eventually all of them told me that my instructions don't work even though they follow it exactly, every step, to the tee. Yet, to this day, not one person has ever asked me for that password. I'm baffled by how they got through step #3 and #4 exactly without doing either of them.

 

[nakedfrog]

Anything more than 5 steps is asking for trouble.

I once wrote a ~10 step, bulleted instruction page which included step #3 "Call Dullard to ask for the password" and step #4 "type the password into the Password box". I think three or four technical and intelligent people attempted it over the years. Eventually all of them told me that my instructions don't work even though they follow it exactly, every step, to the tee. Yet, to this day, not one person has ever asked me for that password. I'm baffled by how they got through step #3 and #4 exactly without doing either of them.

Yes, this does sound about right.

 

[lxskllr]

Did they get it working? I wonder if they spent a bunch of time breaking the security to get in.

 

[WelshBloke]

You’re way the fuck ahead of the curve if you’re smart enough to know you don’t know everything, experts matter, and there are different types of intelligence. The median person in America can’t even comprehend those basics and as a result, Dunning-Kruger their way through their entire lives.

This is a big sign of intelligence imho. Likewise being able to think your way through novel situations, or being able to think outside your bubble!

 

[WelshBloke]

When I used to work tech support, I found the most dumb people were actually the stereotypically smart people. Doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers etc. Some of them were just so clueless about basic things, like navigating Windows. Like, they use their computer all day to do their job, but get them to do something basic that should normally be part of their daily work flow like go to a certain web address and they are clueless and you have to walk them through every single step.

I mean from their POV you are there to do that stuff so they can get on with things they think are more important. Never assume that someone is unintelligent because they have different skills to you.

 

[lxskllr]

Every so often I try to define "smart" and come up blank, but thinking your way through novel situations is high on my list. Also the ability to say "That shit doesn't sound right", and investigate further.

 

[dullard]

Did they get it working? I wonder if they spent a bunch of time breaking the security to get in.

After they complained that it doesn't work, I just did the installation for them. All while knowing they didn't even once try my instructions. They certainly may have wasted hours trying to get around the password. That is their problem.

It wasn't even my password, it was a 3rd party driver that required a password. I wrote it that way since I had to get the instructions out the door and didn't have the password with me at the moment. But then it soon became a test that lets me know who can follow very simple straightforward lists.

 

[dullard]

Every so often I try to define "smart" and come up blank, but thinking your way through novel situations is high on my list. Also the ability to say "That shit doesn't sound right", and investigate further.

I tend to think about the phrase "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again". Anyone who tries a failed strategy repeatedly seems to not fit the definition of smart to me. I much prefer "If at first you don't succeed, learn from your mistake, and then try again."

 

[nakedfrog]

I tend to think about the phrase "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again". Anyone who tries a failed strategy repeatedly seems to not fit the definition of smart to me. I much prefer "If at first you don't succeed, learn from your mistake, and then try again."

I don't think you're meant to take it as literally as "keep doing exactly what you just did", but rather "don't give up simply because your first attempt was unsuccessful".