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Neurosurgeons have higher than average IQ, and Carson is one of the best. He's smart. I don't know much about Harvey, but ironically I found this article http:
by ikeboy 10y ago
Neurosurgeons have higher than average IQ, and Carson is one of the best. He's smart.
I don't know much about Harvey, but ironically I found this article http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/steve-harvey-success-series-kick-your-fear-of-failure.html http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/steve-harvey-success-series-ki...
>Spend time with a person who is very successful in some field or pursuit; it doesn't matter what.
After a few minutes you'll probably think, "Wait, this guy isn't any smarter than me."
After a few more minutes you'll probably think, "Hey, I'm actually smarter than he is."
Success doesn't require a high IQ or some special intangible quality that you don't have. Successful people only become "special" after they succeed; before they put in all that time and effort they were just like everyone else.
Spend time with a few successful people and you will realize you are just as capable of achieving great things.
I disagree with some of this, as above.
There's some of each, some lucky and some skilled. But I think skill plays a bigger role in the variance of similarly situated people. Luck in the sense of where you're born, how privileged your family is, etc play a larger role than luck later in life, I think.
I also consider brains a luck factor as well.
- lisper 10y ago> Neurosurgeons have higher than average IQ That's the conventional wisdom, but is it really true? Or do they just have above average mechanical skills? I followed Carson closely during the presidential campaign and I saw no evidence that he's particularly smart (and quite a bit of evidence to the contrary).
- nugget 10y agoHave you ever seen people you know personally do live events / media on that scale? Carson did an amazing job considering his background.
- lisper 10y agoI have a relative who is a TV news reporter. I have personal acquaintances who have done live TV interviews, and I have done a couple of those myself (on Fox News). Does that count? And what exactly is it about Carson's background that makes you rate his performance as "amazing"? He seemed amazingly bad to me. I've even watched some of Carson's performances as a motivational speaker before he got into politics and he still seemed to me like (how shall I put this?) not the brightest light in the firmament.
- ikeboy 10y agoI know a couple of people who went through medical school. It is not easy. Being smart certainly makes it easier (to get in as well as getting through all of it), so doctors are selected for intelligence, as well as hard working.
- lisper 10y agoAFAICT getting through med school mainly requires the ability to memorize a ton of random facts and a willingness to defer to authority and put up with a boat load of bullshit. The ability to actually think critically (which is part of my definition of "smart") is not only not a requirement, it can be a distinct disadvantage.
- ikeboy 10y agoMemorization skills are g-loaded and hence correlated with other g-loaded measures, like critical thinking. I'd even put "willingness to put up with BS for an eventual reward" in that category, see marshmallow studies and e.g. http://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20080910/delayed-gratification-intelligence-linked http://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20080910/delayed-gratificati...
- lisper 10y agoWhat can I say? There are exceptions to every rule, and I see very little direct evidence of critical thinking skills in Ben Carson. Geez, the man is a YEC. That's about as far from rationality as you can get without being locked up.
- ikeboy 10y agoFair enough, I guess. http://www.uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/seven-nobel-laureates-in-science-who-either-supported-intelligent-design-or-attacked-darwinian-evolution/ http://www.uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/seven-nobe... might change your mind on whether there are smart YECs. Apparently the inventor of the MRI machine was one.