4 ms·

The problem with articles like this is that it's in our natural tendency to think "oh this is me". Everyone thinks they are smart and we're not particularly goo

by cleong 9y ago

The problem with articles like this is that it's in our natural tendency to think "oh this is me". Everyone thinks they are smart and we're not particularly good at successfully finding others who are smart (hence the hiring problem in this industry ). Instead we hire based on whether someone is like us, because we think we're smart so if they like me, they are also smart. Articles like this will perpetuate that belief. Bad soft skills? Lack of a structured lifestyle? Cannot focus? Many people will relate to these because they take effort to build. Though Wilson touches a good point. Medium levels of intelligence is require for most jobs, even in Investing you do not need to be that bright to be "the best" in the field. Additionally, we know now that novel ideas comes from a background process in your brain that takes a lot of time and domain knowledge to develop.

Consultant32452 9y ago
In psychology there is a concept called the big 5 personality traits. The three most highly correlated to success are: highly disagreeable, highly conscientious, and high stress tolerance. So depending on what you mean by bad soft skills, that might be an asset since being highly disagreeable correlates to success.
dsacco 9y ago
> Medium levels of intelligence is require for most jobs, even in Investing you do not need to be that bright to be "the best" in the field. At the risk of kicking off a debate to define the word “intelligence”, I think you’re massively underestimating the intelligence - not just effort and experience, but actual intellectual horsepower - poured into the upper echelons of investing strategy. More generally, while I agree with your overall comment I’d say there’s likely few fields where the best professionals aren’t extraordinarily intelligent in addition to other success-amplifying qualities.
- cleong 9y ago
  No doubt professionals in the investing field have done good work, highly competent and smart. I was making a reference to Warren Buffet, there was a story where he was working with very high IQ individuals that made a mistake by over-complicating the strategy behind a decision. In the end, he said that you only needed a IQ of 130, smart but not a genius.

by cleong 9y ago

Consultant32452 9y ago

In psychology there is a concept called the big 5 personality traits. The three most highly correlated to success are: highly disagreeable, highly conscientious, and high stress tolerance. So depending on what you mean by bad soft skills, that might be an asset since being highly disagreeable correlates to success.

dsacco 9y ago

> Medium levels of intelligence is require for most jobs, even in Investing you do not need to be that bright to be "the best" in the field. At the risk of kicking off a debate to define the word “intelligence”, I think you’re massively underestimating the intelligence - not just effort and experience, but actual intellectual horsepower - poured into the upper echelons of investing strategy. More generally, while I agree with your overall comment I’d say there’s likely few fields where the best professionals aren’t extraordinarily intelligent in addition to other success-amplifying qualities.

cleong 9y ago
No doubt professionals in the investing field have done good work, highly competent and smart. I was making a reference to Warren Buffet, there was a story where he was working with very high IQ individuals that made a mistake by over-complicating the strategy behind a decision. In the end, he said that you only needed a IQ of 130, smart but not a genius.