4 ms·

I would very much like to have a small discussion on this if you don’t mind sharing your thoughts on the following: What would be the ground truth for some not

by wadkar 8y ago

I would very much like to have a small discussion on this if you don’t mind sharing your thoughts on the following: What would be the ground truth for some notion of smartness level? It could certainly be subjective, sure, but could you please tell me what you think being smart means? Do you think people around you have different scale/notion of smartness than you? Would it be possible that you’re being hard on yourself? If not, how would you rate/think about your coworkers smartness? I am really interested in knowing your thought process because a part of me certainly identifies with your statement. And I am very much interested in discussing “appearing to be smart” vs “being smart”. Something tells me there’s not much difference between the two or perhaps only the former exists and latter is too abstract to be useful for any comparison.

ryanmarsh 8y ago
I do a lot of consulting so that might have something to do with it. Basically I get paid to appear to be the smartest person in the room (which I personally think is utter and total horse shit but that's another rant). I've been told my whole life that I'm "smart" but the problem is there are lots and lots of people out there who seem (I've tried to read their papers on ML) like they're an order of magnitude smarter. I write like a 13 year old, but maybe I speak better? IDK. For most people I think it's totally subjective. If you surprise someone with a bit of knowledge they don't have (either memorized or figured out for yourself) people think you're "smart". People who share what they know or help others come to a novel solution appear "smart". I do believe in a general concept of intelligence (q). I'm willing to bet mine is only slightly above average if even that, only because I keep meeting programmers who cannot think as clearly as I can so I have to assume I'm smarter than some of them. I'm sorry I don't have a better answer. It's a total mystery to me. I feel like a total dumb fuck most of the time. You said you identify with my first comment. How so?
- wadkar 8y ago
  Thank you very much for your answer. It gave me a lot to think about. To answer your question - I have been told by my peers and teachers that I have “potential”, some pointed out that I am exceptionally good at grasping new concepts. From my point of view I “sort of” accept whatever new information is presented to me as truth and my mind goes into a kind of overdrive. It constrcts all the possible realities and finds inconsistencies or irregularities. It just doesn’t know when to stop. Over time, I believe I have improved the way I communicate these imaginations of my mind which I suspect makes people think I am smart. However, this doesn’t say anything about whether I actually understand the concept or if I have deep knowledge of the presented subject. This, in my opinion, is an appearance of being smart rather than actually being smart.

by wadkar 8y ago

ryanmarsh 8y ago

I do a lot of consulting so that might have something to do with it. Basically I get paid to appear to be the smartest person in the room (which I personally think is utter and total horse shit but that's another rant). I've been told my whole life that I'm "smart" but the problem is there are lots and lots of people out there who seem (I've tried to read their papers on ML) like they're an order of magnitude smarter. I write like a 13 year old, but maybe I speak better? IDK. For most people I think it's totally subjective. If you surprise someone with a bit of knowledge they don't have (either memorized or figured out for yourself) people think you're "smart". People who share what they know or help others come to a novel solution appear "smart". I do believe in a general concept of intelligence (q). I'm willing to bet mine is only slightly above average if even that, only because I keep meeting programmers who cannot think as clearly as I can so I have to assume I'm smarter than some of them. I'm sorry I don't have a better answer. It's a total mystery to me. I feel like a total dumb fuck most of the time. You said you identify with my first comment. How so?

wadkar 8y ago
Thank you very much for your answer. It gave me a lot to think about. To answer your question - I have been told by my peers and teachers that I have “potential”, some pointed out that I am exceptionally good at grasping new concepts. From my point of view I “sort of” accept whatever new information is presented to me as truth and my mind goes into a kind of overdrive. It constrcts all the possible realities and finds inconsistencies or irregularities. It just doesn’t know when to stop. Over time, I believe I have improved the way I communicate these imaginations of my mind which I suspect makes people think I am smart. However, this doesn’t say anything about whether I actually understand the concept or if I have deep knowledge of the presented subject. This, in my opinion, is an appearance of being smart rather than actually being smart.