3 ms·

Smart (in the usual understanding of smart), or good programmers (in the "can invert a binary tree on a whiteboard" sense)? These are two measures that are basi

by Fins 7y ago

Smart (in the usual understanding of smart), or good programmers (in the "can invert a binary tree on a whiteboard" sense)? These are two measures that are basically orthogonal.

estomagordo 7y ago
As in very intelligent.
- Fins 7y ago
  Is there any evidence of that? Google selects people based on entirely different criteria, and promotes them for moving a button in Gmail from an inconvenient location to an even less convenient one.
  - estomagordo 7y ago
    I've met a dozen or so Google engineers over the years and am very confident as labelling them all as quite clearly very intelligent. I'm surprised we're even having this conversation.
    - Fins 7y ago
      Might depend on your definition of "intelligent" though. I've met quite a few, too, including friends and relatives. Sure, they better than average programmers, but general intelligence seems to be the same as in your general college educated population. Otherwise we'd be arguing that Damore (or, say, Altheide, if one has ideological preference for one or the other) are also "very intelligent".
      - lliamander 7y ago
        > Otherwise we'd be arguing that Damore (or, say, Altheide, if one has ideological preference for one or the other) are also "very intelligent". That seems pretty likely.
        Fins 7y ago
        I think you may be equating "good enough at programming to get hired by Google" with "generally intelligent". My point is that these are entirely different things.
        lliamander 7y ago
        Damore wasn't just "good enough at programming to get hired by Google". If you look at what team he was hired for, how he was recruited, and the fact that he was (reportedly) exceeding expectations suggests that he likely is quite intelligent. > My point is that these are entirely different things. Entirely? I'm sure that Google employs plenty of fools (as do all large corporations) but to suggest there is no correlation is preposterous on its face.

by Fins 7y ago

Smart (in the usual understanding of smart), or good programmers (in the "can invert a binary tree on a whiteboard" sense)? These are two measures that are basically orthogonal.

estomagordo 7y ago

As in very intelligent.

Fins 7y ago
Is there any evidence of that? Google selects people based on entirely different criteria, and promotes them for moving a button in Gmail from an inconvenient location to an even less convenient one.
- estomagordo 7y ago
  I've met a dozen or so Google engineers over the years and am very confident as labelling them all as quite clearly very intelligent. I'm surprised we're even having this conversation.
  - Fins 7y ago
    Might depend on your definition of "intelligent" though. I've met quite a few, too, including friends and relatives. Sure, they better than average programmers, but general intelligence seems to be the same as in your general college educated population. Otherwise we'd be arguing that Damore (or, say, Altheide, if one has ideological preference for one or the other) are also "very intelligent".
    - lliamander 7y ago
      > Otherwise we'd be arguing that Damore (or, say, Altheide, if one has ideological preference for one or the other) are also "very intelligent". That seems pretty likely.
      - Fins 7y ago
        I think you may be equating "good enough at programming to get hired by Google" with "generally intelligent". My point is that these are entirely different things.
        lliamander 7y ago
        Damore wasn't just "good enough at programming to get hired by Google". If you look at what team he was hired for, how he was recruited, and the fact that he was (reportedly) exceeding expectations suggests that he likely is quite intelligent. > My point is that these are entirely different things. Entirely? I'm sure that Google employs plenty of fools (as do all large corporations) but to suggest there is no correlation is preposterous on its face.