25 ms·

Officers Are Less Intelligent: What Does It Mean?

23 points by luu 3y ago

atticora 3y ago
The social status of officers has fallen, causing the competition for those jobs to decrease, resulting in selection from a smaller, less capable pool of candidates. And incrementally reverting to the population intelligence norm.
- NickC25 3y ago
  All the while, their pay has rose considerably and their union benefits have only improved. Odd how that happens.
  - ilkhan4 3y ago
    As far as I know, there is no "union" for military officers and pay only went up 5.2% this year (about equal with inflation). Are you thinking of police officers?
    - stereo 3y ago
      It depends on the country. Some have unions for the military.
  - sentientslug 3y ago
    How is that odd? As the job has become less desirable over time the candidate pool shrinks, so salaries and benefits have to rise in order to entice people to apply. It’s simple economics.
- wkat4242 3y ago
  Makes sense though. It's not a very nice job. Often being away from home, dangerous environment (getting shot at), being told what to do by people usually less informed or intelligent than you. Toxically masculine workplace. You can get a nice job, get more money and don't have to bother with all that harshness. No wonder people don't go for this anymore. And as for the 'honor' of protecting one's country, my country (Holland) just elected an actual nazi so there is nothing left worth protecting.
piloto_ciego 3y ago
I read this whole article and I think it’s missing the point. I had a sky-high asvab score and was planning on using the GI Bill for my education. Then I received a scholarship and weighed the time commitment against what they were offering and my sense of morality. It wasn’t worth it. The loans I got (which were ultimately a lot) were far cheaper than the years I would have spent in uniform. For me, I decided on following my conscience. I ultimately chose not to go to the military because I wasn’t sure we were the good guys after the invasion of Iraq and by the time I was graduating high school in 2006 we’d been at war nearly 5 years already. “Is it moral for me to participate in violence in exchange for money or an education? Even if I’m not directly carrying it out?” No. And looking back I feel this was a good decision. I wasn’t (and still am not) a pacifist, but I did not want to subject myself to a machine that didn’t care about me and would force me to commit violence against people I didn’t think necessarily deserve it. Especially not for nearly a decade. I imagine there are lots of people like me out there. People who could have but chose not to for one reason or another. I would like to think that in a world where people are better educated, that number is higher every year.
- DiscourseFan 3y ago
  I think this is a testament to how close the US is to losing its place of power in the world. People don't believe in the country, they don't want to risk their lives defending it, because they think going into the military is the same as signing your life away to a corporation. Of course, the US might be on the verge of a civil war, if it happens in February or November or January, regardless people are tired of what "democracy" has given them. You know, I remember maybe a decade ago, maybe more recently I can't quite remember, there was this idea out of the Incel community that was treated as ridiculous at the time: that the state should force men and women into couples to make families, so that nobody would be alone. And as terrible as that sounds, it sounds like a better social model than what America has today, and is probably why states that are closer in form to that model (far-right islamic nationalist) are gaining so much power. It just shows how terrible things have gotten because there used to be real sexual freedom, alongside social mobility and an egalitarian society, but no longer, and people are so dissatisfied they'd be willing to allow a dictator to come to power.
hasty_pudding 3y ago
once we went off the gold standard and inflation became commonplace workers no longer shared in their share in the wealth of productivity. and that's been going on for 50 years. combine that with real estate prices and run away immigration for people coming to American to exploit it. would anyone defend this country anymore? https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/ https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/
- Ancalagon 3y ago
  Does that get continuously updated? I don't recall the chart about chicken consumption, that's kind of funny.
  - hasty_pudding 3y ago
    Yeah I follow them on Twitter and they add new stuff occasionally if it meets the standard of 'wtf'. The physicians/administrators is interesting as well.

23 points by luu 3y ago

The social status of officers has fallen, causing the competition for those jobs to decrease, resulting in selection from a smaller, less capable pool of candidates. And incrementally reverting to the population intelligence norm.

NickC25 3y ago
All the while, their pay has rose considerably and their union benefits have only improved. Odd how that happens.
- ilkhan4 3y ago
  As far as I know, there is no "union" for military officers and pay only went up 5.2% this year (about equal with inflation). Are you thinking of police officers?
  - stereo 3y ago
    It depends on the country. Some have unions for the military.
- sentientslug 3y ago
  How is that odd? As the job has become less desirable over time the candidate pool shrinks, so salaries and benefits have to rise in order to entice people to apply. It’s simple economics.
wkat4242 3y ago
Makes sense though. It's not a very nice job. Often being away from home, dangerous environment (getting shot at), being told what to do by people usually less informed or intelligent than you. Toxically masculine workplace. You can get a nice job, get more money and don't have to bother with all that harshness. No wonder people don't go for this anymore. And as for the 'honor' of protecting one's country, my country (Holland) just elected an actual nazi so there is nothing left worth protecting.

piloto_ciego 3y ago

I read this whole article and I think it’s missing the point. I had a sky-high asvab score and was planning on using the GI Bill for my education. Then I received a scholarship and weighed the time commitment against what they were offering and my sense of morality. It wasn’t worth it. The loans I got (which were ultimately a lot) were far cheaper than the years I would have spent in uniform. For me, I decided on following my conscience. I ultimately chose not to go to the military because I wasn’t sure we were the good guys after the invasion of Iraq and by the time I was graduating high school in 2006 we’d been at war nearly 5 years already. “Is it moral for me to participate in violence in exchange for money or an education? Even if I’m not directly carrying it out?” No. And looking back I feel this was a good decision. I wasn’t (and still am not) a pacifist, but I did not want to subject myself to a machine that didn’t care about me and would force me to commit violence against people I didn’t think necessarily deserve it. Especially not for nearly a decade. I imagine there are lots of people like me out there. People who could have but chose not to for one reason or another. I would like to think that in a world where people are better educated, that number is higher every year.

DiscourseFan 3y ago
I think this is a testament to how close the US is to losing its place of power in the world. People don't believe in the country, they don't want to risk their lives defending it, because they think going into the military is the same as signing your life away to a corporation. Of course, the US might be on the verge of a civil war, if it happens in February or November or January, regardless people are tired of what "democracy" has given them. You know, I remember maybe a decade ago, maybe more recently I can't quite remember, there was this idea out of the Incel community that was treated as ridiculous at the time: that the state should force men and women into couples to make families, so that nobody would be alone. And as terrible as that sounds, it sounds like a better social model than what America has today, and is probably why states that are closer in form to that model (far-right islamic nationalist) are gaining so much power. It just shows how terrible things have gotten because there used to be real sexual freedom, alongside social mobility and an egalitarian society, but no longer, and people are so dissatisfied they'd be willing to allow a dictator to come to power.

hasty_pudding 3y ago

once we went off the gold standard and inflation became commonplace workers no longer shared in their share in the wealth of productivity. and that's been going on for 50 years. combine that with real estate prices and run away immigration for people coming to American to exploit it. would anyone defend this country anymore? https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/ https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/

Ancalagon 3y ago
Does that get continuously updated? I don't recall the chart about chicken consumption, that's kind of funny.
- hasty_pudding 3y ago
  Yeah I follow them on Twitter and they add new stuff occasionally if it meets the standard of 'wtf'. The physicians/administrators is interesting as well.