3 ms·

Are we maybe missing the forest for the trees here? Like, do the test scores or the academic achievement at Dartmouth actually matter? By sheer dumb luck, I am

by smeej 3y ago

Are we maybe missing the forest for the trees here? Like, do the test scores or the academic achievement at Dartmouth actually matter? By sheer dumb luck, I am exactly the kind of intelligent schools and standardized tests measure for. I went to my first choice schools on a full academic scholarship for both undergrad and grad school. And it's meaningless in the real world. The most important connections I've made certainly weren't at school. The academics themselves weren't terribly useful in terms of preparing me for life outside the ivory tower. Why are we trying to sell people on this dream?

alphazard 3y ago
If what you said is true, then you are likely an ideal employee for the vast majority of roles. You can read well, understand what you are supposed to do, follow instructions, etc. It's not meaningless in the real world. You may not be satisfied with your level of success, but that's dependent on how you define success. You won't find many dumb people among self made multi-millionaires. But being high IQ isn't enough to get you there. It also requires creativity, people skills, a network, luck, etc. We don't test for those things because the people running the show aren't interested in identifying people to compete with them, they are interested in identifying people who will work for them.
- smeej 3y ago
  I'm not, though. I'm terrible at taking anyone's word for anything, partially (not entirely) because I was told I knew more things than my peers. I'm also garbage at just doing what I'm told. Who's giving me the directions? Why should I trust them? What do they know? You seem to be thinking of the people who did well in school because they worked hard. Perhaps they are excellent employees. Those of us who never had to apply ourselves to anything and were told incessantly how much better we were than our peers make terrible employees in most atmospheres.
dfedbeef 3y ago
High five to all the former gifted and talenteds.

by smeej 3y ago

alphazard 3y ago

If what you said is true, then you are likely an ideal employee for the vast majority of roles. You can read well, understand what you are supposed to do, follow instructions, etc. It's not meaningless in the real world. You may not be satisfied with your level of success, but that's dependent on how you define success. You won't find many dumb people among self made multi-millionaires. But being high IQ isn't enough to get you there. It also requires creativity, people skills, a network, luck, etc. We don't test for those things because the people running the show aren't interested in identifying people to compete with them, they are interested in identifying people who will work for them.

smeej 3y ago
I'm not, though. I'm terrible at taking anyone's word for anything, partially (not entirely) because I was told I knew more things than my peers. I'm also garbage at just doing what I'm told. Who's giving me the directions? Why should I trust them? What do they know? You seem to be thinking of the people who did well in school because they worked hard. Perhaps they are excellent employees. Those of us who never had to apply ourselves to anything and were told incessantly how much better we were than our peers make terrible employees in most atmospheres.

dfedbeef 3y ago

High five to all the former gifted and talenteds.