3 ms·

pretty sure if you're commenting on here then you're way above average. It's not a compliment, its just that you're misunderstanding how low the bar is.

willismichael 2mo ago
> It's not a compliment Thanks, you had me feeling all smug and then you had to add that part.
- Quarrelsome 2mo ago
  Aw, sorry. I just wanted to sound sincere. Like you're underestimating yourself or well er.... others. Idk I'm sure you're smart. Stupid people think they're _really_ smart, imho being smart is mostly associated with having some level of self-doubt.
HDBaseT 2mo ago
That seems like some gatekeeping egoistical hi-ground. I refuse to believe the average person here is any more intelligent than the average person on the street.
- xpct 2mo ago
  I don't think it's egoistical. I understand it's often uncomfortable to compare people by their intelligence, but by many measures of 'smart', people here have it, more often than not.
  - kdjdiwjdiej 1mo ago
    Nah, people here often have knowledge in varied but very niche subjects, but because this is the place for niche subjects, you can always find a handful of people knowledgeable on any given subject. Plus, it’s fairly common to see people saying the most amazingly simple things but with big words, fancy terms, heavy phrasing and all that just to sound that little bit smarter. None of that tells me people here are more intelligent than the average Joe walking by living their life. Just that people here flock on posts with subjects they enjoy or know a bit about. It’s very easy to sound intelligent, all you have to do is leave people confused with a bit of theatre and misdirection (oh, and a dash of arrogance!). True intelligence, though, is owning what you don’t know. True intelligence is not trying to make everyone around you feel dumber so you can be the clever clogs.
  - mrguyorama 1mo ago
    None of us took a test to be here. There's zero filter that could cause this effect.
- Quarrelsome 2mo ago
  > I refuse to believe the average person here is any more intelligent than the average person on the street. This is a website of words. The average person looks almost exclusively at moving pictures. I'd suggest we're at least top 5% of some key things that make up intelligence: like curiosity and intellectual bravery.
  - psd1 1mo ago
    I directionally agree, but i suspect your 95th-percentile anchoring is wildly optimistic. Embarrassing admission: I'm probably much closer to the middle of the open-mindedness chart than i pretend. (I wish i was Bertrand Russell.) Indictment: so are very many commenters here.
    - Quarrelsome 1mo ago
      I don't think its wildly optimistic at all. Coming here, reading stuff and commenting is such a self-selecting process that it leaves you mostly with people who have extremely high cognitive function and intellectual curiosity and bravery. This is so far away from the fold and is an extremely aggressive filter. The dread is that even this suggested "5%" contains many idiots (this idea of 5% also being rather idiotic). But if you think 5% is wildly optimistic then I fear you don't appreciate what the baseline is like. People are proper stupid and uninterested in thinking when it comes down to it. To get a mild appreciation of the bar, at least in technical ability. My source is the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), specifically its assessment of “problem solving in technology-rich environments.” Around 5% of the sample on average (116k) got to the top level. A top level task was as scary as being able to successfully reschedule a meeting in an email client with multiple participants. That's the sort of bar 5% can clear, which gives me the anchor. So think about that, well over 90% of people really struggle with that level of task, which I'd imagine all of us could clear (even our idiots). Sure its an annoying task, but its really not _that_ hard.
dana-s 2mo ago
I've seen how low the bar is within my family, it can go lower than the bar I've personally seen, it scares me.

willismichael 2mo ago

> It's not a compliment Thanks, you had me feeling all smug and then you had to add that part.

Quarrelsome 2mo ago
Aw, sorry. I just wanted to sound sincere. Like you're underestimating yourself or well er.... others. Idk I'm sure you're smart. Stupid people think they're _really_ smart, imho being smart is mostly associated with having some level of self-doubt.

HDBaseT 2mo ago

That seems like some gatekeeping egoistical hi-ground. I refuse to believe the average person here is any more intelligent than the average person on the street.

xpct 2mo ago
I don't think it's egoistical. I understand it's often uncomfortable to compare people by their intelligence, but by many measures of 'smart', people here have it, more often than not.
- kdjdiwjdiej 1mo ago
  Nah, people here often have knowledge in varied but very niche subjects, but because this is the place for niche subjects, you can always find a handful of people knowledgeable on any given subject. Plus, it’s fairly common to see people saying the most amazingly simple things but with big words, fancy terms, heavy phrasing and all that just to sound that little bit smarter. None of that tells me people here are more intelligent than the average Joe walking by living their life. Just that people here flock on posts with subjects they enjoy or know a bit about. It’s very easy to sound intelligent, all you have to do is leave people confused with a bit of theatre and misdirection (oh, and a dash of arrogance!). True intelligence, though, is owning what you don’t know. True intelligence is not trying to make everyone around you feel dumber so you can be the clever clogs.
- mrguyorama 1mo ago
  None of us took a test to be here. There's zero filter that could cause this effect.
Quarrelsome 2mo ago
> I refuse to believe the average person here is any more intelligent than the average person on the street. This is a website of words. The average person looks almost exclusively at moving pictures. I'd suggest we're at least top 5% of some key things that make up intelligence: like curiosity and intellectual bravery.
- psd1 1mo ago
  I directionally agree, but i suspect your 95th-percentile anchoring is wildly optimistic. Embarrassing admission: I'm probably much closer to the middle of the open-mindedness chart than i pretend. (I wish i was Bertrand Russell.) Indictment: so are very many commenters here.
  - Quarrelsome 1mo ago
    I don't think its wildly optimistic at all. Coming here, reading stuff and commenting is such a self-selecting process that it leaves you mostly with people who have extremely high cognitive function and intellectual curiosity and bravery. This is so far away from the fold and is an extremely aggressive filter. The dread is that even this suggested "5%" contains many idiots (this idea of 5% also being rather idiotic). But if you think 5% is wildly optimistic then I fear you don't appreciate what the baseline is like. People are proper stupid and uninterested in thinking when it comes down to it. To get a mild appreciation of the bar, at least in technical ability. My source is the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), specifically its assessment of “problem solving in technology-rich environments.” Around 5% of the sample on average (116k) got to the top level. A top level task was as scary as being able to successfully reschedule a meeting in an email client with multiple participants. That's the sort of bar 5% can clear, which gives me the anchor. So think about that, well over 90% of people really struggle with that level of task, which I'd imagine all of us could clear (even our idiots). Sure its an annoying task, but its really not _that_ hard.

dana-s 2mo ago

I've seen how low the bar is within my family, it can go lower than the bar I've personally seen, it scares me.