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I found that quote interesting because I've always considered myself to feel exactly the opposite. Okay, I can create / run / manage every part of a website fro

by tdavis 18y ago

I found that quote interesting because I've always considered myself to feel exactly the opposite. Okay, I can create / run / manage every part of a website from the ground up, but people who really get Calculus make me feel retarded. What about scientists who create new chemical compounds and molecules and crazy stuff like that? Way over my head. Quantum Physicists? Forget it. Doctors? They have to fix bugs which involve an essentially innumerable number of variables! I feel there are all sorts of industries and occupations that are far more difficult to learn and require far more intelligence than my skills in programming, design, and systems administration. Most I think I could probably learn and excel at, given a long enough timeline, but others I feel are likely beyond my grasp. I see no way I could ever become a Mathematician, for example.

trefn 18y ago
I think it is significant that all of the professions you mentioned are science based. I feel exactly the way you do about engineering and science jobs, but less rigorous fields do not have the same effect on me. I think this might be why we are all willing to judge the efforts of politicians, managers, etc - what they do seems to simply require having an opinion and acting on it. In the sciences, though, we know that you have to be really knowledgeable to be successful.
- tdavis 18y ago
  I feel the same to an extent; I wonder why that is. At the same time, I don't claim I could walk off the street and build a better house than a construction worker, or fix broken pipes better than a plumber. I couldn't even be a better politician; they are better at social hacking such as faking sincerity. I have a low threshold for that stuff. Still, I consider sciences harder in general than those, even if that isn't actually true.
phugoid 18y ago
It saddens me that many people I've met would mistake your humility for weakness. I see it as a great strength.
- tdavis 18y ago
  It's a strength as far as it keeps me from making a fool of myself (most of the time) ;) The only thing I truly claim to know is that I know nothing. I have a feeling I'll die without truly knowing anything, but that's fine by me.
  - falien 18y ago
    Socrates by way of Plato said something along the lines of "I'm the wisest man in the land because I know that I know nothing." It seems to me that many of the geniuses I've read biographies of started with a similar humility and a healthy dose of curiosity, so I always figured that was a good place to start too.

by tdavis 18y ago

trefn 18y ago

I think it is significant that all of the professions you mentioned are science based. I feel exactly the way you do about engineering and science jobs, but less rigorous fields do not have the same effect on me. I think this might be why we are all willing to judge the efforts of politicians, managers, etc - what they do seems to simply require having an opinion and acting on it. In the sciences, though, we know that you have to be really knowledgeable to be successful.

tdavis 18y ago
I feel the same to an extent; I wonder why that is. At the same time, I don't claim I could walk off the street and build a better house than a construction worker, or fix broken pipes better than a plumber. I couldn't even be a better politician; they are better at social hacking such as faking sincerity. I have a low threshold for that stuff. Still, I consider sciences harder in general than those, even if that isn't actually true.

phugoid 18y ago

It saddens me that many people I've met would mistake your humility for weakness. I see it as a great strength.

tdavis 18y ago
It's a strength as far as it keeps me from making a fool of myself (most of the time) ;) The only thing I truly claim to know is that I know nothing. I have a feeling I'll die without truly knowing anything, but that's fine by me.
- falien 18y ago
  Socrates by way of Plato said something along the lines of "I'm the wisest man in the land because I know that I know nothing." It seems to me that many of the geniuses I've read biographies of started with a similar humility and a healthy dose of curiosity, so I always figured that was a good place to start too.