4 ms·

Math is math Physics is physics. We all know time is fixed, the universe has been around forever, and atoms are the smallest indivisible component of matter.

by seiji 13y ago

Math is math Physics is physics. We all know time is fixed, the universe has been around forever, and atoms are the smallest indivisible component of matter. The world, under the guise of "everybody is created equal," has fallen under the spell of "everybody has the same intellectual capacity" (which is clearly wrong). Yahoo isn't paying a high school dropout $100 million + $80 million because of his snazzy FU-my-mom-dresses-me haircut — they're paying him that because he's different. He's better. He's done more in five years than you've done in 20. You can't train that. People just are. The government tries to grab all the clearly better-than-everybody-else undergrads through their sneaky alliances with CS departments and professors. They usually win. Programs are programs and it's relatively easy to implement a program. But, some programs are worth billions of dollars and others aren't worth half a farthing. It's the people who make a difference.

smtddr 13y ago
> The world, under the guise of "everybody is created equal," has fallen under the spell of "everybody has the same intellectual capacity" (which is clearly wrong). Yahoo isn't paying a high school dropout $100 million + $80 million because of his snazzy FU-my-mom-dresses-me haircut — they're paying him that because he's different. He's better. He's done more in five years than you've done in 20. You can't train that. People just are. Don't agree. I don't like the idea that knowing some fancy-trendy-computer skill is equal to "He's different", "He's better.". Computer skills don't make you better than a plumber. It's just a skill. A skill that turns out to be in ridiculously high-demand today, but it doesn't make you better than the plumber or the janitor or the cashier at Starbucks. I know when I decided to get a BS in computer-science, I had the full intention of being a videogame developer barely making ends meet in a cockroach-filled apartment. I had absolutely no idea this whole Bay Area trendy-"web2.0"-linux-cloud-opensource movement was going to happen at all. I surely didn't plan to make even half the salary I'm getting now. This make my family incredibly fortunate, but not better than anyone else. I think HN-folks in general need reminders that we're not some group of superior beings, we're just insanely lucky we won the "career-lottery" for being in the right place at the right time with the right skills. P.S. I don't know how we'd measure intellect, but I do believe that all healthy human beings do have the same potential for the amount of knowledge they can consume, at least at birth. And I'm not even sure how to define "healthy", Stephen Hawking probably doesn't meet most people's definition of healthy but he's very smart, right? And is he smart in all subjects? Or just physics, cosmology, astrophysics and other universe-related things? What subjects do you need to be well-versed in to be considered smart?
- dmd 13y ago
  > I do believe that all healthy human beings do have the same potential for the amount of knowledge they can consume, at least at birth This makes no sense whatsoever. Do you really believe that while people have genetics that control their skin color, hair color, susceptibility to various diseases, etc., etc., etc., somehow the brain is some magic non-biological organ that is not built by DNA?
  - smtddr 13y ago
    Ok, let me put it another way. If there is a variation for the amount of knowledge the brain can consume from human to human, assuming they're "healthy", it's gonna be something like Infinity x 99, infinity x 8, Infinity / 2. Whatever it is, it'll be a limit that's way beyond what a human being could ever reach in a lifetime.
    - dmd 13y ago
      So you don't believe that there's a spectrum of disability? You're either intellectually disabled to the point of not being able to dress yourself... or you're a potential Einstein - nothing in between?
      - smtddr 13y ago
        I can't define what it means to be "Einstein". I can only say that "capacity for knowledge" in a "healthy" human brain is well beyond what it could ever be exposed to in a lifetime. Note that when I say "capacity", I thinking in terms of a computer harddrive(which is questionable). No "healthy" human being can fill up their brain within a lifetime. This discussion is pretty difficult in that there are things we can't define. I don't even know if we're all talking about the same thing when we say "knowledge" and we can't define "healthy", and the term "capacity" for the human brain is assuming we all believe the human brain really does have a limit. I can only assume there is some kind of limit in the same way I assume if I traveled in a straight line forever I'd eventually reach the end of the universe. It's just imcomprehendably large and nothing we do in a lifetime, currently 100 years or so, will reach that limit.

by seiji 13y ago

smtddr 13y ago

> The world, under the guise of "everybody is created equal," has fallen under the spell of "everybody has the same intellectual capacity" (which is clearly wrong). Yahoo isn't paying a high school dropout $100 million + $80 million because of his snazzy FU-my-mom-dresses-me haircut — they're paying him that because he's different. He's better. He's done more in five years than you've done in 20. You can't train that. People just are. Don't agree. I don't like the idea that knowing some fancy-trendy-computer skill is equal to "He's different", "He's better.". Computer skills don't make you better than a plumber. It's just a skill. A skill that turns out to be in ridiculously high-demand today, but it doesn't make you better than the plumber or the janitor or the cashier at Starbucks. I know when I decided to get a BS in computer-science, I had the full intention of being a videogame developer barely making ends meet in a cockroach-filled apartment. I had absolutely no idea this whole Bay Area trendy-"web2.0"-linux-cloud-opensource movement was going to happen at all. I surely didn't plan to make even half the salary I'm getting now. This make my family incredibly fortunate, but not better than anyone else. I think HN-folks in general need reminders that we're not some group of superior beings, we're just insanely lucky we won the "career-lottery" for being in the right place at the right time with the right skills. P.S. I don't know how we'd measure intellect, but I do believe that all healthy human beings do have the same potential for the amount of knowledge they can consume, at least at birth. And I'm not even sure how to define "healthy", Stephen Hawking probably doesn't meet most people's definition of healthy but he's very smart, right? And is he smart in all subjects? Or just physics, cosmology, astrophysics and other universe-related things? What subjects do you need to be well-versed in to be considered smart?

dmd 13y ago
> I do believe that all healthy human beings do have the same potential for the amount of knowledge they can consume, at least at birth This makes no sense whatsoever. Do you really believe that while people have genetics that control their skin color, hair color, susceptibility to various diseases, etc., etc., etc., somehow the brain is some magic non-biological organ that is not built by DNA?
- smtddr 13y ago
  Ok, let me put it another way. If there is a variation for the amount of knowledge the brain can consume from human to human, assuming they're "healthy", it's gonna be something like Infinity x 99, infinity x 8, Infinity / 2. Whatever it is, it'll be a limit that's way beyond what a human being could ever reach in a lifetime.
  - dmd 13y ago
    So you don't believe that there's a spectrum of disability? You're either intellectually disabled to the point of not being able to dress yourself... or you're a potential Einstein - nothing in between?
    - smtddr 13y ago
      I can't define what it means to be "Einstein". I can only say that "capacity for knowledge" in a "healthy" human brain is well beyond what it could ever be exposed to in a lifetime. Note that when I say "capacity", I thinking in terms of a computer harddrive(which is questionable). No "healthy" human being can fill up their brain within a lifetime. This discussion is pretty difficult in that there are things we can't define. I don't even know if we're all talking about the same thing when we say "knowledge" and we can't define "healthy", and the term "capacity" for the human brain is assuming we all believe the human brain really does have a limit. I can only assume there is some kind of limit in the same way I assume if I traveled in a straight line forever I'd eventually reach the end of the universe. It's just imcomprehendably large and nothing we do in a lifetime, currently 100 years or so, will reach that limit.