Never get your children IQ tested. It's a poor reflection of ability, a test of only four types of the hundreds of identified factors of intelligence, and if my father is any indication, will fill you with hopes that your child is a mathematical genius that will breeze through school and enter MIT, and when she eschews your hopes and go into the liberal arts, will shatter you into a million pieces, from which you will never fully recover.
I went to elementary and high school with a lot of very smart people. My friends tended to be highly accomplished honors students with lots of awards and impressive transcripts. They were studious and somewhat introverted, thoughtful and philosophical. Despite the fact that I had a markedly inferior set of grades and study habits, and possibly due to either our collective lack of life experience or the arrogance of teenagerdom, I generally felt that I could hold my own in conversation, though I had some very smart friends with whom I was outpaced or out of my depth.
At UC Irvine, I had a harder time finding people I could hold a good conversation with. I say it's because people there seemed, on average, dumber, shallower, or more spoiled, my father tells me not to be an elitist prick and that it's just that we didn't have much in common. Culture or intelligence, 5 years passed with few conversations with my fellow students.
Now we come to working at Three Rings where at times, I am completely out of my league. There are freaking smart people working here, not smart in the sense that they lord it over you, but with whom it is very clear in a few short conversations that they are incredibly quick, multitalented, and well-read. I've met folks that I honestly believe are the smartest people I've met in my life, people next to whom I am as dumb as a bag of hammers, and about as blunt.
I really like where I work, but man. I don't know if I belong here. I feel like I've regressed back to high school and being an awkward teenager sometimes.
Comments (8)
Of course you fit in, of *course* you do. Maybe it is only so clear to the player-base, but each and every member of the Three Ring staff has their uniqueness, but at the same time a sense that they are like a puzzle. They all fit together perfectly to form one grand company, Three Rings.
If you were gone, it'd be like a piece was missing, and I am very sure you know what its like to have just one piece missing!
Going back to everyone having their uniqueness in the Three Rings staff - you do too, and theres a million different ways to be smart. Wushu, you like that don't you? I might just be a bad reader - but if i'm correct you like that very much - does anyone in the Three Rings office know as much about it as you? Maybe ask around, find your strengths, and know theirs. It comes in handy, and everyones strengths are used in a different way - and thats what makes Puzzle Pirates so successful.
Sorry if i misunderstood, or explained my thinking incorrectly!
Your (sort of?) friend,
-Surmuck
Posted by Surmuck | June 6, 2007 2:05 PM
Posted on June 6, 2007 14:05
I have that problem increasingly, these days. I was accustomed to being one of the smartest, best read, most traveled people in any given conversation, but these days, I often find myself amongst people that put me to shame on all those fronts (the Loots, for example, or the people I'm hanging out with in St Louis this weekend). In some ways, it's kind of a relief--being the 'smartest' person in the conversation is kind of a pain in the ass.
Posted by Jacquilynne | June 7, 2007 8:19 AM
Posted on June 7, 2007 08:19
You think that's bad, try getting into a profession where everyone is a fricking expert in a particular subject and you get by on being "a little above average" in a wide variety of subjects.
"Hey, you were an English Major, right? You should know a lot about the history of literature!"
"Uh sure..."
"Good, because we need someone who is."
*Thinks: Oh crap, they're going to realize I'm a fraud!*
Posted by Timmy | June 11, 2007 7:08 AM
Posted on June 11, 2007 07:08
/em smacks Aya in the back of the head.
Knock it off! Don't you dare sit there and belittle one of the most worthwhile people I've ever met. If you need perspective just remember: Odds are good that the first thing they all did when they woke up this morning is trot down the hall to pee, just like you and me.
I also believe that there is a limit to what the human brain can retain. I deal with engineers who are designing cutting edge technology. Experience has shown me that most of them dumped a large chunk of common sense to make everything else fit in their noggins.
To top it all off, I don't care how sexy Ceph is, he couldn't possibly look as hot in the Pricess Leia gold bikini suit.
Posted by Crooktooth | June 11, 2007 1:52 PM
Posted on June 11, 2007 13:52
Shhh....Crooktooth! Don't tempt him!
(ps: u gif pics pls?)
Posted by Mrs. Cephalopod | June 14, 2007 1:01 PM
Posted on June 14, 2007 13:01
There's a huge difference between "intelligence" and "knowledge."
We fill up our brain-meats with the things that interest us. But knowing more about "Subject A" doesn't make a person smarter. They just found it interesting enough to delve into.
When there are lots of "Subject A" people about, it's easy to feel slow-witted for not having "Subject A" background, but those same "Subject A" people will feel dumb when discussing with you the thing that you are interested and fill your brain-meats with.
And yeah, I know it's easy to feel like you never picked up a book in your life when people start talking about the books they've read and you've maybe heard of some of them...
Any time you compare yourself to someone else, you take for granted the really spectacular traits you have because they doesn't seem like a big deal. But they are! Other people notice them, and they think you're terrifically talented because of it.
Posted by Michelle | June 15, 2007 6:47 AM
Posted on June 15, 2007 06:47
When the Zombie War starts, I know who I'll be choosing for my team.
Posted by Aaron | June 17, 2007 4:47 PM
Posted on June 17, 2007 16:47
Intelligence tests are great to give to kids!
At the end you get a fancy magic number that tells you how good the kid is at doing intelligence tests!
And seriously, if the kid is geeky/patient enough to sit through a whole intelligence test then they'll probably do ok out of life.
I wanted to join Mensa as a kid but my attention span was insufficient to sit through the test. ;p
Now I'm an adult and have succeeded in completing a whole test, I don't want to join Mensa anymore. I'd rather hang out with smart people. :D
Posted by Actreal | October 18, 2007 9:30 PM
Posted on October 18, 2007 21:30