I'm bored and people are stupid..

[Tleg93]

I cant believe that no one here has touched on the fact that people who you are forced to work with are total F$&^ing idiots and they are usualy higher up in rank than you. I dont have to deal with the public at my job but I do have to deal with engineers that have their 100K degrees in mechanical engineering and dont know which way to turn a f$%#ing wrench to take off a nut! And these are the people giving me orders. BLAH!

It's called the PETER PRINCIPLE and I mentioned it above...

[Tleg93]

Academic skills and common sense are worlds apart. Really. If I remember correctly, Einstein could barely pass school, even though he came up with the theory of relativity. As has already been said, there are people whose classroom skills are phenomenal, but they have no idea how to use it in the real world.

I see both sides at work: I see guys in the shop who can't even read the FSM, but they can tear a motor down and put it back together, just because they have common sense and can figure it out. Then I see people that are in their 4th year of college, can write a 300-pg term paper by hand and get an A with flying colors, but they couldn't learn to use Word because they don't understand computers.

I like to try to do everything reasonably well. That's more useful IMO. Can I take an injector out of my car, do some measurements on it, and calculate its BSFC? Hell no, but I can still change an axle pretty quickly Am I a bestseller novel writer? No, but I have been told my writing skills are above average and that I should pursue a Journalism major.

Okay, I'm stopping now. I promise

Ok, it's TOTALLY untrue that Einstein had trouble in school. Einstein did very well in school.

The problem is that lots of college kids lack hands-on training and job experience. I don't think it has anything to do with not having or having common sense. My roomate at RIT was a genius. He could solve any puzzle in a minute flat and he was also exceptionally gifted with designing and developing hi own custom CNC tooling machines from the firmware all the way to the chuck. He knew computers and could express himself well. He didn't know how to cook a meal for himself though. It's just a matter of what you care about. Most kids go to school only knowing that they want to make big money and enter into programs for reasons other than having a passion for what it is they are studying and, of course, some are just trained monkeys, IMO.

[93Leg-c]

I read a book within the past year on different kinds of intelligences. In school, the kind of intelligence that usually counts is the testing for a person's IQ. If a student doesn't get A's, pass all the various tests he is considered unintelligent and he's looked down upon. But the book identified different kinds of intelligences that schools really don't get into.

For example, take spatial intelligence. It has to do with the space you are in or the space around you. Eskimoes out on their own in the icy wilderness have this kind of intelligence (well, at least the ones that survive). Studies have been done on them because city folk don't comprehend how they can go from point A to point B without getting lost even when they cannot see the stars. Here is where spatial intelligence comes in. Eskimoes (according to the findings) can look at the horizon or glaciers or anytihing in the landscape and just naturally know the very minute differences in shapes, sizes, etc. To us the landscape may look the same with no differentiating characteristics. To an Eskimo, he sees the differences so he is able to navigate his way through terrain that seemingly has no markers.

It's the same kind of intelligence my father-in-law ran across when he was on a fishing trip near South America. For days the sky was overcast. Day and night you couldn't see the sun nor the stars. They see this native man in his little 6 foot boat out so far from land that even if the sky was perfectly clear, you wouldn't be able to see land. They ask the man how long he's been out in the ocean fishing. He says 4 days, I think it was. My father-in-law asks him which way is land? Unhesitatingly the man points in a direction. My father-in-law was astounded because there seemingly was nothing at all to indicate which way was land, yet the man knew. (BTW, the ship's equipment verified the direction of land. Spatial intelligence.

Ummm, I'm rambling. Sorry about that.

Anyway, most, if not all of you, frequenting this board probably have a higher degree of mechanical intelligence than your bosses. That's why they don't know how to use a wrench or maybe even change spark plugs. We have a higher degree of mechanical intelligence . . . but it doesn't make us better than them.

[Tleg93]

Another thing worth mentioning too is that the stars, sun and moon can be used to place yourself relative to your surroundings. Using stars for navigation and just keeping track of where you're at does work. If you're outside often and you know the various stars, it becomes second nature. But it's true that some people do have a better natural sense of direction and space than others.

I think people rely too much on computers anymore. Soon, you're gonna need a damn gps to find your way around. There's so much automation it gets ridiculous at points. Sometimes it's good to get outdoors and commune with nature. Forget about the internet, computers and all that stuff. Just grab a fishing rod, guitar or whatever and get outside for a while.

[Legacy777]

I tend to have a pretty damn good sense of direction and know where I am.

In the city I need to actually drive.....if I don't drive....I don't really have that sense of direction. Probably just not paying attention....

[entirelyturbo]

Ok, it's TOTALLY untrue that Einstein had trouble in school. Einstein did very well in school.

Entirely possible. I just heard that somewhere, apparently they were wrong...

As far as direction, I have a decent understanding of all that. If I'm really paying attention, I can drive back the same way I came without a map or anything, just by paying attention to landmarks and stuff.

What gets me is when I go down a road in a certain direction, expecting to meet another particular road, and when I don't find it, I lose it. But after embarrassing myself when I tell people I'm late because I got lost in my own hometown, I make it a point to learn that way for good

[Tleg93]

I hear you there. There are times when I get lost in my hometown as well. What usually screws me up is the one-way streets that seem to be there for no real reason. If you've ever been in New York city you've probably noticed how crazy it is to drive there. That place confuses the hell out of me. I usually do well on road trips except that the shortcuts I take usually wind up taking longer to get from a to b.

I've also heard that Einstein did poorly in school but then I read a biography and learned that his poor performance in school is an urban legend. I guess it's a way for people to say "Hey, I'm not doing well in school but I'm not an idiot. Einstein did poorly and he was a genius!". People need to have that hope that they can do great things even if they screwed up at some point, which most of us do, being human and all.


I don't think the schools do an adequate job at finding a person's predispositions or interests and then addressing and developing the person as an individual. I think schools do a pathetic job at ascertaining who can do what well. It's more of a rigid socialization schedule. Everything is standardized but yet people are far from standard beings. The overemphasis on sports over academic studies, to me, is a shame. But it seems that sports heroes is all most people care about anymore. It virtually ensures that we will be in the back of the line as a country someday, except in sports. Great societies weren't built by sports heroes, they were built by architects, engineers and such, the unsung heroes. The whole collegiate system seems more concerned with making a profit and raising enrollment than educating the future leaders of the country. It's a sad state of affairs.

Sorry about the rambling, it's a hot button for me.

[evolutionmovement]

Where losing our tech edge, especially medical with stem cell research thanks to closed minded medieval throw-backs in government. The Puritan legacy refuses to die and those assmonkeys were just like the Taliban - we should reject everything about them rather than continuing their ultra conservative and homogenizing ideals.

If you think New York City's bad, try Boston (at least Boston's small).

I try to avoid using calculators as much as possible since I noticed my excellent in-head math ability was going to hell.

Steve

[Legacy777]

I can't do math in my head worth a shit. Never could.....still can't......oh well.

[93Leg-c]

Just last week I was in the grocery store. My bill came up to exactly $3.00. I gave the cashier a $5 bill. For some reason the cash register wasn't working. I was amazed (more like dumbfounded) that the gal had to get a calclulator to figure out how much change to give me!

[entirelyturbo]

She won't last a month. If her math skills are that bad, then she will screw up her drawer so bad they'll hafta let her go.

Working 2 years at Eckerd's as a cashier in HS, I was $20 short once, and my manager didn't make a big fuss, because every other time, my cash control was probably the best in the store.

[Legacy777]

wow.....that's bad......5-3 = 2

[Tleg93]

I'm been a slave to my calculator before in calculus. It actually makes learning more difficult to use one because over-reliance on technology makes the mind lazy. Don't get me wrong though, I love my technology. It's just better if used in moderation, like everything else. Generally speaking, I think that our senses are being dulled by gizmos and techmology. People are having to rely less and less on their in-born gifts. There must be a balance struck someday or we will all be slaves to computers. Not that it isn't already halfway there, wow, and it's been only 50 or 60 years.

[Legacy777]

yeah.....society is definitely becoming dependent on technology. I think there's a fine balance. I love technology....but there are times where I want manual shit....no fancy bells & whistles......

[Tleg93]

Society is getting dumber all the time. Let's go buy some duct tape to protect ourselves from a chemical attack or hide under our wooden desks if a nuclear bomb goes off nearby. Or better yet, let's listen to these rock albums backwards and see if that is what caused little Johnny to take his life, give me a break!! That kind of stuff really makes you wonder about the future.

I guess in the end I agree with the post more than I disagree. I just have a little hope somewhere that people in general can't be as dumb as they appear to be, I guess I should dash that hope.