Some successful entertainers and sports figures are very intelligent. Some people with science degrees aren't all that sharp. We should try not to confuse intelligence with occupation. Two different things.
However, we do live in a social culture where sports figures and entertainers are more highly admired and emulated than are good scientists and engineers. Arguably, that could be a source of problems for the future prospects of society.
I had the same problem. In 7th grade I got an F on every history test. I read the chapters at home, but didn't remember anything afterwards. A failure to form new memories. At some point I decided I wanted to change that and discovered for myself a system for memorizing. It was hard to do in practice (it took a lot of concentration and effort), but it worked. I went from straight F's in history to straight A's. I tried to teach my kids how to do it, but the method didn't seem to work for them.
Also had a friend in high school with a much better memory than me. By the time we were HS juniors, he had already taught himself advanced calculus and was seriously ready for college level postgraduate school. He simply loved math, could understand it easily, and had a great memory. His downfall was that this was back in the 60's and as it turned out he happened to have a liking for LSD. As a result he kind of dropped out and never amounted to much.
> The world does not seem to value intelligence
(Not to confuse intelligence with education .... But):
Don't confuse the world with the society in which you live.
Here in the U.S. there is less and less value placed on education.
Therefore more and more professionals (medicine, engineering, etc.)
are Asian or East Indian. (Cultures that still value education)
(Not to confuse intelligence with education .... But):
Don't confuse the world with the society in which you live.
Here in the U.S. there is less and less value placed on education.
Therefore more and more professionals (medicine, engineering, etc.)
are Asian or East Indian. (Cultures that still value education)
The average actor or athlete needs a second job to make ends meet. The average scientist or engineer pulls in close to or more than $100k. Any full professor in STEM at a first or second tier university will make 2-10 times that much between salary and consulting.
And as I pointed out, just like athletes and actors, the folks at the top of the technical professions are pretty darn rich. Don't confuse fame with fortune.
Remember that Bill Gates is a hundred times wealthier than Michael Jordan. 😀
And as I pointed out, just like athletes and actors, the folks at the top of the technical professions are pretty darn rich. Don't confuse fame with fortune.
Remember that Bill Gates is a hundred times wealthier than Michael Jordan. 😀
Ditto the UK.
Its really cool to be dumb but with a fast mouth and have an answer for everything but know nothing.
Its really cool to be dumb but with a fast mouth and have an answer for everything but know nothing.
That is really interesting. I never did well on anything which required memorizing dates and names, model numbers, titles etc. probably would have scored even higher on IQ test I took which asked for dates and name of this and that.
Today, i am still amazed when i walk into a bank .... they say hello Richard or Mr Marsh. How do they do that? Must see a million people between the last time I was in there. I do banking on-line mostly and rarely see them. I don't know any of their names.
I too knew a man who had a huge IQ... 3 masters in EE, ME and Comp Sci. Working on a PHD in something and he too loved drugs... LSD, whiskey, Vodka. he hasnt worked in the last 20 years.... No friends, either. Dirt poor. But he could cram for tests and ace them the next day. He just remembered everything he read for a short time..... just long enough to get to the test. I wonder if the tests even required one to actually think. I only wanted to learn the concepts and principles involved. I worked sooo hard for my grades. I envied him then. Not any more. A total dud. never actualized his full potential IQ except at school.
THx-RNMarsh
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An example of how a tech career can go very well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alec_Broers,_Baron_Broers
He had a sailing yacht when still just a lecturer. But that was the days when IBM looked after their research fellows, at least until they canned the Josephson computing project.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alec_Broers,_Baron_Broers
He had a sailing yacht when still just a lecturer. But that was the days when IBM looked after their research fellows, at least until they canned the Josephson computing project.
No one makes a lot of money working for only a salary. You have to also get a piece of the action somewhere, somehow.
-RNM
-RNM
During the IC boom equity was a given in good years salary was not even 10% of compensation, this has changed dramatically due to several factors such as tax issues etc. (not the least of which are all the back dating scams and such).
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depends of course what is meant by a lot. I have a friend from uni who joined TI and clears about 4x his basic salary in options each year.
Nothing like the good old days tho. Wish I had bough Nokia stock when I joined them. would have been able to pay for my first house in cash after 3 years.
Nothing like the good old days tho. Wish I had bough Nokia stock when I joined them. would have been able to pay for my first house in cash after 3 years.
Lot of deca-millionaires and hecto-millionaires in my neighborhood, whose Model S Teslas have license plate holders that say "Berkeley alumni", "MIT alumni", "Stanford alumni". Most of them got rich by being hired in as employee# < 200 at various startups, got stock options, worked hard, cashed out at the right time. I thank the Supreme Being for my time on the ISSCC Program Committee, where I had a chance to meet incredibly talented people who boosted my career (and desirability as an early stage employee) enormously.
And many millionaires aren't in your neighborhood- they bought a 2500 sq ft rancher for $100k and sold it for $2MM, then moved somewhere sane.
My wife's x for one 🙂 They did the original red LED only 3D Nintendo game thing that got essentially banned for epilepsy reasons (valid or not). One benefit is that my sons got the latest Nintendo game on Friday and had to beat the last boss by Monday before the official release, they did it (another weekend in the same underwear all day).
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Brings us back to the role of luck in how life turns out. Being in the right place at the right time, and with the right preparation, often has a lot to do with success. (Even if the "preparation" happens to take the form of owning a cheap house on a now valuable piece of land.)
Chart attached.
2.0 * 0.89 * 2.0 * 0.9 * 1.59 * 0.73 * 1.75 = 6.50
6.50 ^ (1/32) = 1.0602.
The compound annual growth rate of SF Bay Area real estate has been 6.02 percent per year, over the last 32 years.
Someone who bought a 100k rancher in 1984, sold it for 650K in 2016. Not 2 million, 0.65 million.
My one piece of actual data:
I bought an SF Bay area house in 1992, and sold it in 2014, for 3.1X the 1992 purchase price. 4BR, 2bath, 2100 sq ft. My house's compound annual growth rate over those 22 years, was 5.28% per year. {math: 1.0528^22 = 3.10} BTW it was the same town where Sergey Brin lives; it's not a run down slum by any means.
Attachments
That's about right the house that I bought in Cambridge in 1985 for 330k goes for about 1.8M today. I just sold my house that I bought in 1998 for 365K for 1.05M.
Sure, but there is room for lots of noise around the average. I know a young lady who invested in a small, cheap, old house in East Palo Alto, because that was all she could afford. She rented it out and lived in an apartment herself. A guy wanted the land for a project, and he already acquired all the other lots around hers, but she refused to sell. Eventually, he offered one million and she took it.
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