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IQ is only a minor factor in success

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Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success

#281

Post by aithoughts »

VexXtreme wrote: post #147
spiderfarmer wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kids are great. I have 3 kids and to me it is nothing like a prison sentence. I love watching them grow up, it is taking me back to the happiness and carelessness of my own childhood every day. It also gives me a sense of purpose that I would have never found without kids and what I gave up in freedom is made up in love, affection and just plain fun. Based on my experience I am 100% convinced that people that can't f…

> Based on my experience I am 100% convinced that people that can't find joy in the happiness of others should remain single and even more important: never, ever have kids. As a counterargument, I've seen a few people turn into complete monsters once their kids were born. Their justification was "I have kids now and I'll do literally anything for my family, fuck everyone else and their needs." (paraphrased). It's all…

I think people like this were that way before they had kids.

Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success

#282

Post by pdimitar »

mcguire wrote: post #211
errantspark wrote: post #29

I'm probably decently smart, but I'm not rich at all. In fact I'm quite poor by most people's standards. I'm also really happy and work fewer hours per week than anyone I know. If there's one thing I worry about it's that I should be trying to be rich because I probably have the means to make that happen. I might be making 200k/yr if I worked full time. I might be able to start a successful company if I put my mind t…

I suggest you reconsider this. Not necessarily change your answer, but... Earlier in my career, I chose jobs based on interest, challenge, excitement, and fun. As a result, I had a low salary history. When I turned 45, I found myself in a position where, in absolute terms, I was making significantly less than the average for my experience and education in my area; relatively, I was making much less than coworkers who…

I am 36 and I feel I've been overly passive throughout my career. I only "activate" in emergency mode and during the last 15 months (a stable job) I started reflecting and understanding that I only ever tried hard only NOT to sink, and not a centimeter beyond that.

Your experience is something I fear will share in just several years if I don't get off my ass and invest in my future.

To be fair, I had a plethora of pretty valid reasons which I'll not list here. I grew to realize they gradually devolved in mere excuses however in my mind. They were valid for 5-6 years (between 19 and 25, let's say, and even that's a lot of time). Beyond those I just kind of loved the slack they were giving me.

TL;DR: I am stressed, tired and realizing that if I don't start getting much more things done, I'll face a VERY GRIM future.

Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success

#283

Post by classybull »

lisper wrote: post #258
whack wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm making an assertion based on my own personal experiences, just like I'm assuming you're doing as well. I've yet to meet someone who studied/worked all the time during their high-school/college/career, and still failed to secure a six figure income.

A six-figure income does not put you in the top 1%. $100k/yr doesn't even get you into the top 20%. To get into the top 1% you have to make more than $500k/yr. http://www.investmentu.com/article/detail/35049/mailbag-how-...

You're comparing two different metrics. Your source talks about household income, which is generally a measure of two primary incomes. You're comparing a single income to two incomes.

whatsmypercent.com utilizes some good datasets to build out income percentiles. They suggest that $100k/year puts in the the 96% percentile. The 80% percentile starts around $42k/year.

That being said, it is kind of a long tail situation, due to the effects of wealth inequality in this country. The 99% percentile starts at $193k/year.

Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success

#284

Post by pdimitar »

kem wrote: post #202
pier25 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm guessing you are single and not planning to have kids, right?

eh, I have kids and don't make that much money, but I think the point is still valid. My colleague and I were talking about this paper the other day because it led to huge questions about all the assumptions underlying our definitions of "success." For example, my wife and I's household income was fairly big before we had kids, but not really anything noteworthy. It allowed us to save up enough so that her staying ho…

I respect your calm-mannered response.

IMO part of my reason not to want kids is the fact that I am doing awfully with money even though I am a programmer in demand (which means I do a lot of things wrong on this platform, which is a fact I became painfully aware of in the last one year)... and thus, any extra expense would literally kill me in the long-term. I barely manage well right now.

That said, I don't think I'll be happy watching my kids wanting a toy, or new boots, or simply a scarf and a hat for the winter, or a cheap gaming console, and me being unable to buy them those. Where's the happiness in seeing your children being miserable? That's the thing that pushes normal peaceful people to attempt robberies!

So your case is anecdotal. Works pretty well for you but I know that for me and many others it won't. So my case is anecdotal as well.

All in all, I do my best not to let hormones or misplaced "duty" principles decide for me, and use my rational thought for my decisions.

Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success

#285

Post by pdimitar »

Pigo wrote: post #142
errantspark wrote: post #29

I'm probably decently smart, but I'm not rich at all. In fact I'm quite poor by most people's standards. I'm also really happy and work fewer hours per week than anyone I know. If there's one thing I worry about it's that I should be trying to be rich because I probably have the means to make that happen. I might be making 200k/yr if I worked full time. I might be able to start a successful company if I put my mind t…

I derive a lot of satisfaction from fixing things myself. I watch YouTube clips that show me how to do anything to my Jeep. I recently bought an old farm house that's a constant list of new projects to work on, and a yard to landscape. I feel like Hank Hill sometimes, and my co-workers act like it's not worth their time to do those kind of things (they just buy new cars whenever something little happens to them). But…

I am gradually travelling from your colleagues' state of mind to yours lately.

In my case though, it's not about "not worth my time". It's just that I am always tired and thus somewhat cranky, unhealthy and have a lot of things to care for -- debts, teeth fixes (and several other health issues), proper TV stand and bedroom floor fixators, get proper kitchenware (like, I have a pan that USED to be teflon for example), you name it -- loads of thigns to care for because they simply aren't where I want them to be. And I am talking things I find basic, not luxuries.

While I am in this drama, I really do find it hard to just screw everything and go fix an old PC or a bike lying around.

I started finding inner peace in tinkering with things but it's an uphill battle against my stress and messed-up life -- and it's gonna take a while for me to fully get there.

No real topic in my comment. Just wanted to offer you another point of view.

Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success

#286

Post by N3cr0ph4g1st »

errantspark wrote: post #29

I'm probably decently smart, but I'm not rich at all. In fact I'm quite poor by most people's standards. I'm also really happy and work fewer hours per week than anyone I know. If there's one thing I worry about it's that I should be trying to be rich because I probably have the means to make that happen. I might be making 200k/yr if I worked full time. I might be able to start a successful company if I put my mind t…

Could you explain what part of being a data scientist made you hate it?

Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success

#287

Post by chriscool »

Noseshine wrote: post #160
Noseshine wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some more details, I bookmarked this page that explains "IQ", so that I can post it in forums whenever the subject comes up :-) http://www.michna.com/iq.htm Relevant paragraph quoted: Misconception: The IQ is a direct measure of brain performance. For example, somebody with an IQ of 120 can do 20% more mental work in the same amount of time than somebody with an IQ of 100. In truth the IQ is a purely statistical…

To clarify: My comment is in support of the parent. Could the downvoters please explain what they think is wrong that I add MORE information and a link to an extended explanation??

I think many people here just don't like it when people tell them that IQ is not as important as they think.

I also got downvoted in the following comment sometime ago:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7977021

where I quoted researchers saying basically that creativity tests are the "...best childhood predictors we have of future real-world achievements..."

Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success

#288

Post by forgetsusername »

varjag wrote: post #168
forgetsusername wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At a very slow rate, at very low risk. There are always tradeoffs. I think bad about cash.

There's enough of compound effect to make your cash worth a lot less by the time you retire. E.g. here in Norway you'd lose 50% value of your savings over 20 year period.

If you stuff the cash in a mattress and sit around for 20 years. But if you do that, inflation isn't your biggest risk.

Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success

#289

Post by omilu »

errantspark wrote: post #34
pier25 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm guessing you are single and not planning to have kids, right?

I'm not single, but you're right about the kids. In my world view having a kid is similar to an 18 year prison sentence.

Think of kids as cloning yourself, or as close to time travel as your going to get. Your kids let you relive emotions and experiences from your childhood that you forgot about, and you get a chance to guide them through life with benefit of hindsight. I enjoy it. Not to mention free manual labor.

Re: IQ is only a minor factor in success

#290

Post by tripzilch »

babuskov wrote: post #138
visarga wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well... in order for you to wonder at how "biology ruled over your logical processing unit" a lot of people had to sacrifice their freedoms, before you. Don't beat yourself over it, it's such an important thing that it is equal to "being alive". And what you lose as a person, your DNA gains as a living system. DNA is such a chump. I never realized how much work it does. Every protein in our bodies is copied from DNA.…

I wrote it in so nice way. I'm usually more harsh to people. Deciding not to have kids because it's too much of an effort is so selfish act. You're throwing away all the effort your ancestors put in to get to the point of you being alive.

Most of our ancestors didn't get to reproduce all that offspring by being nice guys.

If you think about it for a moment they can't nearly have been as noble as they're made out to be, by far.

Reproduction is not a virtue in and of itself. There will come a moment when the next generation will not forgive us for this overpopulated earth.

But of course I never tell my friends what I really think when they tell me the happy news of their expectancy ...

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