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“I’m not that smart”

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Re: “I’m not that smart”

#71

Post by exolymph »

spiffytech wrote: post #69
DangitBobby wrote: post #5

It became quickly very clear to me in undergrad that some people had this intuitive conceptual understanding of math and physics that I would simply never have, despite the effort (and I did make good grades). Some of these guys just blew me away with how smart they were. The more time I spent around people a lot smarter than me, the more I realized that some people's brains are just operating at a completely differe…

I saw the same thing in college, but I narrowed it down not to intelligence, but aptitude for abstract vs concrete thought. In high school everyone either struggles with geometry or algebra, while finding the other relatively accessible. College magnifies this effect. I intensely struggled with calculus, far and away my hardest subject. Friends those raw intelligence was similar to my own found calculus to be laughab…

> not to intelligence, but aptitude for abstract vs concrete thought.

But this is simply a dimension of intelligence. All of our cognitive abilities are.

Re: “I’m not that smart”

#72

Post by tabtab »

DangitBobby wrote: post #5

It became quickly very clear to me in undergrad that some people had this intuitive conceptual understanding of math and physics that I would simply never have, despite the effort (and I did make good grades). Some of these guys just blew me away with how smart they were. The more time I spent around people a lot smarter than me, the more I realized that some people's brains are just operating at a completely differe…

I notice I'm a "visual thinker" while others seem to be "linguistic thinkers". Both approach problem solving differently and perhaps do better at different things. Certain calculus problems I could solve without doing the "pencil steps" because I found a (mentally) visual way to process them, while chemistry equations often tripped me up because I couldn't turn them into pictures. It may just be a matter of knowing how one's brain works and leveraging what it does best. But the training and descriptive material may not cater to one or the other. (I come from a long family of visual artists.)

Re: “I’m not that smart”

#73

Post by spiffytech »

exolymph wrote: post #71
spiffytech wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw the same thing in college, but I narrowed it down not to intelligence, but aptitude for abstract vs concrete thought. In high school everyone either struggles with geometry or algebra, while finding the other relatively accessible. College magnifies this effect. I intensely struggled with calculus, far and away my hardest subject. Friends those raw intelligence was similar to my own found calculus to be laughab…

> not to intelligence, but aptitude for abstract vs concrete thought. But this is simply a dimension of intelligence. All of our cognitive abilities are.

Yeah, I didn't word that very well.

What I'm trying to say is that people who are considered smart in the traditional sense won't always be good at math (or any other specific subject). The difference is something more nuanced than "I'd be good at math if I was smarter".

Re: “I’m not that smart”

#74

Post by auganov »

rowanG077 wrote: post #70
auganov wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In case of losing weight, it very much does. You don't even need to do anything, you need to not eat (as much). Given high heritability of obesity it may very well be that some genetic configurations make it harder to stop eating. Plenty of studies show that most fail at dieting. Statistically speaking, it may be impossible to lose weight for most. So if you don't believe in even soft free will, you may as well concl…

> In case of losing weight, it very much does. You don't even need to do anything, you need to not eat (as much). Given high heritability of obesity it may very well be that some genetic configurations make it harder to stop eating. Plenty of studies show that most fail at dieting. Statistically speaking, it may be impossible to lose weight for most. So if you don't believe in even soft free will, you may as well con…

That's fine we can call it discipline (which some in the weight loss debate believe is impossible to cultivate, not myself). The point is, if there is indeed a conceptually simple way to increase intelligence, there's no inherent contradiction in most being unable to do it and statistical evidence looking the way it does.

Re: “I’m not that smart”

#75

Post by cglotr »

travisjungroth wrote: post #12
teachersaredumb wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to brag (is it even possible to brag through an anonymous throwaway account?), but throughout my schooling I skipped or skimmed most readings and avoided doing the homework, or copied it off my more diligent classmates. But I still got perfect grades in high school and graduate school, outperforming classmates who worked much harder. In undergrad, I had mediocre grades only because I just didn't do the homework a…

If this isn’t to brag, then what is it for?

To prove a point that some people are just smarter than others? A useful anecdote

Re: “I’m not that smart”

#76

Post by cglotr »

travisjungroth wrote: post #21
senko wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(not gp) To show that intuitive math understanding is a thing.

Doesn’t really seem to settle things. Comment explained that people learn math from somewhere. Reply described someone learning math in school, quickly and with low effort.

Learning math elsewhere implies someone is smarter due to nurture. This dude experience implies raw intelligence (nature)

Re: “I’m not that smart”

#77

Post by travisjungroth »

cglotr wrote: post #76
travisjungroth wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn’t really seem to settle things. Comment explained that people learn math from somewhere. Reply described someone learning math in school, quickly and with low effort.

Learning math elsewhere implies someone is smarter due to nurture. This dude experience implies raw intelligence (nature)

There’s no description of his life from age 0 to 5 (incredibly formative nurturing years) and almost none before high school.
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