Scribblings

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by RWood

After passing the exams and being invited to join, my wife and I declined membership. We decided to form our own club -- DENSA. All of you are invited to join.

BTW: I speak fluent COBOL and FORTRAN as well as JCL.

Fluent in languages, eh?

How about assembly language? My first was 6502 and then 68000.

My first computer programming book was Job Control Language, though I don't remember anything about it (no problem, I can't see using it anyways!).

My university had a great dialect of FORTRAN, WATFOR/WATFIV!

My first job after university required me to review programs written in COBOL.

Sorry if this appears Greek (or Latin) to some, but it brings back memories....

[vivaldirules]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

holy skewed demographics, batman, does anyone around here *not* have a genius IQ ?

Did someone call? I figger I have an IQ of about 12 and three-quarters. But I have a Ph.D. which, like the Straw Man, makes me.....flammable.

[zelda_pinwheel]

i didn't realize they gave PhDs to dogs. i mean, you always hear dog-lovers saying how intelligent they are, it's true, but that really seems a bit extreme.

[pshrynk]

Originally Posted by RWood

After passing the exams and being invited to join, my wife and I declined membership. We decided to form our own club -- DENSA. All of you are invited to join.

BTW: I speak fluent COBOL and FORTRAN as well as JCL.

I'd join that.

[pshrynk]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

i didn't realize they gave PhDs to dogs. i mean, you always hear dog-lovers saying how intelligent they are, it's true, but that really seems a bit extreme.

"Smart for a dog." = "Dim for a rutabaga."

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by pshrynk

"Smart for a dog." = "Dim for a rutabaga."

ouch...

[vivaldirules]

Originally Posted by pshrynk

"Smart for a dog." = "Dim for a rutabaga."

Can't say I'm smart for a dog either. Sometimes I find I'm still easily distracted and these can overcome any prefontal cortex development I may have made and....wait....is that bacon I smell? OH! We're going for a car ride!!!!!!! Take me! Take me!!!!

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

Can't say I'm smart for a dog either. Sometimes I find I'm still easily distracted and these can overcome any prefontal cortex development I may have made and....wait....is that bacon I smell? OH! We're going for a car ride!!!!!!! Take me! Take me!!!!

"walkies"

[Taylor514ce]

A couple of more bones for the nice doggy: dancing. I've tried to learn to dance, but cannot move my body as a coordinated whole. Also, maybe this is significant, maybe it isn't, but I have never been able to internalize "left" vs. "right". When I need to know LEFT, I have to look for which hand has a particular scar. That's left.

Instructions that include LEFT-click or RIGHT-click require me to hold both hands over the mouse, find the scar, and that's the LEFT mouse button. I'm generally quite easily confused by such "frame of reference" situations.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by tirsales

In German it's "Druckbleistift" ("Press(ure)-pencil")


Quite probably.


I know what you mean.
The problem is: As soon as I reach a certain stage and a problem gets boring I tend to focus on the next project. This really can lead to problems - e.g. when the actual project has absolutely nothing to do with anything work or study-related...".

My attention span for anything I'm not feeling passionate about is about 2 seconds. If I don't want to bother with it, then it's even shorter ... in the nanosecond range.

Faced with a project I'm not keen on doing, then suddenly repairing my neighbor's stereo becomes of earth-shattering importance. I simply cannot LIVE until that thing is working perfectly.

Originally Posted by tirsales

Pff, my test couldnt tell more than 150 - never bothered to do the next one. Because - you are right. The IQ says absolutely nothing about the person or about your capabilities to solve "everydays problems".

It really cracks me up when people boast about their IQs as if the number meant anything. In law school, walking through the parking structure, I remember seeing a license plate that said "IQ 168" .... so I left a note on his/her car window saying "169 you moron."

And, while I'm reeling off topic, as usual, in elementary school they divided a bunch of us off from the rest of the class based on our IQs. We were called the "Alpha Group." We were given special pins to wear (and I think I still have mine ... it had an infinity symbol on it), and special priveleges ... shades of Aldous Huxley.

That sort of treatment, on either side of the equasion, is simply not good for ten year olds. It either makes them feel worthless (if they are not members of the favored group) or turns them into self rightious little pricklets (me).


\

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

A couple of more bones for the nice doggy: dancing. I've tried to learn to dance, but cannot move my body as a coordinated whole. Also, maybe this is significant, maybe it isn't, but I have never been able to internalize "left" vs. "right". When I need to know LEFT, I have to look for which hand has a particular scar. That's left.

Instructions that include LEFT-click or RIGHT-click require me to hold both hands over the mouse, find the scar, and that's the LEFT mouse button. I'm generally quite easily confused by such "frame of reference" situations.

It's official ... we're twins.

I cannot dance at all. I look a bit like a spastic Booby trying to land after months in the air whenever I try. They tried to stick me in ballet classes when I was six. The teacher (very wisely) chucked my little butt out of there after the second lesson.

[tirsales]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

Faced with a project I'm not keen on doing, then suddenly repairing my neighbor's stereo becomes of earth-shattering importance. I simply cannot LIVE until that thing is working perfectly.

I was going to say that its seldom a stereo that keeps me from doing anything - but then I remembered my moms stereo which kept me from doing an annoying work for several days

It really cracks me up when people boast about their IQs as if the number meant anything. In law school, walking through the parking structure, I remember seeing a license plate that said "IQ 168" .... so I left a note on his/her car window saying "169 you moron."

*g* Thats actually funny.
I discussed IQ with two psychoanalysts.
One insisted that IQ was very important and showed how intelligent people really were - and stated that I clearly couldnt have a high IQ, otherwise I would see the benefit of this scoring system. Thats the only time I found it valuable to have my IQ tested - he very much contradicted himself
The second agreed - IQ is not important.
Do you by any change know the Simpson-episode in which Springfields super-intelligents took the power in the city?

And, while I'm reeling off topic, as usual, in elementary school they divided a bunch of us off from the rest of the class based on our IQs. We were called the "Alpha Group." We were given special pins to wear (and I think I still have mine ... it had an infinity symbol on it), and special priveleges ... shades of Aldous Huxley.

??? Why on earth did they do this?
A former classmate of mine - she actually had a better Abitur than I and has a lower IQ. She quite simply works harder then me. That much for a relation between IQ and success in school...
Another friend - he is a brilliant programmer. I am a good software developer myself - but he is better. He has a lower IQ but he can concentrate on one subject much better then I can. That much for a relation between IQ and success in other fields...

That sort of treatment, on either side of the equasion, is simply not good for ten year olds. It either makes them feel worthless (if they are not members of the favored group) or turns them into self rightious little pricklets (me).

I agree.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

A couple of more bones for the nice doggy: dancing. I've tried to learn to dance, but cannot move my body as a coordinated whole. Also, maybe this is significant, maybe it isn't, but I have never been able to internalize "left" vs. "right". When I need to know LEFT, I have to look for which hand has a particular scar. That's left.

Instructions that include LEFT-click or RIGHT-click require me to hold both hands over the mouse, find the scar, and that's the LEFT mouse button. I'm generally quite easily confused by such "frame of reference" situations.

i love to dance, and i'm regularly told that i do it quite well however i also have to think very hard about left and right (there is no more left or right in dancing, when you do it prpperly, and frequently no more up or down either). the first time i went to a girlfriend's house, she told me "3rd floor, the door on the left. but just knock softly, because the baby is sleeping." well, i knocked softly, and no-one came. so i knocked ever so slightly louder, and still no-one. one last try... not a movement. i didn't dare knock louder, so i took my cell-phone and called her. "i'm outside the door, but you didn't hear me knocking..."

instantly the left door opened ; i had been knocking on the other one. that happens to me all the time. if i need to know which side is left or right, i usually think to myself "right hand is the mouse hand..." but i have to hold the hand up at the same time, as if i were really holding the mouse. otherwise it doesn't work.

i usually feel rather idiotic when i have to stop and think about left and right ; it's reassuring to know i'm not the only one with this trouble.

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

My attention span for anything I'm not feeling passionate about is about 2 seconds. If I don't want to bother with it, then it's even shorter ... in the nanosecond range.

Faced with a project I'm not keen on doing, then suddenly repairing my neighbor's stereo becomes of earth-shattering importance. I simply cannot LIVE until that thing is working perfectly.

oh god. you have no idea the trivial distractions i've been able to involve myself in, to avoid doing something more important that i just didn't want to do.

recently, i learned rather accidentally that the INSEE had changed the APE codes (these are tax codes which tell which profession you belong to, which you must mention on things like bills to clients. however they are purely for statistical purposes, and if you continue to use the old code, literally *no-one* cares. they are of so little practical importance, in fact, that even the INSEE itself didn't bother to inform me of my new code.). this is the classic example of something i care so little about it barely exists in my reality.

but the other day i was working on a project which was really driving me crazy, and suddenly finding out my new APE code became vitally important. it could not wait another second !! i spent hours trying to navigate the impenetrable waters of the INSEE website to discover it and even went so far as to call my tax center (they didn't know either... that's how important that stupid code is.). you understand, it was a matter of life or death !!! (actually, i never did get a definitive answer, although it was not for lack of trying. however i did manage to avoid working on the project for most of the afternoon. if anyone else knows the new APE code for graphic artists, please do let me know. i'm done with the annoying project and my motivation for finding it out myself has returned to sub-zero level.).

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by tirsales

Do you by any change know the Simpson-episode in which Springfields super-intelligents took the power in the city?.

Yes, I saw that episide and loved it.

Originally Posted by tirsales

??? Why on earth did they do this??.

I long ago gave up asking myself why "grownups" do anything. I still don't understand why they did what they did to us. I way already prone to not working very hard in school, and honestly, I think singling us out as special only made me slack off more. I started thinking that good grades were simply my due.

Originally Posted by tirsales

A former classmate of mine - she actually had a better Abitur than I and has a lower IQ. She quite simply works harder then me. That much for a relation between IQ and success in school...
Another friend - he is a brilliant programmer. I am a good software developer myself - but he is better. He has a lower IQ but he can concentrate on one subject much better then I can. That much for a relation between IQ and success in other fields...

No argument from me there. I glided through school, until I got to the university level. In the classes I loved (Art History, Astronomy, Physical Anthropology) I did well. In the classes I didn't care for, I bombed so badly I damn near flunked out of school. Because I had NEVER learned how to study. I'm quite sure that the students who flew right by me at UCLA didn't have the IQ I had .... big whoop .... they were getting As and I was trying to figure out how I had suddenly become so "stupid."

It wasn't until I got into graduate studies (and how I got into graduate school is a story in and of itself) that I really began to shine, but that was because I was (1) interested in the subject matter and (2) had finally learned how to study effectively.

Originally Posted by tirsales

I agree.

That I'm a pricklette??

Oh .... as an aside .... this will show you how having a high IQ doesn't help with some things. I punched the multiquote thingie, but couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get it to work.

Anyone want to give a genius a hand with something that is probably obvious but that is clearly escaping her???

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

oh god. you have no idea the trivial distractions i've been able to involve myself in, to avoid doing something more important that i just didn't want to do.

I've got a TON of real live work on my desk that needs attention. So, right now .... I'm trying to figure out a way to correct errors in a Marvin the Robot model so that I can rig it properly for posing.

Now, no one has asked me to do this ... No one CARES if I do this. So, naturally, it takes priority over every other single thing in my life.

Yes, I'll admit it .... I need