Why walk when you can fly> (repost)

taken from a comment on Cleodhna's journal.

When I was 13 I took a cycling proficiency course at school. I therefore took my bike to school each day, while my Mum and brothers walked with me (I mostly cycled very slowly, or walked the bike). The dog, by the way, was a 8 stone Alsatian.

So, one morning, I decide to put on a spurt of speed for a few seconds, just as my Mum has allowed youngest brother to hold the dog lead for a moment (as the dog in invariably well behaved and doesn't actually need a lead most of the time). The dog sees me leap off at high speed, assumes this is a game and dashes after me. Youngest brother does an impressive superman impression and lands about 12 feet later, face/arm first.

I think he's forgiven me.

Not as geeky as you might think.

You are 42% geek

You are a geek liason, which means you go both ways. You can hang out with normal people or you can hang out with geeks which means you often have geeks as friends and/or have a job where you have to mediate between geeks and normal people. This is an important role and one of which you should be proud. In fact, you can make a good deal of money as a translator. Normal: Tell our geek we need him to work this weekend. You [to Geek]: We need more than that, Scotty. You'll have to stay until you can squeeze more outta them engines! Geek [to You]: I'm givin' her all she's got, Captain, but we need more dilithium crystals! You [to Normal]: He wants to know if he gets overtime.

Take the Polygeek Quiz at Thudfactor.com

IQ Shenanigans

Nick just proudly informed me that IQ tests are meaningless because they are graded on a curve, and they only tell you your intelligence relative to other people.

Which seems frighteningly bizarre to me - of course they're only useful for comparing yourself to other people. There's no point me trying to compare myself to plants, cats or computers when it comes to intelligence, they're all intelligent in very different ways. If I am interested in measuring my intelligence (and bearing in mind that the ongoing argument over what intelligence is and how it's measured (and whether it can be) and whether there's even one intelligence is still, well, ongoing), then it only really makes sense to compare me to other people.

I have to say that I think that IQ tests are only a good way of testing intelligence in certain kinds of people, or possibly in people who were well taught at school (I know far too many people who were taught maths so badly at the age of 7 that they're convinced it's impossible for them to understand it. Simple approaches to a few concepts show that they can, in fact, get the hang of maths very easily, if the teacher actually takes the time to teach). IQ tests test for abstract pattern matching, whether numerical, symbolic or vocabulary based. If you're interested in conceptual understanding, emotional intuition or creativity then you're going to have to look somewhere very different.

When I did the entry tests for Standard Life, I was put through a bunch of numerical, pattern matching, etc. tests. Thankfully, there was also a test based around written comprehension, or I'd be worried that I'd be working with a bunch of autistic geniuses. Apparently the way they chose which tests to use was to see what tests their current employees do well on, so they can be assured of finding more of the same. I'm assuming that the non-IS applicants were given tests more suited to their particular work.

Ooh, one other thought (as I ramble in 15 directions at once, I think this is the hottest day so far this year), I don't believe that intelligence is intrinsically a better trait than (for instance) strength, or fitness, or manual dexterity, or musical ability. I find it useful, and I value it in others, but that's purely a value judgement on my behalf. I'm very aware of the fact that intelligence is not terribly well respected by the majority of the population (there are no insults I can think for people who are much stronger than the norm. I can think of 10 off the top of my head for people who are abnormally smart). Being smarter doesn't make you a better person, it just makes you a smarter one. Fortunately for me, I'm perfectly happy to be smart most of the time. Now, if I could be just a tad more driven, that'd be fantastic.

(no subject)

Joe just came in and asked me to wander towards the kitchen and tell him when I "noticed the physical effects". So I wandered down, wondering what was up, smelt Nick's cooking (mmm, fried onions) and was about to say "My nostrils must be fucked" when I felt a sensation not unlike my nostril hair being set on fire. And when I turned to say "What the hell is that?" to Joe, I felt a similar tickling/burning in my throat. Nick, of course, refuses to divulge what the evil ingredient in his cooking is. I suspect it's dog hair.