Academic (or other) backgrounds of AH denizens

[EmilyMiller]

As far as I know, my IQ has never been tested. I'm pretty sure I don't want to know what it is.

Perhaps ironically, I have had mine tested, as part of some different assessments. Lest my comments appear to be sour grapes, it was comfortably above average (no I’m not going to say how far above, which would be pointless IMO).

Moving on…

Em

 

[Comshaw]

It’s the ability to figure out a very narrow range of stuff on the test. It’s not generic. People who are good at figuring out X are not necessarily good at figuring out Y.

Anyway I’ve made my very basic points many times. No point continuing to make them.

Em

Modern IQ tests don't have a "very narrow range of stuff". They encompass many different aspects of thought: spatial recognition, math, language, general problem-solving to name a few.

The gathering of wealth and social status has nothing to do with intelligence. There are many I would consider to be sub-par on the intelligence scale who have oodles of money and run in high society circles. Many of the most brilliant minds in the 20th/21st centuries were socially awkward and never gathered much wealth.

I've heard over and over that IQ tests don't mean anything, or little of nothing. I would never claim them to be 100% accurate, but I can't declare they are worthless either. Consider: If they are worthless in gauging intelligence, why do the brightest minds score well above everyone else on such tests? When the outcome of IQ tests are compared to the intelligence of those who have taken them it appears they do measure something to do with intelligence.

I would say that 'speed of thought' is the nearest measure of the plausibly hypothesised Generalised Cognitive Ability. My father had no formal qualifications, he retired as a fire brigade Station Officer. Two of my brothers had no formal qualifications but followed in Daddy's footsteps and retired as Assistant Divisional Officers. The Fire Brigade is an emergency service, you must think fast and react fast. Lives depend on it, those of your team and the public. It's a little like being an NCO in the infantry. Many have no academic qualifications and couldn't perform on an IQ test, but they have to think fast and react fast. They're the backbone of an infantry formation. Talking with these people you can quickly determine that they're smart, but you couldn't tell that by setting them an IQ test.

At the bar, a basic requirement to perform is an ability to 'think on your feet', that is, to deal with unexpected turns of event in examining witnesses or addressing the Court. Even with high academic qualifications and remarkable results on IQ tests, some people have leaden cognitive abilities, and can't rapidly assess a situation and make an appropriate response. I think we instinctively sort others into those who can and those who can't.

I wouldn't call it speed of thought, but speed of correct analysis. It takes an innate intelligence to make lightening fast correct decisions under pressure. Were your father and brothers ever IQ tested? I believe that if they were, they would score at least above average.

That does not mean that some who show remarkable results on an IQ test aren't that intelligent or their cognitive abilities are leaden. It does mean that their thinking style is more deliberate, more geared to considering larger more complicated, universal concepts rather than considering facts and correctly sorting options in minutes or moments.

I consider myself a somewhat smart guy. I spent a career troubleshooting equipment, following a logical progression of clues to a solution. I was very good at it. I learned, I adapted, I stretched my little pea brain until it hurt. I was better at it than anyone around me. And when I finally took an IQ test, the results bore out the fact that I was kinda' smart.

I don't think IQ tests are 100% accurate all the time, nor 100% bullshit. They are a tool to gauge where we generally are in intelligence oni the scale of humanity, nothing more, nothing less. Absolutes are never absolute.


'nuff said.

Comshaw

 

[JaxRhapsody]

I went to a tech college for automotive repair... and it didn't work out. But I hate new cars and don't want to work on them, anyway. I have been trying to stick in the driving industry, and would like to go back to college, but for welding.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

MSA/BSEE/AASCP plus enough training cetificates that if I hung them all on my wall, it would have to be classified ...

 

[oggbashan]

MSA/BSEE/AASCP plus enough training cetificates that if I hung them all on my wall, it would have to be classified ...

Decades ago I upset a Dockyard's Chief Fire officer. I have training certificates for everything he could send me on - fire fighting in a ubmergeed submarine, fire fighting in a skyscraper, firefighting under nuclear/biological attack etc... To his annoyance I passed them all, with better overall scores than most of his firemen.

 

[12oclocktales]

Eye magored in Inglish, but phlunkted out. dont no wye.

 

[Cindy027]

Eye magored in Inglish, but phlunkted out. dont no wye.

Mercy bluecoo, thanks I’m still laughing

 

[12oclocktales]

Mercy bluecoo, thanks I’m still laughing

Mercy Bluecoo, great blues singer out of Chicago back in the 50s, if I recall. "Gotta Laugh to Keep from Crying" was a big hit.

 

[SamScribble]

BA in Eng Lit; Diploma in Fine Arts; Diploma in Culinary Science (many years ago, I thought about opening a restaurant; worked as a chef for six months and changed my mind)

 

[KeithD]

enough training cetificates that if I hung them all on my wall, it would have to be classified ...

Oh, my god, you're right (looking up on the wall behind my monitor). My wall probably does violate security--not least for the photograph of the last foreign installation I managed.

 

[oneagainst]

Oh, my god, you're right (looking up on the wall behind my monitor). My wall probably does violate security--not least for the photograph of the last foreign installation I managed.

Ah, not structural security, from the weight of them all?

 

[KeithD]

Ah, not structural security, from the weight of them all?

No, but some of them just refuse to hang straight. I can tolerate them leaning to the left, but I just can't understand my Adlai Stevenson "What I'd really like to do is sit in the shade with a glass of wine in my hand and watch the dancers" framed quote insisting on leaning right.

 

[HectorBidon]

I have a whole other bibliography, under a different name, elsewhere. Not as much sex, a lot more math. Not as many views, but a gratifying number of hearts and a couple red H's. Thanks for asking.

 

[Haulover]

BA English.

Didn't help in the job market so I went back and did a BSc computer science.

Ended up managing people so I went back and did an MBA.

Now working as a management consultant ... and all 3 qualifications contribute, though I'm certain I could do the same job just as well with no formal training.

 

[Stimtheone]

And I have a computer science degree while failing literature twice.

My teacher would seethe in anger.

 

[Cagivagurl]

Advanced trivium. Diminished quadrivium. Married a linguist.

But was she a cunning linguist???

 

[AwkwardlySet]

But was she a cunning linguist???

He is the one who needs that skill

 

[Rob_Royale]

Always been a big reader and excelled in creative writing in school.
I have a two-year AS in criminal science, which I never used after leaving law enforcement.
Joined the U.S. Coast Guard and became an electronics technician. I work as an electro-mechanical technician.

I wish I'd gone into a medical field or possibly into foreign languages.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

I’m not assuming everyone on here is college educated, but talking about majors is a shorthand for your background.

I majored in Biology and then did a Masters in Structural Biology. I did some literature-related classes as an undergraduate, but not many. My professional life has nothing to do with creative writing. I have always read voraciously though.

I was wondering how many people here majored in English, or have worked in a literature-related job.

What about other backgrounds?

No ulterior motive, just curious as ever.

Em

Nope.

Art, illustrative and animation. Sorry.

 

[oggbashan]

I passed a post-graduate entrance examination at age 18 (and two weeks). At one stage in my career I had 24 letters after my name for belonging to professional organisations. Now my medical daughter and son-in-law have more between them. I have only kept FRGS as did my father and my elder brother. My father, who left school and started work at age 12, ended up with ISO, BA (OU), and 36 letters after those.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

I recently earned my Bachelor's Degree in Social Work at the age of 34.

So, ya know, yay me.

Genuinely, yay for you Melissa! I have no doubt that you'll make a great SWr, whichever niche of the field you wind up in.


I've got a B.S. in Psychology (all puns and teasing accepted), and a Master's in Social Work.
And, just a really long history of people watching, being the odd one out, and reading whatever I can get my hands on.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Genuinely, yay for you Melissa! I have no doubt that you'll make a great SWr, whichever niche of the field you wind up in.


I've got a B.S. in Psychology (all puns and teasing accepted), and a Master's in Social Work.
And, just a really long history of people watching, being the odd one out, and reading whatever I can get my hands on.

Thank you! My focus is on restorative justice. Right now I am working with a program to reintegrate incarcerated persons into society.

I’ve got a little experience with that…

 

[Alitaptap]

I have a BA in Film and an MA in Digital Arts, which is Fine Arts mixed with Tech, coding/interactivity/multi-platform media/installation.

My work leans more towards my BA (nonfiction and fiction), but I think what runs through both is story - which is how I found myself here. Always loved poetry and only just did it for myself or as little gifts for my SO, until I started posting here. It’s pretty much re-enlivened my life for some strange reason, but I’ll take it! Haha

Thanks for this thread, great question, and wonderful to see the broad experiences of so many here!

 

[BelleCanzuto]

Thank you! My focus is on restorative justice. Right now I am working with a program to reintegrate incarcerated persons into society.

I’ve got a little experience with that…

yeah. That, and your obvious intelligence and empathy are why I think you'll be great at it. My first job outta grad school was case management for dually diagnosed (substance use and serious mental illness) folks getting out of jail. I look back, and I'm sometimes embarrassed by how naive I was.

I found my niche with acute psych treatment for seriously mentally ill folk.

I'm glad to have you in the profession.

 

[Codoc24]

Petroleum Engineering B.S. with a minor in Computer Science, retired about a year ago

and I hated English in high school and college, and look at what I am doing now, writing smut for LitE and Amazon. Go figure.....