Aestu wrote:
Callysta wrote:
I believe it is possible, but you have given me no evidence to believe that you are anything other than that which you detest - of average intelligence, masked with an intolerable personality and the use of a thesaurus.
I suppose the contradiction that I have a hard time reconciling is the idea that you somehow purposefully underachieving in the world of academia. If you are really as intelligent as you profess, you would recognize that however irrelevant grades are as a measure of what you've actually learned, they are what your future employers or Masters/Ph.D programs will use to judge you. Common sense seems to have escaped you here.
Well, first, my general level of written communication and reasoning are clearly above average. My SAT scores were higher than most Ivy League grads. I took the Stanford-Binet in elementary school and scored high. In-game you can see clearly my ability to think creatively and logically to create effective solutions to problems. Assuming you choose to not regard my story as a fiction, my intelligence is obviously perceived by those around me in real life.
Your reasoning that I am of "average" intelligence resets on the premise that academic achievement directly scales with intelligence and that no intelligent person could do poorly for any other reason. Since this is known to not be true, your argument falls apart.
You further disregard that individuals of ordinary at best intelligence can obtain advanced degrees through many means - they may be more industrious, they may have superior memory, they may have connections or recommendations, or they may have the sheer drive to overcome their cognitive limitations through study or the like. Therefore, arguing that a masters or doctorate is proof of intelligence is so wrong that it is almost a popular joke.
For what it's worth I also disagree with your claim that employers care mostly about grades. That's completely untrue; employers tend to care more about factors such as experience, reliability, work ethic and personality. Of course this varies greatly depending on the setting, but I think it's definitely untrue that grades are the most important factor to most employers.
You are what you portray to the world. Without the academic connections related to fantastic grades, an individual must rely on social connections and personality to get ahead. At the moment you don't appear to be exploiting either option.
The SAT and Stanford-Binet are measures of potential. Potential is nothing without the corresponding ambition. I received a perfect score on my SATs and ACTs, have a genius IQ (and was admitted into Mensa at 6), maintained a 4.0 in college, where I received 3 degrees in 2 years. I think I am able to comfortably state that I am exceptionally intelligent. I don't, however, spend my time blathering on constantly about how everyone is beneath me and trying to make myself look smarter. I don't need the validation. You appear to need this, which is one of the reasons I made my assessment.
I won't dispute the waning exclusivity of academic degrees, but acquiring a Doctorate is more than cramming for a test the night before a skimming on by. I didn't say that getting poor grades means that you are not intelligent. Several years ago that was me. The 1st grader that read at a college level and could do calculus, but never did homework. However, once I was in college where it "counted," I did all of the mundane assignments and did what I needed to do to get the A. It was my currency for entry into the workforce. (It is not the ONLY thing that employers look at, but definitely important.)
