>> Well, there are a lot of factors. How well the test is written, what it is even looking for, how honestly it is graded, and whether a child bothers to try. <<
I think our local standards for measuring intelligence were very different. Maybe this genre of naturally super-intelligent children really does exist, but there is no means to finding them here that I would call reliable.
My partner and I did have the advantage of attending the same Montessori preschool for three years. We were both held back. (I don’t know the reason why my partner stayed so long. My reason was a health issue.)
We went to separate public schools after that because Montessori does not extend past preschool in our area. I can't remember much of it, but I do know that I was regarded as "smart" by the time I got to kindergarten because I had already been taught a lot of things that my classmates hadn't been exposed to yet. I was given a label that incentivized me to try harder. It is not a drive that I was born with. I just wanted praise.
For us, getting recognized as a "gifted" kid meant doing GATE and taking AP classes. I actually didn't pass my GATE test but was allowed to participate anyway because my grades were high.
>>That can happen. Parental socioeconomic status has a prevailing effect on child success. But that's not the same thing as intelligence. It just means that a rich but dumb child will be pushed and coddled through high grades that a smarter child earns naturally.<<
Sure, but the difference for a coddled child like myself is that I got to fuck around and find myself in my early twenties, and then fall back on my dad when my stupid choices didn't work out. Now I see classmates who are younger than myself, learning more quickly than I do, while keeping up with more responsibilities than I have. They would have excelled in my place, but they will not have the same opportunities because they are held back by the obligation to work more, to marry early and to have kids.
The older generation of my partner's family lost almost everything to colonial conflict in India and they have no relatives outside of their immediate family here. However, their parents are both professors. There was not a financial advantage like I had, or even a private tutor, but they understood the importance of cultivating curiosity. My partner is also closely connected with the local Hindu community, where there is social pressure to excel in academics from an early age.
I can't think of many academically distinguished people whose backgrounds did not set them up for success. I also notice that there are a lot of people who try to hide the fact that their background set them up for success.
>> American purports to be a meritocracy but really is not. What people care about is appearance, connections, socioeconomic status, and paperwork. A pleasing incompetent will consistently get chosen over a less-pleasing but more capable worker in most situations. <<
I personally wouldn't dismiss charisma and a drive to develop social intelligence as anything other than a gift. It's not the most practical skillset but it still distinguishes a person.
>> I find it disturbing, but not surprising, that there's a program using fast and sloppy methods to train people for health care.<<
There aren't many options aside from "fast and sloppy" aside from not having workers at all. FWIW, the licensing exams are very challenging and plenty of people fail, so people can't exactly cheat to the end.
We also spend over 700 hours at local hospitals during this program, performing the skills of the job we are studying for under the supervision of a licensed person. Most hospitals keep everyone in our specialty organized into teams with an experienced staff at the lead, so there is always someone to refer to if anyone is unsure about anything. Most of the math is automatically done by the computer as well. It's more important to know how to interpret the data than to crunch the numbers.
I'm not as concerned about a lack of competency among staff so much as a lack of empathy. This is what causes people not to listen. Any person who doesn't exist within conservative christian ideals is definitely at risk of being regarded in a different way... at least in certain parts of the town where I'm at.
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dancing_serpent
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2023-01-19 06:33 am (UTC)I think our local standards for measuring intelligence were very different. Maybe this genre of naturally super-intelligent children really does exist, but there is no means to finding them here that I would call reliable.
My partner and I did have the advantage of attending the same Montessori preschool for three years. We were both held back. (I don’t know the reason why my partner stayed so long. My reason was a health issue.)
We went to separate public schools after that because Montessori does not extend past preschool in our area. I can't remember much of it, but I do know that I was regarded as "smart" by the time I got to kindergarten because I had already been taught a lot of things that my classmates hadn't been exposed to yet. I was given a label that incentivized me to try harder. It is not a drive that I was born with. I just wanted praise.
For us, getting recognized as a "gifted" kid meant doing GATE and taking AP classes. I actually didn't pass my GATE test but was allowed to participate anyway because my grades were high.
>>That can happen. Parental socioeconomic status has a prevailing effect on child success. But that's not the same thing as intelligence. It just means that a rich but dumb child will be pushed and coddled through high grades that a smarter child earns naturally.<<
Sure, but the difference for a coddled child like myself is that I got to fuck around and find myself in my early twenties, and then fall back on my dad when my stupid choices didn't work out. Now I see classmates who are younger than myself, learning more quickly than I do, while keeping up with more responsibilities than I have. They would have excelled in my place, but they will not have the same opportunities because they are held back by the obligation to work more, to marry early and to have kids.
The older generation of my partner's family lost almost everything to colonial conflict in India and they have no relatives outside of their immediate family here. However, their parents are both professors. There was not a financial advantage like I had, or even a private tutor, but they understood the importance of cultivating curiosity. My partner is also closely connected with the local Hindu community, where there is social pressure to excel in academics from an early age.
I can't think of many academically distinguished people whose backgrounds did not set them up for success. I also notice that there are a lot of people who try to hide the fact that their background set them up for success.
>> American purports to be a meritocracy but really is not. What people care about is appearance, connections, socioeconomic status, and paperwork. A pleasing incompetent will consistently get chosen over a less-pleasing but more capable worker in most situations. <<
I personally wouldn't dismiss charisma and a drive to develop social intelligence as anything other than a gift. It's not the most practical skillset but it still distinguishes a person.
>> I find it disturbing, but not surprising, that there's a program using fast and sloppy methods to train people for health care.<<
There aren't many options aside from "fast and sloppy" aside from not having workers at all. FWIW, the licensing exams are very challenging and plenty of people fail, so people can't exactly cheat to the end.
We also spend over 700 hours at local hospitals during this program, performing the skills of the job we are studying for under the supervision of a licensed person. Most hospitals keep everyone in our specialty organized into teams with an experienced staff at the lead, so there is always someone to refer to if anyone is unsure about anything. Most of the math is automatically done by the computer as well. It's more important to know how to interpret the data than to crunch the numbers.
I'm not as concerned about a lack of competency among staff so much as a lack of empathy. This is what causes people not to listen. Any person who doesn't exist within conservative christian ideals is definitely at risk of being regarded in a different way... at least in certain parts of the town where I'm at.