To wonder how smart do you actually have to be for some professions?

DD has a first in a STEM subject from a good uni, and was called thick as 2 short planks for training to be a teacher. As if life and intelligence are about what you can earn.

What an utterly simplistic post…..
Yawn

I think the thread is referring to an old fashioned idea of intelligence, which is to say not merely knowing a lot of facts and figures but being able to apply this knowledge to real life situations, and think of theories and innovations. Take Tolkein, he didn’t just know a lot of languages, he could apply his knowledge to his fiction and create his own languages based on his very good understanding of the roots and origins of different linguistic family trees.
That isn’t to say he was emotionally intelligent or street smart, I have no idea if he was practical or good at maths; but he clearly was intelligent.

Do you know what you don’t know?

… I think I know the answer.

It's very counterproductive when people say privilege and connections are more important than smarts. All of the people I know through work who are very successful have made it without that. When I look at my own family - both my grandparents were as working class as you can get from the north of England - all their grandchildren have got into top public schools, some with scholarships, building great careers, one got an MBE at age 23. Even though the parents were driven to alcoholism due to the pressure (partly) their parents put them under to work/succeed and being sometimes neglective parents. I think there is huge social mobility in this country. It's such a lame excuse to say "I'm born disadvantaged, I'm staying that way". If you are born with certain characteristics such as intelligence and willingness to work extremely hard, it's largely choice.

Do you need intelligence to start a MN thread?….I think I know the answer

This thread seems to be conflating a lot of different things - intelligence, knowledge, exam techniques, financial success - and making lots of generalisations about them and how they’re connected.

Are you asking if we live in a meritocracy? No, we don’t. There will be people of lower intelligence earning more for less work than peers with higher intelligence. Realising this is actually liberating- you can succeed without lots of graft/grind, drop the busy work if it doesn’t serve you

Don't be ridiculous
There are people who csn work all the hours in the world and be very self motivated but not achieve very much because they lack actual intelligence.

@feelingbleh Try being a family law barrister with no common sense! Impossible. Of course high earning people in that profession have common sense.

Depends on your definition of “intelligence “.

Oh come on ,it's not a job just anyone can do you have to have very high Alevel grades in highly academic subjects just to get into medical school
I used to be a nurse so have worked with many Dr's even the less driven Dr's were far more academically able then most people.

Of course, they’re smart and intelligent, if that’s the answer you’re looking for. However, there are many smart and intelligent people with different careers or even without jobs. Intelligence is subjective, and the only way to assess someone’s intelligence is through conversation with them. Your intuition and biases will affect how you see someone's intelligence. It’s not their job that determines their intelligence.

court not ditty!

I'm an academic. I'm not very intelligent. You just have to work very long hours and be self-motivating.

In my field the most successful people are privately educated so have good networks, have penises so that is apparently a requirement, and have wives who pick up all the slack so they can sit in the office writing until 11pm and come back to a clean house, dinner and kids tucked up in bed.

Connections count but in a global company less important -a good PhD would help

@Sdpbody
You know doctors actually have to make decisions right? Based on a whole lot more than just med school training. Decisions such as ‘on the balance of probability this person was likely unwell at the time of the crime and this can be evidenced by x, y and z although the environmental factors of a and b may cast doubt on this’ and actually stand up in ditty and explain their working out. That’s not rote learning. It’s a job with huge responsibility.

I would never assume someone is or isn't intelligent based on what they do for a living. I know chefs and farmers very intelligent and doctors with zero common sense and unable to think outside their area of training.

Because working with thickos would take away the mental stimulation required to preserve sanity - that’s why.

As for not knowing what the job entails, I presume you don’t vote. How would you vote for someone without knowing what you expect from them.

I’m married to a University Professor and I was an academic Librarian.

We have had a lifetime moving amongst the alleged intelligentsia. Does that mean that we all made the right decisions in all aspects of our professional and personal lives? Absolutely not.

‘Wisest is she who knows she knows nothing’ attributed to Plato showing genuine wisdom. I think that sums it all up.

DH and some of his colleagues work is life changing for the masses. I don’t know anything about some of his research as he had to sign the official secrets act. It’s a shame really, all he said was this has the potential to save millions of lives. It’s a shame that this modest and unassuming man will never have public recognition for what he has achieved.
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Agree. I don’t believe you have to be particularly intelligent to be a doctor, and a medical degree is definitely easier than some other degrees.

😂😂 it’s not a 50/50 split but I know what you mean, and no surprises.

The word ‘privilege’ or ‘privileged’ is used a lot in these sort of discussions.

I always question - what is privilege? Define privilege. As per define intelligence.

Some people have the binary notion of it being ‘state’ or private school (forgetting that state schools and private schools vary wildly), rich or poor parents.

Research shows us that the no.1 most influential factor in defining a child’s success in life, is whether they had 2 present and supportive parents.

So is that a type of privilege? I’d suggest so if we’re going to throw about the word ‘privilege’ in relation to ‘intelligence’ and job title. But no one seems to consider it, it falls into the ‘too difficult to quantify’ box.

I meet lots of junior doctors in my job now. What strikes me is not only their intelligence but evidence of a strong work ethic, and in the main excellent manners and people skills.
You need to persevere the get a degree or any qualification. And you need to listen, think critically and to be able to communicate.
Ideally .... I wonder what AI is going to do to higher education. Nothing good I fear in term of it's potential to facilitate shortcuts and cheating.

In terms of privilege and it's links with achievement if you grow up and can see that hard work is rewarded there is incentive to work hard at school and beyond. If you grow up in an environment where possibilities seem very limited, parents on benefits etc the outlook will look very different.

Confidence plays a huge part. I hit a ceiling at middle management level because I've always had anxiety around work (not in any other areas of my life though) and awful imposter syndrome, I'm scared to commit to a decision without running it past someone higher up and terrified of making a mistake.

The directors I've worked for haven't necessarily been more intelligent than me but they've had the confidence to make decisions.

It isn't intelligence at all. It is rote memory.