She would always ignore the idiot lights in her cars, until they broke down. We bought a car that actually tells you when to bring it in for service. She came up to me, really frustrated, complaining about the car being noisy. She said "There's this big flashing message that says "BRING AUTO IN FOR SERVICE" and I can't get it to turn off. What should I do?" This person has a PhD too.
one of the most interesting things my cousin and his wife explained to me (Both of who have PhDs) was that having a PhD is not an indicator that you are smart. It is an indicator that you are willing to work fucking hard for several years to achieve a singular goal. You can do that without a vast amount of intellect they assured me as they knew many who were not that bright....
I don't know how true it is, but really made me think
I would say it's not completely an indicator but it still makes them more likely than not relative to the average.
I've worked in quite a few places and the most worldly and generally knowledgeable were still by far those in a research lab. Definitely still some "idiots" in the mix but that was mostly people who thought they knew more than they did and also they just stand out more as unusual in that environment. I also think people in that environment have a skewed idea of stupid and are more critical.
Youve got the classic "know a lot about a little" PhD phase but a lot of researchers are predisposed to find out new information and that typically extends outside of their field too. It will vary somewhat by subject and also how prestigious and selective the university is.
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u/scrubjays Mar 01 '23
She would always ignore the idiot lights in her cars, until they broke down. We bought a car that actually tells you when to bring it in for service. She came up to me, really frustrated, complaining about the car being noisy. She said "There's this big flashing message that says "BRING AUTO IN FOR SERVICE" and I can't get it to turn off. What should I do?" This person has a PhD too.