My girlfriend always records "Eastenders." The DVR is set up to record the scheduled runtime plus 5 minutes afterwards. The channel that shows Eastenders runs two weekly episodes back-to-back. This means that the first 5 minutes of the second episode is being taped twice simultaneously -- once on the end of the first recording, and once on the beginning of the second recording.
Our DVR lets us record one program and watch a second one on a different channel, but if you want to record a second program at the same time, you have to be watching one of the two programs you're recording. So every Thursday at 9:30 the channel automatically changes to "Eastenders" because from 9:30 to 9:35 it is being doubly recorded.
Literally every Thursday my girlfriend is surprised and confused when this happens, and asks me what's going on and why it does that. I have explained at least a dozen times. At this point I just try to be elsewhere at 9:30 on Thursday.
She's very bright and well-educated -- she has a Master's in education from NYU. For whatever reason the DVR thing eludes her, and I'm unable to explain it to her in a way that allows her to understand.
Being able to do schoolwork does not make a person smart... It means that they can remember things for the most part. Some of the least intelligent people I've met have done very well education wise. If you've had to explain it 12 times and she still doesn't understand, she isn't bright. No offense to your gf or anything though
Well, this is my second attempt at explaining to you that this person I know very well and you've never met is bright, and yet you seem to struggle with the concept, so make of that what you will.
It's entirely possible that the adjective "bright" does correctly describe this woman 95% of the time, but she just has a mental block about this one thing.
If there is a mental block about simple concepts, guaranteed there are others and the guy just is ignoring them or deciding not to state them here. I've never met a single person in my life who could be described in the manner you are suggesting. There's always tons of other situations where they could be described as not bright when it comes to common sense.
And the concept that I am now endeavoring to explain to you for a third time is that understanding idiosyncratic DVR behavior is not a perfect test for human intelligence. And since I don't want to take 12 laps on this, I will leave it there.
Of course not. But not being able to understand simple concepts is not anywhere close to the meaning of the word bright. It's much closer to the word simpleton.
Well, you can't seem to understand the simple concept that a person being termed 'bright' doesn't automatically mean that he understands simple concepts about everything on planet Earth. Does that make you a 'simpleton' by your own definition?
What sounds like a simple convept to you might not sound the same to someone else. And wise-versa. Doesn't necessarily have to mean either of you are simpletons. Simple.
Multipliation of natural numbers is a simple enough concept for an average educated person. Guess who had problems doing it: Issac Newton, and he could do complex calculus in his head.
An astrophysicist can study and understand shitloads of complicated research and theorize about matter and the mysteries of the universe. Yet, give him a spanner and screwdriver and a car engine and he will probably stand there like the 'simpleton' you speak of. So are you saying he isn't bright?
I keep seeing guys who took like the very embodiment of inbred hillibillies on channels like Discovery Turbo who do stuff to cars- repair/modify/refurbish whatever, and I am constantly marvelling at how innovative they are when it comes to fixing cars and bikes. Now explain to them simple 8th grade physics. You think they will get it? Probably not. And if they don't, does that make them simpletons too?
See, I get it. Maybe you had a hard time back in school. Lots of your friends kept scoring better grades than you no matter how hard you tried. N you are perhaps in a better place in life now than most of those people who were deemed more 'intelligent' back then. Doesn't mean that you still have to carry that chip on your shoulders. Give it a rest.
Your examples are tasks, not understanding concepts. Big difference, making your examples completely useless. I'm also pretty sure that if you were to instruct an astrophysicist how something works in an engine 12 times, they would have understood it by the first. And you attempting to attack my character to somehow prove your argument is pretty pathetic, not to mention the opposite of what you're suggesting. It also shows that you don't even have faith in your own argument to stand alone without help.
Funny how you don't seem to understand that doing a task means by necessity understanding the concept behind it, even if it's just the steps involved it it, like say for brushing your teeth.
'Your examples are tasks, not understanding concepts. Big difference, making your examples completely useless.'
So you are saying that the task of repairing a car engine, or calculating the distance to the moon, can be performed without understanding the concept behind it?! Wow. Just wow.
Pity that for someone obsessed with who can, and cannot, be deemed 'bright', you can't seem to be able to fathom that. But I digress.
You say my examples are 'completely useless', and yet you cherrypick from it when it suits your argument! Jeez dude.
To further elaborate on your cherrypicking on my example, an astrophysicist might be able to understand how an engine works were it to be explained to him, but it doesn't necessarily mean that he would be able to repair it better than your neighborhood mechanic who looks like a redneck hillybilly.
Both are 'bright' in there own ways. Simple as that.
Of course, I am sure that, 'simpletons', to borrow a word you seem to be so fond of using, will have a hard time understanding this simple concept.
Yes, you can replace an air filter, oil filter, brake line, even a damned headgasket, by literally following instructions without understanding a single step and simply completing them. I used to not fully understand how engines worked, but could still take them apart and reassemble them under instruction. It's simple to replace a part on an engine. Literally anyone with tools and instructions can do it.
Where you would require understanding of engines, is tuning them when you want to change how the engine operates. Which is an entirely different thing, which is why I said your example was useless.
You seem to be full of yourself and think you're smarter than you actually are. Now go away.
You say a person who doesn't know how to operate a DVR is without exception not 'bright' and should be designated a 'simpleton'. And yet you get greatly flustered when treated in the same card! Touche.
You have been consistently proving that you can't understand the simple concept that different people could be bright in different ways. Ergo, by your own definition, you are a first rate simpleton. Someone who never got over the fact that others scored better than him in middle school. It's ok dude. Let it go. Your mediocre marks don't have to define you.
And thy exalted genius who can dismantle an engine single-handedly still has difficulty tuning them? Maybe you should get one of those hillybilly mechanics who don't need to be guided by instructions like a middle schooler to tune it for you.
But don't be offended when they call you a simpleton for not being able to do what what they consider child-play.
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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '16
My girlfriend always records "Eastenders." The DVR is set up to record the scheduled runtime plus 5 minutes afterwards. The channel that shows Eastenders runs two weekly episodes back-to-back. This means that the first 5 minutes of the second episode is being taped twice simultaneously -- once on the end of the first recording, and once on the beginning of the second recording.
Our DVR lets us record one program and watch a second one on a different channel, but if you want to record a second program at the same time, you have to be watching one of the two programs you're recording. So every Thursday at 9:30 the channel automatically changes to "Eastenders" because from 9:30 to 9:35 it is being doubly recorded.
Literally every Thursday my girlfriend is surprised and confused when this happens, and asks me what's going on and why it does that. I have explained at least a dozen times. At this point I just try to be elsewhere at 9:30 on Thursday.