Pblakeney
Legendary Member
Nah, Truss is a mad as a box of frogs.
Badenoch's (Lack Of) Vision Quest
- Thread starter Psamathe
- Start date
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Nah, Truss is a mad as a box of frogs.
First Aspect
Guru
I think they are both of above average intelligence.
Truss is impressionable and also suffered from a dangerous lack of imposter syndrome.
Badenoch I suspect is very competitive, which probably mitigates against listening to other opinions. She would also probably rate herself as a genius.
icowden
Pharaoh
Truss was clever enough to get a degree from Oxford despite very disrupted schooling. However she has never displayed any wisdom or any evidence that she has learned much. One of her key failings was to appoint three vainglorious idiots to support her. Kwarteng's moronic budget was her downfall, especially as she reversed most of his changes and made herself look even more stupid and weak. She also had a long history of putting her foot in her mouth and failing to do her homework on many occasions
You can be of above average intelligence and also stupid.
Beebo
Legendary Member
Truss may be intelligent but also her opinions constantly change.
At university she was a Lib Dem.
Then a pro European Tory
Then a pro Brexit tory
now a fruit loop Trump supporting grifter.
Badenoch has a massively inflated opinion of herself. She will never win over right wing racists, as she is a black woman.
Bromptonaut
Rohan Man
- Location
- Bugbrooke, Northants
Worth reading Rory Stewart's account of serving as her Junior Minister.
icowden
Pharaoh
Do you have a link?
Bromptonaut
Rohan Man
- Location
- Bugbrooke, Northants
OP
OP
Psamathe
Guru
Some years back I had a next door neighbour I got on really well with and she was a lecturer at Oxford University (as well as leading several professional organisations in her field) and I did once explain that I felt many failed to distinguish between "intelligence" and "knowing lots of facts" as they can be easily confused. One is not related to the other yet a stupid person regurgitating lots of facts can be mistaken for sounding "intelligent".
For me "intelligence" is about understanding, about knowing principles and how to apply them to a new situation whereas knowing lots of facts is just absorbing an encyclopaedia and regurgitating on demand without actually understanding any of the words.
University lecturer neighbour agreed with my theory to the point she said how when she set exam questions she tried to seek a balance between testing what fact a student could recall but much more the extent they understood and could apply principle (also commenting that many lecturers didn't).
I did several degrees and in one 1st year Psychology course at the end to the last lecture the lecturer said "Normally at this point I write up the course exam questions on the board ... but the faculty didn't like that so if anybody would care to ask me what the questions that's that's different". His view is it was a waste of time for everybody to just absorb lots of fact and he wanted understanding. (Several of us did ask and he did tell us the questions and they were the questions set). It was only one course which was only one part of one year so didn't invalidate any degrees.
icowden
Pharaoh
If anyone wants to read it as an e-book, it's currently on a 99p deal on Amazon...
briantrumpet
Timewaster
In my definition of intelligence I'd include being able and willing to adjust one's views in the face of new or contradictory information.
First Aspect
Guru
So wait, people who agree with you are more intelligent?
First Aspect
Guru
Intelligence as narrowly defined by IQ is as much about youth and mental dexterity than anything. By that measure we all get stupider as we get older.
In my experience there are comparatively few people who have both a lot of factual knowledge and a lack of intelligence. I used to think of facts like Xmas decorations and understanding as the tree.
But there's a range associated with each.
Also, figuring stuff out is like a muscle. If you don't use it, it atrophies. I can see this in the things I can no longer figure out, but also in the things that I can figure out quickly and in an unthorough way that wouldn't work in science, because I practice something similar on a daily basis.
In my experience there are comparatively few people who have both a lot of factual knowledge and a lack of intelligence. I used to think of facts like Xmas decorations and understanding as the tree.
But there's a range associated with each.
Also, figuring stuff out is like a muscle. If you don't use it, it atrophies. I can see this in the things I can no longer figure out, but also in the things that I can figure out quickly and in an unthorough way that wouldn't work in science, because I practice something similar on a daily basis.
briantrumpet
Timewaster
One of my criteria for assessing potential Oxbridge candidates amongst my pupils, their sense of humour is also enlightening: if they can do deadpan, wordplay, and tangential humour, they've got a good brain.
First Aspect
Guru
Or failing that, "who are your parents?"
First Aspect
Guru
Wonder if this is why comparatively few state school kids get put forward. If anyone demonstrated a sense of humour in our school, we got detention.
