On Mon, Apr 13, 2009 at 3:13 PM, solarwind <x.solarwind.x@gmail.com> wrote:
>> "Smart" is a measure of how quickly and efficiently you can process and
>> absorb this knowledge.
>
> And how do you envision measuring that? It's like comparing apples to
> oranges. An orange is smarter than an apple. What does that even mean?

There are essentially three parts of intelligence that are useful for
engineering.  Please note that they may or may not apply to other
fields or educational methods.

1. Knowledge - The facts or information you know.  Multiplication
tables.  Concepts, ideas.  Etc.  The ability in particular to learn
and understand new knowledge.
2. Analysis - the ability to decompose a system into small enough bits
that you can apply your knowledge to it and determine what, why, how
it works (or doesn't, int he case of diagnosis)
3. Synthesis - the ability to create a system, or modify an existing
system by applying knowledge and analysis to it, then determining how
best to meet the requirements of the design.

Smart is generally defined in this field as a person who is proficient
at all three such that they can do them "better than average" in terms
of time, space, cost, or other scarce resources.  It does not in any
way mean that average people can't do these things, nor does it mean
that a smart person is always better than an average person.  But on
average, they take less time, resources, etc to accomplish the same
work.

Whether they gained such ability through hard work, experience, and
determination, or it "came easily to them" is irrelevant to this
discussion.  Smart can only be measured given a narrow focus at a
particular point in time, and will change over time depending on a
variety of factors.

I know someone who can name every part of a horse, ride them
perfectly, groom them, provide basic care, diagnose problems, train
them, etc.  They can talk at length and depth about the history of
horses throughout the world, breeding, competition, types of work each
breed can handle best, etc.  They haven't the faintest clue what a
transister is or does.  I, on the other hand, have a great deal of
knowledge about software, computers, electronics, gadgets, etc.

I'm horse dumb.  They are electronics dumb.  Neither of us are dumb in
general, or stupid, etc.  Nor are either of us smart in general.  Only
in specific niche subjects can the three areas of intelligence be
measured and compared.

And yes, it is useful to understand how to measure such things, if for
no other reason than being able to determine very quickly what level
of understanding your audience has when communicating and using that
information to give them what they need regardless of their ability to
work in your field.

If you can't communicate well then you will experience a lot more
friction in your life than is necessary.

-Adam
-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist