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#43
09-21-2007, 03:28 PM
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Re: David Sklansky is an ACist
Nice reply.
[ QUOTE ] All I am is a guy who when he was 14 was insanely good at quickly and accurately doing algebra word problems. Easily one of the best in the world (back then) and better than 99% of math Phds includuing jason and boris p. Specifically algebra word problems. Nothing else. I could also explain my methods quite well if it was important to. [/ QUOTE ] Do you have any objective evidence of this? i.e. consistent scores in national or international math Olympiads at that age. There are a lot of guys who can ace math problems without being good at the hard stuff. I do have such evidence (from exactly this age, actually), so I'm skeptical of some of your claims. For example, I would never claim my ability to tackle these problems was better than 99% of math PhDs at that time - while a sharp, flexible wit is an amazing thing, it's no substitute for depth of experience. And there's the lack of actual verification of such a claim. I understand the power a young brain has to soak up new information or instinctively grasp the subtleties of difficult problems. You can see layers on layers that other people just don't get, and you can see instantly what takes others weeks to grasp. But I think it comes from the structure of a young brain, and not so much raw genius. And some of it is a failure to understand the utility of your understanding. So extrapolating that stuff to being brilliant in other areas is perhaps a stretch. 
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#44
09-21-2007, 03:46 PM
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Re: David Sklansky is an ACist
"Do you have any objective evidence of this? i.e. consistent scores in national or international math Olympiads at that age. There are a lot of guys who can ace math problems without being good at the hard stuff."
I never said I was good at the hard stuff. I never even learned the hard stuff. I never even learned differential equations. But I did win statewide contests. I easily passed the first two actuarial tests while still in high school. I got a perfect score in something called the actuarial aptitude test which was designed so that it was supposed to be impossible to do this in the allotted time (a Met Life recruiter said he had never seen this). And I was I believe the only one in the state of New Jersey to get a perfect score in both the math and science sections the year I took the National Merit Scholarship Test. Remember that all I said was that I could (back then)do elementary algebra word problems better than 99% of math Phds. And realize also that such a statement is less boastful than saying I could beat half of Princeton Phds. I should also add that I did develop another talent twenty years later. Namely some street smarts. But that was mainly because of the life I lived as a professional gambler. Its obvious to me that I have more street smarts than most of the relatively sheltered people who post on this forum. But no more than many of the other poker players.
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#45
09-21-2007, 03:50 PM
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Re: David Sklansky is an ACist
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] this thread went exactly where I thought it would. [/ QUOTE ] clever boy. [ QUOTE ] Libertarian ethics are selected for pretty strongly, both via biological and cultural evolution (I.e. The market). [/ QUOTE ] Then why has every anarchy is history (except Somalia...lol) ended up being a government? Doesn't sound like strong selection to me. It's also funny that you don't make the correlation the other way...that the most externally aggressive and imperialistic have come about through government...and through the prosperity that generates, become libertarian internally. [/ QUOTE ] Well, the US would be a great example illustrating that the libertarianism comes before the external aggression. [/ QUOTE ] If you discount Women, Slaves, and Natives. [/ QUOTE ] Yes, and why wouldn't you? I'm not sure why this is a pertinent response.
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#47
09-21-2007, 04:28 PM
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Re: David Sklansky is an ACist
[ QUOTE ]
Namely some street smarts. [/ QUOTE ] Do you have a tidy definition of street smarts? I'm never sure what people mean by this. Is it like, how long you could survive as a drug dealer in the Bronx?
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#49
09-21-2007, 05:32 PM
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Re: David Sklansky is an ACist
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] Namely some street smarts. [/ QUOTE ] Do you have a tidy definition of street smarts? I'm never sure what people mean by this. Is it like, how long you could survive as a drug dealer in the Bronx? [/ QUOTE ] I think allot of it is life experance. Particularly, over broad ranges of circumstances. If you have been really poor, I mean really poor, and are now of average wealth then you have experianced all the stages in between. Similarly if you have been really poor and really rich you have experianced everything i between. If you have lived sleeping in doorways (And this is nothing to do with wealth) hanging out with drug addicts and bums, you have gained more experiance. If you have served in the forces, again, add more. If you fought in a war, add more, if you made General, add more. Been ripped off? Add. Ripped someone off? Add. Been to space? Add.....
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#50
09-21-2007, 05:57 PM
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Re: David Sklansky is an ACist
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] Namely some street smarts. [/ QUOTE ] Do you have a tidy definition of street smarts? I'm never sure what people mean by this. Is it like, how long you could survive as a drug dealer in the Bronx? [/ QUOTE ] hitch touched on how some may be acquired, but being very aware of the actual social situation you are in, rather than some pretend one or one that exists 12 blocks away. The expected code of conduct, the danger signs. DS mentioned the handling of cheats the other day. That's a street smart. To move in the gambling world and not know how such thing are handled would be street dumb. luckyme
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