
The Secret Service Entrance Exam Preparation Guide [pdf] - jonathanehrlich
http://www.secretservice.gov/join/SAEE-StudyGuide.pdf
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timsally
It seems more than one HN user finds it amusing that this guide covers
"rudimentary" things like predicate logic and word problems. Keep in mind that
these are the skills the Secret Service wants their applicants to actively get
better at before applying; it just so happens that already having these skills
are common in the HN community.

I'm sure the community of Secret Service applicants finds the skills they are
good at for which the HN community needs to actively get better at equally
amusing. Social aptitude and physical fitness for example...

Maybe I'm getting old but my preference is to not cast stones at communities
that are different than mine.

~~~
god_bless_texas
Oh shut up.

<eats french fry>

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qq66
Why is this surprising? The Secret Service is notoriously difficult to get
into -- its acceptance rate is 1% compared to Harvard's 6% -- but the majority
of the requirements are not assessed by a written test.

It's somewhat like trying to ascertain anything about MIT based on its swim
test requirement.

~~~
CamperBob2
Wait, you have to be able to pass a swim test to be admitted to MIT?

~~~
Zigurd
You have to pass to graduate. IIRC it is part of MIT's "sea grant" charter.

~~~
CamperBob2
Wow, crazy. I had no idea.

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ableal
> you maybe removed or debarred from Federal Service (5 C.F.R. part 731)

One does not want to mess with organizations that have "part 731" of anything.

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OscarCunningham
"Example Statement: All Secret Service Special Agents are U.S. government
employees.

Invalid conclusion: All government employees are Secret Service Special
Agents.

Valid conclusion: Some U.S. government employees are Secret Service Special
Agents."

~~~
cperciva
The funny thing is, this example isn't even true. Knowing that all Secret
Service Special Agents are US government employees does not allow you to
logically conclude that some US government employees are Secret Service
Special Agents -- you also need to know that at least one Secret Service
Special Agent exists!

For example, it is true that all humans living on Mars are US government
employees -- but not at all true that some US government employees are living
on Mars.

~~~
CamperBob2
If you take the question abstractly enough, with zero _a priori_ knowledge,
then the example becomes valid again. There may not even be any US government
employees at all, anywhere.

~~~
cperciva
If there are no US government employees, then the statement "some US employees
have property X" is false for all values of X.

~~~
CamperBob2
Ever taken an IQ test? One reason for phrasing the questions in terms like
"All gribs are freebles, and some freebles are blorts" is to avoid that kind
of problem.

Obviously, the intent with all test questions of this nature is for you to
treat all nouns as abstractions.

~~~
cperciva
All humans living on Mars were born on Venus. <\-- True

Some humans living on Mars were born on Venus. <\-- False

~~~
CamperBob2
That isn't how these questions work.

~~~
cperciva
It is how logic works.

~~~
CamperBob2
I'm sure the authors of the test are busy taking notes.

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lprez
It's sad that those photoshop skills in the cover really ruined my will to
look at the document.

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clebio
It all seems rather rudimentary.

~~~
CamperBob2
Those sample photograph questions sure weren't rudimentary. I think I got two
of those questions right across both photos.

