

Technical Intelligence vs IQ - kylered
https://vividcortex.com/blog/2013/04/03/what-is-technical-intelligence-tq-and-why-is-it-part-of-our-mission-at-vividcortex/

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tokenadult
From the submitted blog post: "In it’s raw form, IQ stands for intelligence
quotient, and is based upon a test invented by famous psychologist William
Stern."

That sentence has two bad mistakes right there. The author of this post has no
idea what he is writing about.

"So, while IQ might indicate intelligence, it’s not a great predictor of how
you actually perform in life."

The stupidity here is claiming that something else is a better predictor of
how you actually perform in life. The author's term "technical intelligence"
is so vaguely defined in the blog post, with no standardized example of how to
estimate it, that the suggestion to look for technical intelligence ends up
being useless.

See

<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5227923>

for a recent posting of a FAQ about the most optimal way to hire capable
workers (if that is your concern) for technical jobs, with a lot of links to
careful research on the issue.

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JDGM
That page seems very keen on the twice-featured paragraph attempting to define
"Technical intelligence":

 _Technical intelligence involves the accurate appraisal and expression of the
ability to interact with machines in a way that enhances living._

But is that a helpful definition? Or at least is it a helpful first
definition? Could we start with something simpler? Something beginning
"Technical Intelligence is", rather than "Technical intelligence involves"?

It doesn't even seem like a helpful definition in the context of the company,
which deals with MySQL monitoring and analysis. This talk of Technical
intelligence makes the product _harder_ to understand, it's just uncomfortably
bolted on ("We're delivering Technical Intelligence for MySQL" - so training
then? No, it doesn't seem like it...)

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kylered
Author here. Thanks for the comments. I think the concept of IQ not being all
that important is challenging to admit, but at the end of the day the point is
that there are a variety of factors that influence success and positive
outcomes in our world, one of which seems to be largely ignored.

I'm not sure why no one has talked about interaction with machines but it's
clearly important. By no means is this a science, just a commentary on
cultural factors that should be relevant in today's world.

@JDGM we are purposely vague about our product as we are still in early alpha,
but you can think of us like New Relic for servers.

P.S. We don't do riddles, IQ tests or puzzles in our hiring process and we
prioritize attitude, workplace fit and a variety of other personal factors.

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bcgraham
I might be mistaken, but it seems like "technical intelligence" is another way
of saying "high tolerance for poor UI," i.e. a person with very low T.I. needs
something really well designed, and a person with high T.I. can still be
effective despite poor design.

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jpdoctor
_This isn't right. This isn't even wrong._ -Wolfgang Pauli

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ebbv
This is nonsense.

> Technical intelligence involves the accurate appraisal and expression of the
> ability to interact with machines in a way that enhances living.

That is so vague as to be completely useless. A mechanic interacts with
machines in a way that enhances living. So does a chef. So does a doctor. So
does a computer programmer. Almost every job today involves interacting with
machines in a way that enhances living.

This is pseudoscience wrapped up in a serious sounding blanket of nonsense.

