People who think being academic means intelligence

I've seen plenty of dumb dumbs get good GCSE grades.

All I'm gonna say is you can't teach common sense.

Such as who?

Most examples of famous "inventors" who had no higher education were in fact entrepreneurs, not actual inventors.

For a start - Edison & the inventor of the submarine

"For a start", or that's all you could think of?

What you said was:



"Most famous inventors" - you're claiming that the majority of famous inventors had to higher education!

Let's not forget that in Thomas Edison's time (and especially in William Bourne's time, though I'm rather skeptical towards your claim that a mathematician like William Bourne had no higher education), going to university was nowhere near as common as it is now. These days, almost anyone can go to uni, and loans are easily obtainable.

I said for a START - do you not understand what that means ?

Even if was was just the two , that's quite a statement. Edison is responsible for nearly everything in the modern world. And the submarine is a huge invention.

You can also add: Ford, Tesla, Abe Lincoln John D Rockefeller.

Yes maybe not all are strictly inventors but few intelligent people would doubt their importance in our world and there are many more..

Why are you so angry about this fact, do you somehow feel threatened by it ?

For a start - Edison & the inventor of the submarine

I think academic attainment is definitely an indicator of intelligence, certainly once at A level or higher standard, but it certainly isn't the only one. I know some very in-tune people who didn't go to university and some very stupid ones who did.

Oh, are you another one of those people who think that just because Einstein, for instance, allegedly performed poorly in high school, but was successful later on, that your poor performance is justifiable?

I said for a START - do you not understand what that means ?

Even if was was just the two , that's quite a statement. Edison is responsible for nearly everything in the modern world. And the submarine is a huge invention.

You can also add: Ford, Tesla, Abe Lincoln John D Rockefeller.

Yes maybe not all are strictly inventors but few intelligent people would doubt their importance in our world and there are many more..

Why are you so angry about this fact, do you somehow feel threatened by it ?

Don't you know people who aren't particularly intelligent that have good A-levels and a decent degree? Academic attainment is largely down to work ethic in my opinion, intelligence contributes but you don't need to be in Mensa to get a top degree from a top university, and I bet there's plenty in Mensa who wouldn't get a first at a top uni.

That's because Mensa people are not that intelligent.

Terribly witty comment. Top 2%.

Anyway, the point stands. Work ethic is more important than intelligence when it comes to academic attainment (and probably when it comes to most other things as well to be honest).

The top 2% of people are at Cambridge/Oxford, not some crappy university despite their Mensa membership. Using that logic, all Mensa members should have gone to Cambridge/Oxford if they had the opportunity to, which I doubt very much. IQ is a terrible measure of intelligence, I would argue that academia is a much better measure although both are terribly flawed.

Are you literally ignoring what I'm saying? I'm specifically saying that intelligence isn't particularly important (within reason) to academic attainment. I couldn't have made that point any clearer? So the bold above is just a ridiculous statement.

Nor am I debating Mensa, it was clearly just a generic 'intelligent group' I used. You seem somewhat bitter towards the subject? You're entitled to your opinion on the likes of IQ (which I would agree is flawed), but surely you would agree to succeed academically you need knowledge, so by your measure someone who doesn't partake in higher education literally can't be intelligent?

yes, I know what it means... I was questioning whether it truly was just "a start", or whether those two were in fact all you could think of.

Tesla did go to uni, though he didn't graduate.

Please realise that I'm not taking issue with the fact that you don't have to be academic to be intelligent. I am definitely not disputing this. What I am taking issue with is your ridiculous claim that "most famous inventors never even went to Uni".

We're talking about inventors here, not just "important people". Had you maybe said something like "many successful people didn't even go to uni", I wouldn't have a problem with that at all. Entrepreneurs can be successful, and are important, but they are not inventors.

Angry? If anything, you seem to be the one getting worked up just because I'm disputing this so-called "fact" of yours

All I am saying is, if someone is supposedly extremely intelligent (in the top 2% of the population) then surely they would be at a university who takes the top 2% - you do realise that even Oxbridge used to give out EE offers to exceptional candidates because of their innate intelligence, not academic achievement? Also, why would an intelligent person not partake in higher education? I can't see why they would waste their intelligence on menial jobs and so forth.