# Who's Smarter



## NoIdea (Aug 9, 2011)

Morning All, after having a quick chat with Harold on education, it reminded me of when I was working for a government research department (many years ago). There were those who had PhD’s and those that had BSc’s. The wives of the PhD’s would have morning tea once a week and every now and again they would invite the wives whose husbands ONLY had a BSc. Weird or what?

Education is relative, I know very little about fixing cars, building a new house’s etc, what I do know is not enough, and like Harold it’s what we don’t know that’s trouble some.

So, for those of you, who think you’re smarter than the rest of us, think again, as we know things you don’t. So the idea is to share what you have without attitude, without ego, and without greed. I resent people who think they are better than me because of there position in life, we are all human, with all the same frailties and misgivings life brings us. So if you are one of these people, it time to take stock, loose your ego put your feet back on the ground and join the rest of us real people.

Be proud of what you know and remember there is so much more out there to learn. If you think you know it all, you don't.

I personally enjoy sharing what I know, the only problem is finding someone that will not only listen but understand. Thanks to this forum I can achieve both.

So to everyone, thanks for being here.

Deano


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## Emmjae (Aug 9, 2011)

Very well said Deano. 2 thumbs up. 8)


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## acpeacemaker (Aug 9, 2011)

I think it goes something like....One of the truest of all wisdoms is knowing you know absolutely nothing.


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## rewalston (Aug 9, 2011)

Well, I always thought I was smart, IQ of 152, but well then I had kids and it turns out I'm not smart at all. Both of my boys are in their early 20's (I'm almost 49) and they think they have it all figured out. Boy!! Wish I were as smart as they are.

Rusty


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## Barren Realms 007 (Aug 9, 2011)

At 49 you can tell them you have forgotten more than they know. 8)


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## rasanders22 (Aug 10, 2011)

I have these discussions with the technicians at my work all the time. Our techs usually are fairly smart people. Often they are experts on the tools they support. Many of them think they are so smart they should get promoted to engineers. I don't understand why as senior techs can earn more than engineers and managers. I happen to be in school for electrical engineering and focusing on elctromagnetics, which is usually considered the hardest EE field to study. I used to be like the other techs. I knew a lot about the tools I supported. I applied for some engineering positions and never got as much as an e-mail back. Fed up with my lack of progress up the ranks I decided at the age of 30 I would go back to school for my second BS, the first being in business. I quickly realized how little I actually knew. I quickly learned why the engineering positions actually require an engineering degree. Other techs still will not listen to me when I tell them why they shouldn't bother with trying for an open position until they get their degree. I am also doing this while working full time and I am married with 2 young kids. Stress is at an all time high for me right now.


I don't look down on others who chose different career paths. Guess who I call when my air coditioner breaks. Guess who welds a trailor hitch to my truck. I chose a different path than those people. That is no reason to look down on them. Welders, pipe fitters, plumbers, all the tradesmen are valuable members of society. And quiet sadly we are starting to experience a shortage of tradesmen as more and more kids go into college and get degrees like Asian womens studies and political science and underwater basket weaving. Mike Rowe testified before congress about the comming shortage of these people. It is on youtube if you want to watch it. He ended his speach with something to the effect of "In 20 years, a good plumber is going to be more expensive than a good psychologist." I believe that the only people that should be looked down on are the welfare leaches of society.


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## rewalston (Aug 10, 2011)

Barren Realms 007 said:


> At 49 you can tell them you have forgotten more than they know. 8)


 I''ve tried that Barren, didn't help :lol: My oldest son still lives at home (not sure how much longer) and has been helping buy groceries and pay some of the bills. He can't quite figure out how come he has to pay that stuff because he doesn't have to pay rent...I told him THAT IS RENT. He doesn't get it.


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## Barren Realms 007 (Aug 10, 2011)

rasanders22 said:


> I have these discussions with the technicians at my work all the time. Our techs usually are fairly smart people. Often they are experts on the tools they support. Many of them think they are so smart they should get promoted to engineers. I don't understand why as senior techs can earn more than engineers and managers. I happen to be in school for electrical engineering and focusing on elctromagnetics, which is usually considered the hardest EE field to study. I used to be like the other techs. I knew a lot about the tools I supported. I applied for some engineering positions and never got as much as an e-mail back. Fed up with my lack of progress up the ranks I decided at the age of 30 I would go back to school for my second BS, the first being in business. I quickly realized how little I actually knew. I quickly learned why the engineering positions actually require an engineering degree. Other techs still will not listen to me when I tell them why they shouldn't bother with trying for an open position until they get their degree. I am also doing this while working full time and I am married with 2 young kids. Stress is at an all time high for me right now.
> 
> 
> I don't look down on others who chose different career paths. Guess who I call when my air coditioner breaks. Guess who welds a trailor hitch to my truck. I chose a different path than those people. That is no reason to look down on them. Welders, pipe fitters, plumbers, all the tradesmen are valuable members of society. And quiet sadly we are starting to experience a shortage of tradesmen as more and more kids go into college and get degrees like Asian womens studies and political science and underwater basket weaving. Mike Rowe testified before congress about the comming shortage of these people. It is on youtube if you want to watch it. He ended his speach with something to the effect of "In 20 years, a good plumber is going to be more expensive than a good psychologist." I believe that the only people that should be looked down on are the welfare leaches of society.




I can tell you from my perspective who holds a master's liscense in plumbing, electrical & HVAC and also servicing pools. I've done commercial, residential and industrial work, and each of these in themselves are different in the way you approach things. The time of not being able to find good help in the trades has been here for longer than people know. I has been discouraging at times over the years to see the younger generations get a job at some place like foot locker for twice what I can start them out at on pay. People also don't get into the fields because it means they have to work and people don't want to put in the effort to work any more, they want a cusshy job setting behind a desk or riding in a vehicle doing something.

Engineers are a unique breed. I love them. I use to like the challenge of working with a new engineer for the first time. You get on the job with them and they look down on you (been there and done that). You run into a problem on a job and they want to butt heads with you on your suggestions on changes. It never failed tho that by the end of a job they gave me no problem on changes in the way of doing something. They just want to be sure you know what you are doing because in the end it is thier head on the block when they go to the owner of the building.

And dealing with the general public, well that is even more fun. You go to someone house for the first time and you get that look from them of fright and uncertainty(because of the horror stories you hear of job's done) or the upturned nose because they are a manager of a company of an executive. You give them the bill and thier jaw drops, You complete the job and they have no more problems again. When you see them around town it is hello Mr. so n so. That is where the gratification is.

Yes they are tough fields. You have to have some intelligence to excell in them. I'm not the only one on the forum that works in these fields and the others will probably tell you the same story.

I approach refining in the same way. I am not the fastest person around but I can get 97-99 on the first pass most times. It is cost effective to run again for 1-2%? not in my book for the cost of chemicals and time involved. But sometimes I do. I follow the procedure laid out by the pro's here. And will always have a special thanks and respect for mic for helping me out so much even tho we have our differences.


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## Barren Realms 007 (Aug 10, 2011)

rewalston said:


> Barren Realms 007 said:
> 
> 
> > At 49 you can tell them you have forgotten more than they know. 8)
> ...



He will some day with your patience. 8)


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## kuma (Aug 10, 2011)

acpeacemaker said:


> I think it goes something like....One of the truest of all wisdoms is knowing you know absolutely nothing.



This is my sentiment exactly. 
If I need to make a decision in life , or whatever , based on something that I think I 'know' , and I'm not totaly confident , I will usualy proceed in the mindset that I don't actualy know anything. 
There are times when decisions , based on assumptions , based on facts we think we know , could be fairly poor.
This is because you never know what life is going to throw at you from around the corner that's going to say , 'actualy , it's like this'.
A good example would be to go fishing without a jacket because the weatherman say's that it isn't going to rain.
I always take a mac when I go fishing , I keep one in my bag , because I never 'know'.
You could call it playing safe , lol
Just my two pennies :roll: 
Have a nice evening all , 
With the kindest regards ,
Chris


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## rusty (Aug 10, 2011)

rewalston said:


> IQ of 152



You gotta love labels.

Regards
Rusty


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## Claudie (Aug 31, 2011)

Some of the smartest people I know are idiots....
I never met a dummy that I didn't learn something from....
Many of the posts I make can have more than one meaning, which way do you read them?


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## Geo (Aug 31, 2011)

my 13 year old ask me why i didnt finish school. i didnt have the heart to tell him that it was because of him and his brother i had to quit and get a job to support my new family. i just told him i had all the education i needed but he and his brother will graduate if i have to die to see to it. and "besides" i told him "ive done so much with so little for so long im now qualified to do anything with absolutely nothing"


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## NoIdea (Sep 1, 2011)

Claudie said:


> Some of the smartest people I know are idiots....
> I never met a dummy that I didn't learn something from....
> Many of the posts I make can have more than one meaning, which way do you read them?



Left handed :mrgreen:


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## rasanders22 (Sep 6, 2011)

Geo said:


> my 13 year old ask me why i didnt finish school. i didnt have the heart to tell him that it was because of him and his brother i had to quit and get a job to support my new family. i just told him i had all the education i needed but he and his brother will graduate if i have to die to see to it. and "besides" i told him "ive done so much with so little for so long im now qualified to do anything with absolutely nothing"



No offense, but I wouldnt beat them up over getting a degree. Getting a worthless degree is not going to do them any good. You can never go wrong with math or science based degrees. I hear too many people complaining about not being able to get a job after they graduate, only to find out the racked up 40k of debt to get a B.S in Ancient Womens Literature of Cave Drawings (ok I made that up but you get the point). This country is running out of plumbers, welders, and tradesmen. As actor Mike Rowe said "Soon getting a pluber is going to cost you more than going to a shrink." This country started snubbing its nose at people in those fields and began to push getting a degree as the only way to succeed. I think it is kind of sad.


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## old thompson (Sep 6, 2011)

I was told when I was a kid that I had a high I.Q., but I have never bothered to check that out. One of the things that I feel very strongly about is today's belief (in the U.S.A) that everyone needs higher education. If you want your kids to be weathly, that's o.k.. But nobody ever made any money while they were going to school and if they did they probably could have made twice as much money if they had been working. 

When I was in highschool freshman year I signed up for metal shop. They told me that because the metal shop was full that year, and that because I was only a freshman, that I could sign up again next year. My freshman year of highschool had the last metals shop they ever offered and I missed out. The school discontinued it because of lack of funding and interest. This became one of my very few bitter regrets. As a union carpenter apprentice a few years latter I was compelled to take a short local college welding class. I believe that I learned more in that 40 hour welding class than I learned in any other 40 hour period of study, and I still do NOT know much about welding but I have spent many hours getting paid to do it.

Socialized and subsidized education are a political sham. Such kinds of programs only drive up the cost and drive down the quality of education. In today's world an excellent education can be had via internet for little cost as long as the student is capable of three things-

1. student must willing to learn
2. student must be able to separate fact from fiction and be willing cross check every thing
3. student must subject self to hands on learning when possible, or in other words- don't expect to start at the top

Very few of today's students have these three qualities.


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