From: David Lubkin (lubkin@unreasonable.com)
Date: Fri Oct 01 1999 - 12:05:56 MDT
It can be a useful heuristic to judge people by what degrees they have, what
they majored in, what they do for a living, what they wear, etc. Because people
are gaussian. Most of the time, people *do* match my preconceptions.
But they don't always. I think the heuristics are fine if you use them as
working hypotheses for assessing someone you meet, but revise your
opinions when you get additional data.
One of the smartest and most perceptive people I've ever met, with the broadest
range of interests and knowledge, has maybe a dozen college credits and has
worked in secretarial positions for the last twenty years.
Surely it is least appropriate to judge people on this list by the criteria Joe is
applying to Mike. Is Robin any more insightful than Eliezer because he's Dr. Robin?
Do you know what degrees, if any, Anders or Hal or Kathryn have? Who cares?
>This discussion has degraded to the point where we are back
>in grade school, and going, "Look Mommy, I got a gold star...".
Because there are a couple dozen Dr. Lubkins in my family, including my father
and grandfather, it nagged at me that I never finished my PhD. I eventually
realized that a PhD is largely irrelevant in my profession, and I wanted one as a
bright, shiny ribbon I could wear. (These days it only nags at me when I'm
reminded my kid sister has her PhD. Sibling rivalry dies hard.... :-)
-- David Lubkin.
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