[extropy-chat] Personal effectiveness

[BillK]

On Sun Nov 23, 2003 05:45 pm David Lubkin wrote:
> <snip>
> But if I cycle on (rake, remove) then whenever I stop, N loads are
> gone from my lawn.
>

Aaarhh, young feller-me-lad, where oi be comin' from, this be called
'common-sense'.
(Removes straw from mouth, scratches bum, before continuing) :)

David, I'm afraid that you have got a serious infection of Mensa
disease. Many high IQ people have this. Go to any Mensa group and you
will be surrounded by very bright, witty, interesting, articulate people
- conspicuously lacking in day-to-day common-sense. The REALLY high IQ
ones have a tag round their neck to remind them where they live.

What you need is a bit of dumbing-down (when required). ;)

Concentration can be trained. Mind and memory training courses like the
Pelman Institute or similar could be useful. Though you have to watch
out for scams and rip-offs in this area.

> I did observe that everyone I can think of who is high-talent and
> high-achievement is happily married, usually to someone who is
> comparably gifted. It's very useful to have an in-house cheering
> section.

Heh! I think you've rather got hold of the wrong end of the stick here.
The function of the wife is to keep nagging at you to stop wasting your
time on X when you should be doing Y. A wife can provide the
'common-sense' factor that you are looking for. But it depends on how
you define 'achievement'. Note the studies that show that marriage
virtually stops scientific research success.

> A related question is how to stay organized and tidy. I found myself
> in a high-amplitude sawtooth: Either my disgust at not being able to
> find anything amid the clutter or the press of someone coming to 
> visit would drive me to a frenzy of cleaning and organizing. Then day 
> by day, it would deteriorate. Repeat.

Again, 'common-sense'. I know people who live surrounded by chaos.
Everyday they spend at least half-an-hour on games like 'Hunt the
scissors' or 'Who had the car keys last?' or (her favorite) 'What have
you done with my hair-brush?'.
Do you really want to spend your life like that?

Think 'common-sense'. Not 'What is the largest number of bells and
whistles I can put on this Baroque creation?'
Try to think like 'What would the average man-in-the-street want?'
'Does it work?' Yes. Then fine - get it out the door. The customer will
pay you again later for version two. See - you get paid twice!

If you end up like Microsoft then the customer never stops paying you!


BillK