> They want the mediocre people who are also obedient. The kind of people who can be > told to study an algorithms book, and will do it, and will regurgitate it, as a > show of obedience, mostly, but also mediocre (but not great) intelligence--- > not great, because if they had great intelligence, they wouldn't waste their > time on that kind of activity.

Perhaps a bit cynical but there is truth to that. A huge company just needs cogs that can do the job and don't think outside the box much.