News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Ask HN: Any Parents to “Average” Children?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: Any Parents to “Average” Children? by Bostonian on Saturday April 09, 2022 @04:54PM (#30971952)
"Plenty of high-IQ people with emotional issues who do not do as well in living a happy and productive life. For example, figuring out what careers are both plausible and reasonably rewarding (financially and otherwise) is not actually an intellectually difficult one"

It's not so easy. For example, what fraction of high school students who are good at math know what an actuary is? They have likely heard of doctors, nurses, and lawyers, but what is a management consultant? I've read that there is still a strong tendency for children to follow the careers of their parents. Part of it is genetics (doctors' kids are more likely to have the IQ to be a doctor than kids in general), but part of it is just having those careers on your radar screen.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: Any Parents to “Average” Children? by rossdavidh on Saturday April 09, 2022 @07:04PM (#30972997)
Maybe I should have been more precise. It's not actually an intellectually difficult problem: it may require a lot of research effort, but it is not intellectually complex. Lots of effort is something plenty of IQ 102 people can do, and by the way lots of high-IQ people cannot. Determining if that career will work for you, while emotionally fraught, is not intellectually difficult.

But, you're correct, it is not easy. Nothing about it requires a high IQ, though.

[ Parent | on HN ]