A friend of mine, Steve Jordan, once asked me just how smart I thought he and I were.
I answered that I think that no-one is really as smart as the two of us both think we are. You see, for many many people it is possible to choose a weighting scheme among a dozen or so factors contribute to intellectual work such that they are the best. You simply define the vector to their point on the “efficient aptitude frontier” as “real intelligence”. A dozen or so people associated with this blog and/or with SIAI and a smaller number who aren’t appear to me to be on points of the “known to Michael Vassar efficient aptitude frontier”, though not necessarily equally mission-critical points. For my “save the world dream team” I would pick a 25-year-old Steve Jobs over a 25-year-old Terrance Tao, though I’d like both of course.
I second Robin’s comment.
A friend of mine, Steve Jordan, once asked me just how smart I thought he and I were. I answered that I think that no-one is really as smart as the two of us both think we are. You see, for many many people it is possible to choose a weighting scheme among a dozen or so factors contribute to intellectual work such that they are the best. You simply define the vector to their point on the “efficient aptitude frontier” as “real intelligence”. A dozen or so people associated with this blog and/or with SIAI and a smaller number who aren’t appear to me to be on points of the “known to Michael Vassar efficient aptitude frontier”, though not necessarily equally mission-critical points. For my “save the world dream team” I would pick a 25-year-old Steve Jobs over a 25-year-old Terrance Tao, though I’d like both of course.