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Post by NYS Techie on Jul 10, 2012 9:09:23 GMT -5
Yes, Uncivil, I knew 9 million people. (Facepalm)
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Post by uncivilservant on Jul 10, 2012 13:44:35 GMT -5
I forgot the sarcasm tags, but I figured someone so self-righteously "smart" as you could tell I was being flippant.
I guess I was wrong and should continue to talk down to you.
The set of "People I knew in NYC" does not add up to a statistically significant sample of the population, and is poorly distributed both socio-economically and geographically. Thus your anecdotal evidence is worthless for the purposes of evaluating the average intellect of the NYC resident. My response would be "people smart enough to realize that the lower absolute salaries in other areas can be more than offset by lower costs of living" left would imply a lower average intellect in NYC. However, I'm generous and attribute no more or less than average, because that's what you get when you look at the real data.
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Post by NYS Techie on Jul 10, 2012 14:19:38 GMT -5
I see I should have put "sarcasm" tags around my post as well.
Uncivil, I like you, but boy are you a dumbass.
New York City has some of the best colleges in the nation, and many of the best programmers in the nation work for the financial industry there. It's this country's cultural and intellectual capital.
If you don't think there are more brilliant people per capita there than almost anywhere else in the world, that might explain why YOU don't live there.
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Post by Darth Stateworker on Jul 10, 2012 15:05:49 GMT -5
Per capita? Even I would have a hard time believing that one. Why? IMO, on a sheer intelligence scale, I'd think on a per capita basis there'd be more in Silicon Valley.
Why do I say this? Manhattan allows for either successful people to live there or for uneducated welfare people living in subsidized housing to live there. And the welfare rolls in Manhattan equate to about half of Manhattans population. That isn't indicative of a high per capita number bro. Maybe a total population number of smart people. But per capita wise it couldn't be more than 50%, which Silicon Valley should easily beat, since poor people can't afford to live there and obviously don't have the skills to work there.
Easiest way to answer this conclusively is this: search Google for the location in the nation with the highest per capita number of degree holders with a batchelors or higher. While that isn't a perfect indication of intelligence, it's a reasonable litmus test.
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Post by Darth Stateworker on Jul 10, 2012 15:12:14 GMT -5
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Post by NYS Techie on Jul 10, 2012 22:48:27 GMT -5
Perhaps, Darth. But my point was based on the entire financial industry being based in New York, as well as the headquarters of many, many corporations -- and all the financial computer programming jobs there attract a whole lot of geniuses.
It's not just computer science majors, either. Physicists, engineers, mathematicians, all get hired as quants. New York is the center of the universe for derivatives programming, for example.
Most people aren't even aware that any of this stuff is going on. There was an article on the Register a while back, about how the highest-paid programming jobs are in Manhattan, for large trading houses -- but they're almost impossible to get because of the incredible grilling you'll get in interviews.
The way I see it, Boston is more about pure academics (MIT, etc), silicon valley is about Teh Shiny (new tech), and NYC is about pure money. The area around CalTech is about space and physics, but very very small. You could argue Colorado Springs because of its weapons research, but again, there are so many rednecks there they drag the average down.
Everyplace else is an also-ran as far as aggregations of genius go. You want to go somewhere you can't swing a cat without smacking a brainiac? NYC is the closest one.
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Post by Darth Stateworker on Jul 10, 2012 22:59:55 GMT -5
Well, you're basing your opinion on how it "felt" when you were there. I'm just pointing out that based on legit metrics and not "feel", NYC isn't really tops. However, that's all I was going to interject. By all means - you and Uncivil can return to entertaining us now.
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Post by NYS Techie on Jul 11, 2012 21:25:37 GMT -5
Well, hey, I was a dot-commer... The building I worked in housed Martha Stewart's offices as well as about a dozen internet companies. The neighborhood was lousy with hipsters, and crowds of programmers and sysadmins were everywhere.
But still. What you have to understand is that you simply CANNOT afford to live in Manhattan if you're not SERIOUSLY raking in some dough. Even a crappy two bedroom apartment on the West Side will set you back $3,000 a month plus utilities. Just to GET that apartment, you have to let the landlord do a credit check on you (you'd better be making at least $100K) and you have to be able to hand over three to six months' rent as a security deposit. It's not just a month's rent like it is up here in the sticks.
But wait, you say, "what about coldwater flats down in the Village?" Yeah, sure. You've got a lot of poor people living down in the village, or out in Bed-Stuy. You know what they do? They work in stores that sell stuff to all the SMART people. Or pot to each other, whatever. Women who aren't that bright fling their clothes off and make more money than the whole rest of the working class. So, yes, there ARE stupid people in Manhattan, but they're counterbalanced by so many totally fucking BRILLIANT people, they don't manage to bring down the average IQ much.
The POINT is, Manhattan is like a huge, boiling cauldron of Darwinian competition. People who can stay there and actually have a profit at the end of the month are smart as hell. They're DRIVEN. World class. They are NOT like the people in this region. Do you think the folks in that playhouse on Pearl Street compare to Broadway actors? Or the opera singers of the MET? You think some guy writing ads for Joe's Plumbing in Shodack is anything like a Madison Avenue company? Apples and cornflakes, guys.
So, yeah, it may sting, and make Uncivil all butt-hurt, but them Manhattanites are smarter than him. Plenty smarter. Tougher, smarter, more edge. It's the plain truth. Even the relatively dumb ones are smart. They'll talk you out of your money faster than you can parse what they're saying.
As for me, Hell, I was living down there right in the middle of the dot-com crash. I'm smart enough to go back and make bucks. The reason I'm up here in the middle of bumfuck Egypt is that I'm rather magnificently lazy, and don't give a crap about money. I'd rather laze around my backyard, drink some vodka, maybe write some code on my laptop. All that "GO GO GO" shit gets on my nerves.
But at least I ADMIT it! Hell, I make being lazy an art form! I'm PROUD of this. If I was a comic book character, I'd be Lazyman! There'd be some bank robbery going on somewhere, I'd gaze out across the land in a manly, sexy way, and then, I'd say "Naah, too far" and crack open a beer.
;D
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