Quote to Note: The Curse of Smart People

July 7, 2014

Here’s a gem. The source is “Google Employee Blows the Whistle on Search Giant’s Problem with Over-Confident ‘Geek Types Living in a Bubble‘.

The quote is from Avery Pennarun, a Googler (maybe soon to be a Xoogler) who allegedly said:

Smart people have a problem especially when you put them in large groups. That problem is an ability to convincingly rationalize nearly anything.

I must admit that here in Harrod’s Creek, Kentucky, rationalizations are not as popular as brawls and shouting.

I don’t understand the “Impostor Syndrome”, but I accept that I don’t get quite a few aspects of the modern world.

I would be happy if search results were focused on precision, recall, and similar old-fashioned ideas. I wonder if the Googlers in Mountain View have ever walked around East Palo Alto and checked out the housing, the stores, and the quality of life? Does a Google Maps search show details in East Palo Alto? Cuba Libre in Washington, DC, was unfindable and it was only a couple of blocks from Google’s DC office.

Stephen E Arnold, July 7, 2014

Comments

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