Twitter pays engineer $10 million as Silicon Valley tussles for talent

Ridiculous.

Your interests were different than your sister's, not you aptitude.

You really think your sister couldn't figure out how to use commas correctly if she put her mind to it?

 

Go be a stand-up comedian.

Tomorrow.

I want you having audiences rolling on the ground in six months.

And I want it on tape. On youtube. And posted on here.

Six months. No excuses.

It's just training your brain to be funny.

Go. Six months.

 

How is that you don't understand that people are gifted in different ways? I could never have become a software engineer. I could never have become a surgeon. I could never have become a hedge fund manager. I could never have become a CFO. I could never have been a great auto mechanic. Hell, I couldn't even learn a foreign language. To suggest anyone can do these things is an insult to the people who have developed their natural gifts to excel in these areas.

 

I've already done it. I killed.

Do you really want to compare something like that to the ability to learn math or science?

Societies that put an emphasis on teaching math and science crank out adults who are good at math and science. They're not any smarter than we are.

 

Of course you could have.

You could learn a foreign language now if you wanted to.

If your education, starting at a young age, had emphasized math and science, you certainly could have been a software engineer or hedge fund manager. And, while surgeon might require a level of dexterity not everyone has, I have no doubt you could have become a doctor if that was your goal from a young age.

 

I guess you're not one because you're lazy, not stupid.

 

It's not a matter of being "good at math." It's a matter of being "exceptional." These guys don't make these salaries because they're good. They make these salaries because they're exceptional. By definition very few people can do that, no matter how much society emphasizes math (or whatever).

 

Hey, I'm smart enough to know how to properly use the quote function.

And, my stand up routine was about St. Patrick's Day. I seriously killed. Lots of fun. Maybe I'll do it again someday, but it would be hard to top.

 

Youtube or GTFO

 

Oh sure, the guy raking in $10M is exceptional, and likely is far smarter than any of us.

But, the "average" engineer in Silicon Valley is making over $100,000. You don't need to be a super genius just to be an engineer. Those skills can be learned.

And, so many are turned off by math and science, that we'll never know who might have been exceptional if they had pursued such a path, and had the proper education.

 

100%.

Liberal Arts was more of a focus in my family as well, though one brother is a mechanical engineer. (I credit his love of Legos as a kid.)

I wanted to get out of school as fast as possible. The idea of a career that required an advanced degree did not appeal to me at all.