Questions About Engineering and College Success

[ludi_srbin]

Hi there,
I apologize for asking this many questions but I need help in deciding how and what to do in next few years. Alright, I came to the US about 2 years ago, and my English is getting better with every day. I will be Senior in the high school next year. I'm pretty good in math (knock on the wood) and I will take AP Physics next year. Hope to do well. After High School I plan to go to study some kinda of Engineering. Probably Electrical. I already read about combining it with Physics, and I understand that well. After College I plan to go to Military. Spend there few years jumping out of parachute, just to satisfy my adventure spirit. My main question is If I do that will I kinda get russty in my science? Will I be able to continue with maybe masters or even Phd after the service? Does anyone have any experience where you do something else and then return to science? Also I want to ask how hard is Electrical Engineering? Is it more focused on electronics or is it more focused on the high voltage stuff, like generators, transforamtors,transmission etc.? And my last question, probably a stupid one, is about influence of the IQ on one's success in College? Is it important or is it all about your commitment and hard work?? Thanks for the answers in advance, and sorry for all this text.

 

[noslen]

If you want to be an electrical engineer your going to need to put in a good effort and a lot
of focus. You should also research electrical engineering too so you really know what its about, don't guess. If you do go into the military and then forget stuff it shouldn't take long to relearn your material. Also ones success in college is greatly determined by effort and focus.

 

[ludi_srbin]

I already went into a Electrical High School in my country, so I know what is it about, but I didn't see any distinction here between electronics and the high voltage stuff. Does that happen later (Masters, Phd) or can you choose through your choice of classes? Thanks for help.

 

[Igor_S]

About IQ, I don't think it's really important. As I remember, R. Feynman is one of the most famous physicists with "low" IQ (around 120 I think). I would say it's much more about a hard work, but it may depend on the school itself (I guess?).

 

[marlon]

About IQ, I don't think it's really important. As I remember, R. Feynman is one of the most famous physicists with "low" IQ (around 120 I think). I would say it's much more about a hard work, but it may depend on the school itself (I guess?).

i really wonder how they ever measured his IQ in a 'reliable' way, if that were even possible.

Besides i once saw a site where they estimated the IQ of historical figures
http://members.shaw.ca/delajara/Cox300.html

They place Goethe over Mozart if it comes to IQ ? :rofl: :rofl:

C'mon


marlon

 

[ludi_srbin]

Sta ima? Kako u Zagrebu?

I really don't know how they measure IQ. My results varied for like 20-30 points. Well how smart one is still matters but I think that one's imagination and creativity matters also.

 

[Igor_S]

i really wonder how they ever measured his IQ in a 'reliable' way, if that were even possible.

Besides i once saw a site where they estimated the IQ of historical figures
http://members.shaw.ca/delajara/Cox300.html

They place Goethe over Mozart if it comes to IQ ? :rofl: :rofl:

Newton is ranked at modest 12th place. I don't take seriously any IQ test, especially the ones like that. Is there any way you can represent someone's intelligence (especially with a single number) and then compare it to someone other's ? I don't think so. There are some other sites, where they compare Steven Hawking with Bobby Fischer (USA chess grandmaster).

My question is: I don't mean to disrespect, but if a person is smart why doesn't he then do something smart in his life rather than paint or play chess ?

P.S. This one I found funny: .http://author.senescence.info/hobbies/comedy/iq_rank.html .

P.P.S. And I don't think I really want to know what is "Flynn effect" :rofl: :rofl:


@ludi_srbin: Pa eto, nije bas najbolje, ali ipak ide... trenutno sam na 4. godini na dodiplomskom iz fizike :smile

 

[omagdon7]

Just because you enjoy science doesn't mean everyone else does. Maybe some people with high IQs get enjoyment out of things that are more abstract such as art or boardgames. Not everyone wants to prove theorems or conduct research. Perhaps, it is the fact that they found something which they loved with all their hearts and dedicating themselves to it allowed them to think clearly. As opposed to doing what someone "smart" should do they did what they wanted to do kind of like a monastery for the mind.

 

[marlon]

@ludi_srbin: Pa eto, nije bas najbolje, ali ipak ide... trenutno sam na 4. godini na dodiplomskom iz fizike :smile

najbolje

what language is this ?
Is this Croatian or something ?

marlon

 

[Nusc]

Psychologists believe that IQ is not important but rather your EQ.

ludi, don't join the military.

 

[Igor_S]

Good point, omagdon. It don't necessarily mean they would be that good if they did something "smart" . But, I still think these IQ rankings are useless.

najbolje

what language is this ?
Is this Croatian or something ?

Yeah. Sorry, I should replied him to PM instead here.

 

[omagdon7]

As time progresses IQ is slowly increasing and this is the Flynn Effect. Some people credit nutrition and differences in society for the change you can read more about it on the interweb.

 

[ludi_srbin]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Igor_S
@ludi_srbin: Pa eto, nije bas najbolje, ali ipak ide... trenutno sam na 4. godini na dodiplomskom iz fizike :smile



najbolje

what language is this ?
Is this Croatian or something ?

marlon
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Serbs call it Serbian; Croatians call it Croatian...Well you have Muslims in Bosnia who call it Bosnian. Basically same languange. Let's call it Serbo-Croatian.

 

[ludi_srbin]

Originally posted by Nusc

Psychologists believe that IQ is not important but rather your EQ.

ludi, don't join the military.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

First of all what is EQ?

I don't want to spend my life regreting for not doing something. 3 years won't matter much.

 

[ludi_srbin]

Originally Posted by Igor_S
@ludi_srbin: Pa eto, nije bas najbolje, ali ipak ide... trenutno sam na 4. godini na dodiplomskom iz fizike :smile

Moramo Engleski.

Try to come to US. The whole system is so much better and the opportunities are so much greater that it is just unbelivable. Good luck.

 

[Nusc]

Have a look.

http://quiz.ivillage.com/health/tests/eqtest2.htm

 

[ludi_srbin]

About the increasing of the IQ...That is definitely true. I' mean 500 years ago we had to use our body much more than today. Today it is vice versa. We use our brain much more than our body. We cannot see it but the Evolution is keeping up with the change, and slowly but surely we, as a specie, are getting smarter.

 

[Nusc]

To put it bluntly, the increase in intelligence is proportional to "how much we know." But that does not neccessarily mean one's IQ is greater...or increasing.

 

[ludi_srbin]

I scored High, but I feel that some questions I responded what I thought is right, and not what I would actually do. I feel that this is not really natural. Educated people will probably score much better than uneducated, and those uneducated might be actually more capable of comprehending stuff. You know what I mean? Like they might be "smarter", have higher IQ, but then I guess the EQ is maybe proportional to the IQ.

 

[Nusc]

Precisely. EQ is, however, not proportional to IQ but intelligence. Don't misuse those terms.

 

[quasi426]

About the increasing of the IQ...That is definitely true. I' mean 500 years ago we had to use our body much more than today. Today it is vice versa. We use our brain much more than our body. We cannot see it but the Evolution is keeping up with the change, and slowly but surely we, as a specie, are getting smarter.

The only way evolution would be keeping up with increase IQ or intelligence or whatever you want to call this cognitive ability would be that people who are intelligent are making more babies and those that are not as intelligent are making less babies. Or maybe you mean that a select few humans, who are very intelligent, are making babies with each other and therefore yielding a small group who are getting more intelligent.

 

[Igor_S]

Moramo Engleski.

Try to come to US. The whole system is so much better and the opportunities are so much greater that it is just unbelivable. Good luck.

If everything goes as planned, I'll probably come Thnx!

 

[Nusc]

Since we are talking about psychology, I'm sorry to say but intelligence is learned. Some personalities maybe inherited from your parents but the child's environment is the ultimate factor. People who create more babies does not mean that they are intelligent. For all I care they could have religious values that do not endorse contraceptives. But since he was talking about 500 years ago, people relied on their children to survive. Those who are not intelligent doesn't necessarily mean they are making less babies... The average families today are growing smaller. So how many children you have is not corelated to inteligence.


To put it bluntly, the increase in intelligence is proportional to "how much we know." But that does not neccessarily mean one's IQ is greater...or increasing.
Yet, children still have to learn.

 

[quasi426]

People who create more babies does not mean that they are intelligent. For all I care they could have religious values that do not endorse contraceptives. But since he was talking about 500 years ago, people relied on their children to survive. Those who are not intelligent doesn't necessarily mean they are making less babies... The average families today are growing smaller. So how many children you have is not corelated to inteligence.

That is what I was saying. However intelligence or cognitive ability IS a hertible trait. We have a different cognitive ability then a monkey or dog would. No matter what environment the monkey grows in, we will never be able to communicate an abstract idea like quantumn mechanics to it. The monkey does not have the cognitive ability to learn such ideas. However humans can learn such things, some a with more ease then others. This means that our cognitive ability is derived from our heritable material, namely our genome. All that we are composed of is due to our genes and our environment. So if two people who have an intelligence that is above average, whatever that may be, will have a child that will most likely have the similar genes and thus have the potential to be the same as his/her parents.

 

[Nusc]

Yes, intelligence is learned and inherited but a child's potential is not solely determined by what was inherited by his parents but also how one is raised. This was once a controversial issue known as "Nurture vs. Nature" and it appears that you are already aware of it.