'Idiot-Savant' Traders?

Discussion in 'Psychology' started by Rearden Metal, Apr 1, 2006.

'Idiot-Savant' Test: www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html How'd you score?

  1. Under 12 (Diplomat)

    20 vote(s)
    7.1%
  2. 13-25 (Pretty normal)

    118 vote(s)
    42.0%
  3. 26-31 (Almost there, but not quite)

    84 vote(s)
    29.9%
  4. 32-40 (Looks like I might be one...)

    45 vote(s)
    16.0%
  5. 41-50 (Rain Man)

    14 vote(s)
    5.0%
  1. Bingo! Another hallmark trait of Endorphin Deficiency Syndrome is oversensitivity to pain. Anyone ever diagnose you with Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis/fibromyalgia by any chance?

    Does any of this sound familiar?:



    I actually looked up CFS a while ago due to some random trigger of my curiosity and wondered if it was applicable. Might have been the interview with LBR in one of the Market Wizards book. It is possible because I am tired all the time and have have small digestive problems, but the symptoms are so abstract that I can't really put much stock in it as a cohesive source until I read more research I think.

    <b>
    Truthfully, I only seem to have that degree of empathy.

    Howard Hughes did some great things for mankind, but none of them were really done out of any true humanitarian motive.

    (Hint: It's not about money either.)</b>

    Sincere commitment to progress for the sheer pleasure of it? Uncovering systems in nature/society and encoding them in knowledge is a core source of pleasure for the human brain and those who have a degree of whatever it is that links creativity, autism, genius, etc. have an innate ability to decode. Or maybe just an interest in raising awareness for the sake of eventual legislation changes? Although I'm sure there is a degree of empathy, even if it is abstract and impersonal.
     
    #151     Jul 18, 2006

  2. The integrated self idea is a pretty interesting one. A big part of Jung's model as opposed to Freud's as well as certain Eastern philosophies. It seems like on a cursory read this guy is trying to demystify the drive we formerly could only describe in terms of metaphors and archetypes with a layperson's description of the conflict of our evolutionary brain structures. If so, I agree with that direction. He's a bit indirect with his writing so I'll have to scan this later tonight when I'm in a more reflective mindset. Thank ye.
     
    #152     Jul 18, 2006
  3. great post archimedes. i agree wholeheartedly.


     
    #153     Jul 18, 2006
  4. murky

    murky

    Ouch, i scored 42... I don't feel like I have any super special abilities, unfortunately.

    I am about to start a low dose oral mercury chelation protocol (Andrew Cutler's protocol), so I hope to follow the footsteps of many adult ASD-types who have improved doing this.
     
    #154     Aug 9, 2006
  5. <b>UGH! This is getting painful.</b> (DaVinci Method)

    How could a book start out so brilliant, so insightful, so seemingly valuable... and then deteriorate and rot in front of my eyes to the point where Loporto's barrage of pure bullshit makes me question whether the first ('brilliant') part perhaps only <i>seemed</i> true and correct. Like the time decay curve in options, the deterioration after page 94 is slow at first- not too bad really, but then like a snowball rolling downhill it gradually picks up momentum, accelerating a bit more with every passing moment... until the book completely collapses upon itself like time value on expiration Friday.

    It's like everything through page 94 was written by a master scientist, a great thinker with the keys to wisdom & understanding... who then handed off the ball at page 95 to some fourth rate Dr. Phil wannabe, talking out of his ass while apparently seeking to capture a slice of the daytime television programming market for bored middle aged white housewives. Ugh. I kept fucking reading this trash- all the way through page 195 (OK, more skimming than reading after a while), thinking the 'first' Loporto would come back and say something meaningful... but all I get is more heaping steaming piles of horseshit.

    I'm confused- not sure if the second part completely invalidates the first or not, embarrassed at having recommended a book containing so much illogical delusional theism, mysticism and other assorted fairy tales. God damn, I really should have stopped at page 94. :mad:

    Archimedes! Why didn't you warn us?
     
    #155     Aug 20, 2006
  6. Thank you RM for your comments. I had ordered the book not received it yet....

    But will keep pg 94 in mind.

    I have also sometimes recommended books, websites and the like to friends and family only to find out they were pos info...

    embarrassing...but it happens invariably when helping others out..

    Cheers !

    :)
     
    #156     Aug 20, 2006
  7. The curse of the book business... a 94 page book wouldn't fly, so the author had to come up with filler to get it to acceptable length.

    Happens frequently with books that present a hard-driving big idea or insight. You get the good stuff up front, and then a bunch of pointless padding in the back to meet some artificial length requirement. If the publisher is in the mix too, trying to make the book more 'marketable', it can make things even worse as publisher suggestions are generally horrible. But I wouldn't it hold it against the author too much. The objective value of good insights or ideas should stand alone. A diamond delivered in a bag of bullshit is still a diamond if you know what I mean.

    Once you recognize how these type of books are structured, it becomes easier to recognize when the idea is fully communicated and the padding kicks in. Usually it's marked by pointless riffing or goofy theorizing on the part of the author. I've seen it over and over and over again.
     
    #157     Aug 20, 2006
  8. zdreg

    zdreg

    find me one thread that is not going to downhill. exceptions are hardware and software.
     
    #158     Aug 20, 2006
  9. Just the statement that a particular gene can be activated by near death experiences should have been a key tip off there. It's a particularly American habit to merge mysticism with commonly-understood scientific practice in incomensurable ways to satisfy a certain type of consumer.
     
    #159     Aug 20, 2006
  10. LOL ... I scored diplomat ... those who've been on the wrong end of my scorn will have enjoyed my skilled diplomacy :D
     
    #160     Oct 1, 2006