Posted by NCWayne on June 05, 2014 at 22:53:22 from (173.188.169.54):
A friend of mine stopped by last night and, as usual, we got to talking. He got here around 7PM and didn"t leave until nearly 11:30PM. During that time we talked about everything under the sun and, as it usually does, time just flew by. Due to work schedules, etc, he and I don"t see each other that often, and as he was leaving he made the comment that, "It was nice to have a real intelligent conversation on occasion".
That comment, and various other things we had discussed in our talk, got me to thinking, in a round about way, about the question posed in the subject line. I say round about because my line of thinking was basically how many friends I have that I can have a real, "intelligent" conversation with and the vast differences in their education.
I say vast because in the circle of guys I call friends there are guys with educational histories from one extreme to the other. On one side are the guys like my Father. He grew up on a tobacco farm, and only has a tenth grade education. Even so when it comes to discussing just about anything, he is one of the smartest people I know. Heck in the equipment repair arena, he has probably forgotten more about working on equipment than I know right now.
On the other side of the circle are guys like the friend that was over last night, and another that was over a few nights ago. Both of them have degrees in the engineering disciplines. One I know is in mechanical engineering and the other, I believe (just realized I had never really asked) on the electrical side of things given his past work history. Neither are working in their fields right now, one because he works for the family business, and the other because he "did his thing" for quite a few years, and made decent money, and now simply enjoys doing other things.
Personally I finished high school and took a few college level courses in diesel engine repair. I then spent 6 years in the Navy where I had over a year of advanced courses in a variety of areas, to make me better at my job. Beyond that I simply ask questions, read a lot, pay attention to what"s going on around me, and love to just dig in and figure out and solve problems. I guess on the formal education side of things I don"t fall that far from my Dad as I only graduated high school and have no degrees from any type of college.
That all said, the differences in formal education seems to be what way too many employers now days look at when they go to hire someone. The thing is they never seem to realize that the fact you don"t have a degree (like they do) doesn"t mean you aren"t as good, or better at your job, or even theirs, as they are. Usually the OJT received teaches far more, in many ways, than years of college could ever teach.
Don"t take this to mean that I think college, or degrees, are bad in any way. I understand the need for folks with the real, in-depth, knowledge achieved by going to school. The problem with many of them though is that their knowledge only extends as far as their education, and they have no practical knowledge beyond that. At the same time we also need folks from the other side of the circle that, even though they don"t have the formal education, have more practical knowledge than any kind of formal education can over offer.
Now, my question for ya"ll. Who is the most intelligent person you know, and what kind of education do they have? Basically, are they book smart/intelligent, or OJT smart, or one of the lucky few that are both?
Oh......... for you degreed guys, who are also pretty smart otherwise......yeah I been on here long enough, and seen enough conversations, to know there are a lot of you out there..... I don't want you to say "Me" (meaning yourself).......LOL
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