Oracle FAQ Your Portal to the Oracle Knowledge Grid
HOME | ASK QUESTION | ADD INFO | SEARCH | E-MAIL US
 

Home -> Community -> Mailing Lists -> Oracle-L -> RE: computer history stories - Now: IQ, etc.

RE: computer history stories - Now: IQ, etc.

From: Boivin, Patrice J <BoivinP_at_mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca>
Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 04:13:38 -0700
Message-ID: <F001.0036CB81.20010816042558@fatcity.com>

My perception of intelligent people is that they know a lot of trivia, can repeat many theories, and can talk a lot when you ask them regarding something on which they collected many associations.

Intelligent people don't make fortunes all that often, because theories and knowledge do not constitute wisdom. They may provide a context for experiences, however, provided the theories reflect reality. If your theory is wrong, you can go around in circles for a long time without learning anything.

Your professor's frame of reference seems to be about adding more "information" to existing bodies of knowledge, he didn't mention life experiences. Sounds academic, where they publish paper after paper, but people rarely read them. One of my profs said that there are so many papers published now that it has become impossible to keep up. Strange idea, that publishing papers would "add" to understanding, and perhaps lead to wisdom.

My wife is a teacher, she says there are 8 or more types of intelligence that they have to consider now when teaching. I found it interesting that one of these Intelligences is the equivalent of "street smarts" - i.e. how to get things done in the real world, not based on theoretical frameworks. Street smarts is based on real life experiences.

Regards,
Patrice Boivin
Systems Analyst (Oracle Certified DBA)

Systems Admin & Operations | Admin. et Exploit. des systèmes
Technology Services        | Services technologiques
Informatics Branch         | Direction de l'informatique 
Maritimes Region, DFO      | Région des Maritimes, MPO

E-Mail: boivinp_at_mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca <mailto:boivinp_at_mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca>

        -----Original Message-----
        From:   Guy Hammond [SMTP:guy.hammond_at_avt.co.uk]
        Sent:   Thursday, August 16, 2001 6:36 AM
        To:     Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
        Subject:        RE: computer history stories - Now: IQ, etc.

        A professor of mine defined things like this:

        Data: raw numbers and text
        Information: data filtered and summarized to extract the relevant
pieces
        Knowledge: new information fitted into existing knowledge in such a
way
        as to be meaningful in a wider context
        Wisdom: Extrapolating trends in knowledge to synthesize new
knowledge
        Interesting that he didn't seem to consider intelligence to be
        particularly relevant to his model of learning. I would day that
        intelligence is a measure of how fast data can be transformed all
the
        way into wisdom. Technology at present is very good at dealing with
data
        and information, and is just starting to address knowledge, altho'
it's
        far from commercially useful yet.

        g
         

        -----Original Message-----
        Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2001 6:52 PM
        To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L


        I have a simplistic view of things:  

        Knowledge = ideas linked by associations, purely intellectual in
nature.
        You can do the word association game re. these, quite fun.

        Understanding = experience involving the whole person, including
        movement,
        emotions and intellect.  So to understand, you must go through the
        experience.

        P.S. Are Orasoruses herbivores, or carnivores?

        : )

        Patrice Boivin
        Systems Analyst (Oracle Certified DBA)

        Systems Admin & Operations | Admin. et Exploit. des systèmes
        Technology Services        | Services technologiques
        Informatics Branch         | Direction de l'informatique 
        Maritimes Region, DFO      | Région des Maritimes, MPO

        E-Mail: boivinp_at_mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca <mailto:boivinp_at_mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca>



                -----Original Message-----
                From:   Don Granaman [SMTP:granaman_at_home.com]
                Sent:   Wednesday, August 15, 2001 1:37 PM
                To:     Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
                Subject:        Re: computer history stories - Now: IQ, etc.

                Apologies for reviving a dead thread, but I was
incommunicado
        for a
        week and
                just now saw this rather interesting thread.  One of my pet
        rants is
        about
                the difference between "knowledge" and "understanding".  I
am
        not
        sure of
                the clinical definitions of the words used in this
discussion,
        but
        will
                offer this postulation, in IT terms.


"Knowledge" is essentially accumulated data.
"Understanding" is more like the ability to process data.
Of the two, understanding is far more valuable - and far more rare. I once had a physics professor/mentor who "invented" the mathematical field of product calculus to support his doctoral research in physics. (Note:
"product" calculus - multiplying infinitesimal bits of
stuff, not adding. I may be a geezer, but am not old enough to have studied under Newton!) The mathematical community was suitably impressed and told him that if he would write up all the proofs and do the formal theory, the Field's medal would be a certainty. (There is no Nobel prize for Mathematics. The Field's medal is the equivalent.) He replied that he was a tool user, not a tool maker - that the only reason he did it was because appropriate tools did not previously exist. He finished his doctorate in physics, others did the mathematical background work, and nobody got the Field's medal for product calculus. The moral is that he did not have the "knowledge" required, but did have a very deep understanding of mathematics. To compensate for this lack of
"knowledge", his own and other's, he used his understanding
to create new
"knowledge".
Another illustration... In the beginning, there is trigonometry. One has to memorize lots of half-angle formulae, double-angle formulae, ad nausem. Pure knowledge - just plug in values and crank out answers. Further down the line, one learns Euler's equation and how to effectively use it. Usually, that static data - all those formulae - get purged from primary memory. If one needs them, they can be easily derived in a few minutes - a much more powerful technique. There is little sense cluttering up valuable primary memory with such trivia. In the field of Oracle database administration, some knowledge is essential. However, understanding is the seminal distinction between the lower and higher levels of expertise. After all, how many of the most challenging situations you have been in, or toughest projects you have done, could have been well handled on the basis of knowledge alone? Knowledge will only get you so far. Serious critical reasoning skills are required to transcend the existing knowledge barrier. Consider also in this context the large and firmly entrenched knowledge base about ratio-based tuning versus more reasoned wait-based tuning. (setq minor-rant-mode ON) This is my main complaint about the OCP program. The tests are almost exclusively "knowledge based". The old Chauncey exams had a much higher
"understanding" requirement.
(setq minor-rant-mode OFF) -Don Granaman [certifiable Orasaurus] ("Real life" doesn't have the correct answers in the back.) ----- Original Message ----- To: "Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L" <ORACLE-L_at_fatcity.com> Sent: Monday, August 06, 2001 1:39 PM > IQ from what I understand is COMPLETELY related to how fast you learn. > > IQ is your ability to learn, nothing to do with how "Smart" you are. > > Smart is how much you know, nothing to do with how you learn. > > "Do not criticize someone until you walked a mile in their shoes, that way > when you criticize them, you are a mile a way and have their shoes." > > Christopher R. Spence OCP MCSE MCP A+ RAPTOR CNA > Oracle DBA > Phone: (978) 322-5744 > Fax: (707) 885-2275 > > Fuelspot > 73 Princeton Street > North, Chelmsford 01863 -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com -- Author: Don Granaman INET: granaman_at_home.com Fat City Network Services -- (858) 538-5051 FAX: (858) 538-5051 San Diego, California -- Public Internet access / Mailing Lists -------------------------------------------------------------------- To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message to: ListGuru_at_fatcity.com (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing). -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com -- Author: Boivin, Patrice J INET: BoivinP_at_mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca Fat City Network Services -- (858) 538-5051 FAX: (858) 538-5051 San Diego, California -- Public Internet access / Mailing Lists -------------------------------------------------------------------- To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message to: ListGuru_at_fatcity.com (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing). -- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com -- Author: Guy Hammond INET: guy.hammond_at_avt.co.uk Fat City Network Services -- (858) 538-5051 FAX: (858) 538-5051 San Diego, California -- Public Internet access / Mailing Lists -------------------------------------------------------------------- To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message to: ListGuru_at_fatcity.com (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).
--
Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
--
Author: Boivin, Patrice J
  INET: BoivinP_at_mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Fat City Network Services    -- (858) 538-5051  FAX: (858) 538-5051
San Diego, California        -- Public Internet access / Mailing Lists
--------------------------------------------------------------------
To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message
to: ListGuru_at_fatcity.com (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in
the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L
(or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from).  You may
also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing).
Received on Thu Aug 16 2001 - 06:13:38 CDT

Original text of this message

HOME | ASK QUESTION | ADD INFO | SEARCH | E-MAIL US