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Comment by jdw64 | Hacker News Reader

How would someone with an intellect like Demis Hassabis think?

I want to learn to think more like him. What differences between his way of thinking and mine create such a powerful gap? If I could understand those differences, I might also understand how to narrow that gap. And if we could identify the causes of that gap, perhaps humans in general could develop much further.

I truly envy his intelligence. When I read his writings, I can see fragments of knowledge that he cannot hide, and it makes me think: I want to become like that too.

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> What differences between his way of thinking and [somebody else's]

Presumably sophistication ("sophisticated" as "complex" as opposed to "naïve" as in "less mature").

> If I could understand those differences, I might also understand how to narrow that gap

You narrow that gap through application on improved mental habits as aided by the leading examples of your good acquaintances (especially through reading). Just discipline yourself to think in a better way.

Edit: oh, since I had to return out of a linguistic matter: examine thought and its tools - language is one, logic of course another, aletics a paramount one... Refine all your tools. Learn to see better and better.

I think he's just wired differently. Raw IQ is usually overrated IMO, but this is one of the cases where I believe the significant difference is critical.

Critical but maybe not sufficient. Hassabis claims to manage two separate workdays every day, the first spent in meetings in Deepmind's office, the second until late at night studying new papers. So not just high IQ but incredible energy too. And finally, as I understand, a highly competitive attitude.

If you're interested in better thinking, go read a bit about Charlie Munger - he's gone now, but he was thinking about thinking for quite a long time and has some good advice.

Farnam Street used to be a very good blog too, albeit it feels much more 'commercial' for the past 5 years.

I suspect Demis 'gapped' you structurally (upbringing, early decisions, luck, positioning), moreso than via intelligence, which doesn't actually vary that widely in humans.

Doesn't vary that widely in humans? Do you have a source for that?

Even if you take IQ, a 2-sigma event on that distribution is 'only' around 130. A 130 outpaces a 100, sure, but it's hardly full on dominance in most tasks.

Certainly much less powerful than just having rich or pushy parents.

> The CV of e.g. IQ is only 15%. That's in line with other 'natural' attributes of humans, but not compared to something like family wealth or background. From a quick Google, wealth is 700% in the US? Income also same OOM.

I'm generally suspicious of IQ but still - 2 standard deviations above average would include about 2.5% of the population. Hassabis is in a significantly more exclusive slice.

His parents weren't particularly wealthy. More likely: he is exceptionally intelligent, hardworking, visionary, and grew up in an environment which fostered those attributes in a precocious child.

all being equal, a 130 will completely trounce a 100 on almost every mental task. what are you talking about? do you honestly think otherwise?

They might 'win' reliably, but I don't believe the margin on outcome itself to be that great.

Intelligence varies incredibly wildly in humans. So much so I think IQ might be a logarithmic scale.

The CV of e.g. IQ is only 15%. That's in line with other 'natural' attributes of humans, but not compared to something like family wealth or background. From a quick Google, wealth is 700% in the US? Income also same OOM.

I worked in a retail PC sales and repair store and the gulf between the stupidest and smartest customers was enormous.

I think you've just got perceptual tuning for the human to human context. It's like how human faces that are 5% different can be very obvious to us, but it's much harder to tell (for example) two cats apart at the same difference level. All of your adaptive pressures are pulling in that direction.

But at a system-scale view of intelligence, humans are squashed together and it plays a pretty small role on outcomes. You should much prefer being rich than smart if your goal is 'success' by most metrics.

"I think you've just got perceptual tuning for the human to human context"

Not at all. I have to learn how to talk very differently to people on both ends of the IQ range. Wealth is a terrible proxy for IQ because it doesn't actually correlate very much due to accidents of birth and interests. Just look at Terrance Tao vs Trump's idiot sons.

Demis was boon to a rather poor family, he used his own money to buy his first computer (from chess winnings.)

His father didn't have a steady job even, he is truly a black swan.

Luck of the draw. Both in genetics, plus family resources & mentality when growing up.

Cannot become like that unfortunately. But hey, you are great already, and you can become even better. Your own version.

Well I feel the same way about Kim Kardasian. So I get what you are saying about the gap and finding ways to shrink it cause I want to become like that too.

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