Technical Intelligence vs IQ

From the submitted blog post: "In it’s raw form, IQ stands for intelligence quotient, and is based upon a test invented by famous psychologist William Stern."

That sentence has two bad mistakes right there. The author of this post has no idea what he is writing about.

"So, while IQ might indicate intelligence, it’s not a great predictor of how you actually perform in life."

The stupidity here is claiming that something else is a better predictor of how you actually perform in life. The author's term "technical intelligence" is so vaguely defined in the blog post, with no standardized example of how to estimate it, that the suggestion to look for technical intelligence ends up being useless.

See

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5227923

for a recent posting of a FAQ about the most optimal way to hire capable workers (if that is your concern) for technical jobs, with a lot of links to careful research on the issue.

That page seems very keen on the twice-featured paragraph attempting to define "Technical intelligence":

Technical intelligence involves the accurate appraisal and expression of the ability to interact with machines in a way that enhances living.

But is that a helpful definition? Or at least is it a helpful first definition? Could we start with something simpler? Something beginning "Technical Intelligence is", rather than "Technical intelligence involves"?

It doesn't even seem like a helpful definition in the context of the company, which deals with MySQL monitoring and analysis. This talk of Technical intelligence makes the product harder to understand, it's just uncomfortably bolted on ("We're delivering Technical Intelligence for MySQL" - so training then? No, it doesn't seem like it...)

Author here. Thanks for the comments. I think the concept of IQ not being all that important is challenging to admit, but at the end of the day the point is that there are a variety of factors that influence success and positive outcomes in our world, one of which seems to be largely ignored.

I'm not sure why no one has talked about interaction with machines but it's clearly important. By no means is this a science, just a commentary on cultural factors that should be relevant in today's world.

@JDGM we are purposely vague about our product as we are still in early alpha, but you can think of us like New Relic for servers.

P.S. We don't do riddles, IQ tests or puzzles in our hiring process and we prioritize attitude, workplace fit and a variety of other personal factors.

I might be mistaken, but it seems like "technical intelligence" is another way of saying "high tolerance for poor UI," i.e. a person with very low T.I. needs something really well designed, and a person with high T.I. can still be effective despite poor design.

This isn't right. This isn't even wrong. -Wolfgang Pauli

This is nonsense.

> Technical intelligence involves the accurate appraisal and expression of the ability to interact with machines in a way that enhances living.

That is so vague as to be completely useless. A mechanic interacts with machines in a way that enhances living. So does a chef. So does a doctor. So does a computer programmer. Almost every job today involves interacting with machines in a way that enhances living.

This is pseudoscience wrapped up in a serious sounding blanket of nonsense.