AlexMennen comments on Negative and Positive Selection - Less Wrong

71 Post author: alyssavance 06 July 2012 01:34AM

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Comment author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 05 July 2012 02:13:26AM 4 points [-]

What my externally observable percentiles look like:

  • Writing: 99+%
  • Math: 99+%
  • Conceptual originality: 99+%
  • Programming: 95%
  • Conformity / ability to obey incorrect orders: 20%

What my educational credentials look like:

  • Highest level of education completed: 8th grade
Comment author: AlexMennen 05 July 2012 04:30:22AM 0 points [-]

Programming: 95%

Why so low?

Comment author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 05 July 2012 06:25:45PM 4 points [-]

I haven't put as many skill points into it.

Comment author: AlexMennen 05 July 2012 09:14:54PM 4 points [-]

Ah, sorry, it looks like I was unclear. I meant "What makes you think that so many people are better at programming than you?", not "Why are you so bad at programming?". I had assumed that you were comparing yourself to the general population, although now that I see you have clarified that you were comparing yourself to other programmers, the 95% estimate makes a lot more sense. Giving people estimates of your percentiles without telling them the population you are comparing yourself to is almost useless.