Untying tough knots, opening tough bottlecaps, parallel parking, etc..

[dtbog]

I know I'm not the only one that genuinely believes I can succeed at opening the bottle that four of my friends just struggled with for 10 minutes.

The curious part isn't that I attempt to open it -- but what seems strange to me is that after the weightlifter in front of me sighs and puts it down, I still pick it up with the confidence that I'll definitely be able to do it.

[WackityWhiz]

I love how you just threw parallel parking in the poll, that is awesome

[dtbog]

[ QUOTE ]
I love how you just threw parallel parking in the poll, that is awesome

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey, anyone who is good with bottlecaps has to be a pro at parallel parking, right? /images/graemlins/smile.gif

EDIT:

Thinking about it, parallel parking is a better example of this phenomenon than opening a bottle, because it's much more labor-intensive to have someone else give it a try.

With a bottle, if I try to open the bottle and fail, it's just another 30 seconds wasted that didn't affect anyone else.

With parallel parking, though, our Hero's hubris forces the driver to get out of the car, switch seats, and then waste everyone's time trying to squeeze into the miniscule sliver of a parking space... before admitting the obvious and THEN going to find another spot.

.. so my point is that our pride here is actually inconveniencing others, but we still must give it a shot.

[mslif]

Obviously, the answer is no for me. I suck at parallele parking and if a guy can't open a can, chances are I won't be able to. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[BusterStacks]

Most everyone is like this. I mean think about it, probably 90% of the world thinks they are above average intelligence.

[Shajen]

I know I can't fit in that parking spot. But then I drive this:

http://www.leer.com/fordgallery/2004ford700.jpg

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
Obviously, the answer is no for me. I suck at parallele parking and if a guy can't open a can, chances are I won't be able to. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

You're a girl. None of you can parallel park, although since you ride motorcycles, I expected you to be an exception. /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[jba]

[ QUOTE ]
Obviously, the answer is no for me. I suck at parallele parking and if a guy can't open a can, chances are I won't be able to. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

when I first saw the OP subject, I thought the body would be:

"this is what I got, what else do girls suck at??"

[WackityWhiz]

[ QUOTE ]
Most everyone is like this. I mean think about it, probably 90% of the world thinks they are above average intelligence.

[/ QUOTE ]

Like your 7th grade teacher would say... "define intelligence" /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[dtbog]

[ QUOTE ]
if a guy can't open a can, chances are I won't be able to. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

See, this is probably true, but it doesn't mean you can't delude yourself.

I'm not a physically weak person, but I'm not overly strong either -- I know that I'm usually not going to be the strongest person to try to open the bottle, but I still think I can do it.

[BusterStacks]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Most everyone is like this. I mean think about it, probably 90% of the world thinks they are above average intelligence.

[/ QUOTE ]

Like your 7th grade teacher would say... "define intelligence" /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

No. The point is that 90% of a total are not above average anything. It's impossible.

[Sponger15SB]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Most everyone is like this. I mean think about it, probably 90% of the world thinks they are above average intelligence.

[/ QUOTE ]

Like your 7th grade teacher would say... "define intelligence" /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

No. The point is that 90% of a total are not above average anything. It's impossible.

[/ QUOTE ]

Exactly. Its more like 75%

[dtbog]

[ QUOTE ]
probably 90% of the world thinks they are above average intelligence.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think this is actually true. (obviously i'm not squabbling about your 90% figure, but I think even the generalization that it is a large margin is incorrect)

I come from an upper-middle-class suburb, and now I go to an Ivy league university. Most of the people that I interact with would profess to be above average in intelligence -- but most of them actually are, so this isn't really a misestimation.

Of my friends in high school who were clearly NOT above average wrt intelligence, most of them definitely knew it.

[dtbog]

[ QUOTE ]
Exactly. Its more like 75%

[/ QUOTE ]

80% if I've had chili.

*prays that at least someone is as lame as I am and gets the reference*

[BusterStacks]

Well then I guess we will just have to disagree. I would bet a substantial amount of money that in a survey of 100 people you will find > say 60% who feel like they are above average intelligence. And 60% is extremely conservative in my opinion, but I wouldn't quite put money on 90%.

[mslif]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Obviously, the answer is no for me. I suck at parallele parking and if a guy can't open a can, chances are I won't be able to. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

You're a girl. None of you can parallel park, although since you ride motorcycles, I expected you to be an exception. /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I do not understand your comparison between driving a motorcycle and parallel parking /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
I do not understand your comparison between driving a motorcycle and parallel parking /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Well then i'm not going to explain it. Can you at least parellel park a motorcycle? /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

edit: and nice 1200th post, veteran. /images/graemlins/heart.gif ^^^^

[dtbog]

[ QUOTE ]
Well then I guess we will just have to disagree. I would bet a substantial amount of money that in a survey of 100 people you will find > say 60% who feel like they are above average intelligence. And 60% is extremely conservative in my opinion, but I wouldn't quite put money on 90%.

[/ QUOTE ]

60%, definitely... but I wouldn't put that on the same scale at 90%. 60% I'll agree with in a second.

This is an interesting psychological question -- I wonder how far this goes?

Specifically, I wonder how many people -- when presented with cold, hard facts classifying them as 'below average' in a certain respect -- would still estimate themselves to be in the top half a week later.

[Ulysses]

I feel sorry for you. It's bad enough that you're a weakling, but you suck at parallel parking too? Ouch.

[WackityWhiz]

If you made a poll on 2+2, it would definately be at least 90%

*edit - because we are all so smart /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[jba]

[ QUOTE ]

No. The point is that 90% of a total are not above average anything. It's impossible.

[/ QUOTE ]

{100,100,100,100,100,100,100,100,100,50}, average = 95, 90% are above average.

some people are really, really, really, really, stupid, and I don't think you are taking that into account.

[dtbog]

[ QUOTE ]

{100,100,100,100,100,100,100,100,100,50}, average = 95, 90% are above average.

some people are really, really, really, really, stupid, and I don't think you are taking that into account.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not to be the one to get too serious, but...

you calculated the arithmetic mean and used it as an average. This is good for numerical values.

when we're talking about people, we're usually referring to the median as average -- namely, the person in the middle.

If we have 9 baseball players, 'average' is the 5th best player. 4 are above, 4 are below. We wouldn't rank each person on a numerical 1-100 scale and then find the mean to make this comparison.

Obviously if there are 10 people in a group, 9 of them aren't 'above average' in the group.. that doesn't make any real-world sense.

[dtbog]

[ QUOTE ]
I feel sorry for you. It's bad enough that you're a weakling, but you suck at parallel parking too? Ouch.

[/ QUOTE ]

All of that and I can't even think of a witty retort. nh.

[jba]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

{100,100,100,100,100,100,100,100,100,50}, average = 95, 90% are above average.

some people are really, really, really, really, stupid, and I don't think you are taking that into account.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not to be the one to get too serious, but...

you calculated the arithmetic mean and used it as an average. This is good for numerical values.

when we're talking about people, we're usually referring to the median as average -- namely, the person in the middle.

If we have 9 baseball players, 'average' is the 5th best player. 4 are above, 4 are below. We wouldn't rank each person on a numerical 1-100 scale and then find the mean to make this comparison.

Obviously if there are 10 people in a group, 9 of them aren't 'above average' in the group.. that doesn't make any real-world sense.

[/ QUOTE ]

sure it does

the average IQ and the median IQ are not the same thing, and "above average intelligence" does not make me assume median.

If you said "above average income", would you think median or average?

[dtbog]

[ QUOTE ]

sure it does

the average IQ and the median IQ are not the same thing, and "above average intelligence" does not make me assume median.

If you said "above average income", would you think median or average?

[/ QUOTE ]

With income, I would think of the mean, because income is unmistakably measured with a number.

wrt intelligence, no one had mentioned IQ yet in this thread, and I personally think that most IQ tests are relatively subjective. I took an IQ test when I was 10 years old that asked me questions about former US presidents. How does that measure my 'intelligence'?

.. that being said, I was thinking in the immeasurable sense.. top 50% of people, as measured by the median.

If we're thinking IQ, though, you're right.

[codewarrior]

If a guy can't open a can, you would open the drawer, get out the can opener, open the can, put the can opener back in the drawer, and do all of the above with a self satisfied smirk on your face.

If by can you meant bottle or jar, then yes, you are probably right.

(FWIW, I once tried to open a can with no can opener. Severe pain ensued. Cold raveoli with label bits owns, however).

[jba]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

sure it does

the average IQ and the median IQ are not the same thing, and "above average intelligence" does not make me assume median.

If you said "above average income", would you think median or average?

[/ QUOTE ]

With income, I would think of the mean, because income is unmistakably measured with a number.

wrt intelligence, no one had mentioned IQ yet in this thread, and I personally think that most IQ tests are relatively subjective. I took an IQ test when I was 10 years old that asked me questions about former US presidents. How does that measure my 'intelligence'?

.. that being said, I was thinking in the immeasurable sense.. top 50% of people, as measured by the median.

If we're thinking IQ, though, you're right.

[/ QUOTE ]

i still think you're missing something here

say you and eighty nine of your college buddies walk into a prison waiting room where ten convicts are sitting. Would you say that the ninety of you have "above average intelligence", for the room?

[ThaSaltCracka]

this thread went from being funny and interesting, to boring and full of nitdom.

[dtbog]

[ QUOTE ]

i still think you're missing something here

say you and eighty nine of your college buddies walk into a prison waiting room where ten convicts are sitting. Would you say that the ninety of you have "above average intelligence", for the room?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not 'missing' your point, I'm just looking at it a different way.

With respect to the question that BusterStacks brought up -- the fact that 90% of people would consider themselves to have 'above average intelligence' -- I don't think that conjures up an image of a weighted IQ average. If you do, that's fine, and we can agree to disagree.

In your prison example, though, I think you actually made my point more strongly than you made yours. If someone actually brought up 'average intelligence' in this particular situation and I felt compelled to calculate it (and we can assume that the convicts are dumb and we're all smart), I most definitely would not put all of my smart friends in the 'above average' category -- I'd put 40 of them with the convicts.

[dtbog]

[ QUOTE ]
this thread went from being funny and interesting, to boring and full of nitdom.

[/ QUOTE ]

agreed.

TSC, can you open this bottle for me? it's a little stuck

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
if a guy can't open a can, chances are I won't be able to. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

See, this is probably true, but it doesn't mean you can't delude yourself.

I'm not a physically weak person, but I'm not overly strong either -- I know that I'm usually not going to be the strongest person to try to open the bottle, but I still think I can do it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I like the challenge of trying to open the jar. It's not that I think I can open it. It's just that I will get to make many irritating comments and laugh at my friends if none of them can open it and I can.

Note, this doesn't usually happen at all; it's the fact that it happens so rarely that makes it great. I'm not a big bulky guy, so the laugh value of being the one to pull it off when everyone else can't is pretty high. It can really get under the skin of the bigger dudes or the super-competitive ones.

[dtbog]

[ QUOTE ]

I like the challenge of trying to open the jar. It's not that I think I can open it. It's just that I will get to make many irritating comments and laugh at my friends if none of them can open it and I can.

Note, this doesn't usually happen at all; it's the fact that it happens so rarely that makes it great. I'm not a big bulky guy, so the laugh value of being the one to pull off when everyone else can't is pretty high. It can really get under the skin of the bigger dudes or the super-competitive ones.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good points, and I agree with all of these -- but for some reason, I usually genuinely feel like I can somehow do this menial task better than others. I don't know why.

[tonypaladino]

if you can't open a jar, just use a can opener to prick a hole it the lid. the fucker will open nice and smooth

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
probably 90% of the world thinks they are above average intelligence.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think this is actually true. (obviously i'm not squabbling about your 90% figure, but I think even the generalization that it is a large margin is incorrect)

I come from an upper-middle-class suburb, and now I go to an Ivy league university. Most of the people that I interact with would profess to be above average in intelligence -- but most of them actually are, so this isn't really a misestimation.

Of my friends in high school who were clearly NOT above average wrt intelligence, most of them definitely knew it.

[/ QUOTE ]

In my experience, almost everyone put in any position of authority, no matter how dumb they know they are or how smart they think anyone else is, automatically adds at least 10 to 20 points to his perceived I.Q. and deducts 20-30 points from the people in his charge.

This usually happens simply as a result of social class outside the workplace, too. I knew a lot of rich kids in college and every one of them found themselves enormously admirable and intelligent. I'll always remember one of them for his great line, as an 18 year old kid who'd never held a job and was getting everything paid for by his dad, delivered straight and with the most utter conviction, about being a self-made man.

[dtbog]

[ QUOTE ]
if you can't open a jar, just use a can opener to prick a hole it the lid. the fucker will open nice and smooth

[/ QUOTE ]

what if you need to put the thing back in the cupboard?

if I really can't open it, I'll use one of those friction-based grippers. they seem to work wonders.

[dtbog]

[ QUOTE ]
I'll always remember one of them for his great line, as an 18 year old kid who'd never held a job and was getting everything paid for by his dad, delivered straight and with the most utter conviction, about being a self-made man.

[/ QUOTE ]

I bet he couldn't even open this jar of pickles *smirk*

[DMBFan23]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Most everyone is like this. I mean think about it, probably 90% of the world thinks they are above average intelligence.

[/ QUOTE ]

Like your 7th grade teacher would say... "define intelligence" /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

No. The point is that 90% of a total are not above average anything. It's impossible.

[/ QUOTE ]

what about 10 test scores of:

95
95
95
95
95
95
95
95
95
80

[Blarg]

heheheh

[tonypaladino]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
if you can't open a jar, just use a can opener to prick a hole it the lid. the fucker will open nice and smooth

[/ QUOTE ]

what if you need to put the thing back in the cupboard?

if I really can't open it, I'll use one of those friction-based grippers. they seem to work wonders.

[/ QUOTE ]

i just put it in a tupperware afterwards.

The rubber things work, but I can never find where I put them.

[dtbog]

[ QUOTE ]

what about 10 test scores of:

(snip)

[/ QUOTE ]

already discussed above in the thread