site banner
PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   2577 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for February 8, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

You're both right to a degree IMO. Some of the metrics used in Quant recruiting are probably dumb but also they've got 100k resumes from top percentile applicants and can't blame them for leaning on the previously applied great sort.

I doubt they get that many apps from the top percentile. Top percentile is probably top 25% or more at a quant firm.

There are a lot of people in the world and quant is super desirable. Napkin maths but even the USA alone has 3M top percentile and quant is inherently very international.

Most people serious overrate the psychometric ability of hiring managers. I've talked to quants and many are not that smart. They're probably 97th percentile strivers. I put myself around true 140 IQ.

I put myself around true 140 IQ.

You are probably in good company with the rest of the "midwit quants". They think they of themselves much like you do.

Most people with claimed 140 IQ are overestimating by 20 points. I know enough about psychometrics to know how to avoid that for myself. On their scale, I tend to tell them I'm 160 IQ, because that more efficiently communicates the level in their lingo.

Yes but considering you aren't, in a demonstratable level, some sort of polygot or martian like Von Neumann, I have to doubt you are an actual 140 IQ. No, people who brag about their IQ online tend to just be arrogant autists in that 120 range who think they are geniuses, call it a heuristic. Saying it out loud just gives further evidence that you lack the social intelligence to understand that.

some sort of polygot

Not a great g signal but I speak French, German, and Arabic.

No, people who brag about their IQ online tend to just be arrogant autists in that 120 range who think they are geniuses, call it a heuristic

You are right. I think if I saw my own comments in the wild from another person I'd start with that prior and shift upwards due to the intelligent logic like the critique of the pedigree lingo, the assessment of hiring practices from a psychometric point of view, as well as the concept of Fallacy of Sufficient Competition. Aka, the poster is wrecking 115-125 IQ normies which is a robust sign of higher intelligence. You have to be smart enough to do this yourself to appreciate it, though. If you're not I guess it just sounds like bullshit or something, maybe like what that here_and_gone poster sounds like to me.

I'm going to reply to both of our chains here because I think they overlap.

Someone who hasn't mastered the basics misinterprets that as "wrong" or "dumb."

Your whole linguistic verbiage reads as this weird striver/hustle slang. The fundamentals of what? If you were a CEO or COO doing hiring successfully I'd be more inclined to believe demonstrated mastery of the "position of intuitive mastery of the fundamentals" but if you were an executive you wouldn't be trying to get rich, you'd already be rich. So I think the implication that you've mastered hiring for talent is unfounded. Otherwise that could be your startup idea. I'm sure a lot of people would pay top dollar to a firm that could hire them the right person for the job.

upwards due to the intelligent logic like the critique of the pedigree lingo, the assessment of hiring practices from a psychometric point of view, as well as the concept of Fallacy of Sufficient Competition.

Your critiques don't read as a genius, they read as someone bitter about being gatekept out of a field. If I google "Fallacy of Sufficient Competition" I get 6 medium/substack articles, not the epitome of an original idea.

Aka, the poster is wrecking 115-125 IQ normies which is a robust sign of higher intelligence.

One, I seriously doubt anyone here is considered a normie. Two, I just realized you sound like this guy from slow horses. I couldn't find the clip where he talks about how much a genius he is but this is the general level of obnoxiousness, midwit behavior that you are engaging in: Roddy Ho. People who are smart don't feel the need to flex their IQ continuously. You would just give actually interesting arguments instead of name dropping references and getting triggered.

You have to be smart enough to do this yourself to appreciate it, though

Wow I really got hit with the rick and morty special unironically, maybe you are a troll lol.

More comments

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats