Rational Agnostic
Well-Known Member
I am curious as to people's perceptions of which careers require the most intelligence. For instance, doctors and lawyers are assumed to be among the most intelligent members of society. Yet, in my humble opinion, while they are certainly vital and important careers, I believe that the intelligence of people in these fields is somewhat over-rated. In contrast to this, I believe that Computer Programmers are significantly more intelligent than doctors or lawyers, yet their intelligence seems to be largely under-rated by society. I want to be clear that I am not trying to put down doctors and/or lawyers. They are very important members of society, and I appreciate all of them. I am referring specifically to the level of intelligence required for the field. In this case, I feel that Programmers are rarely mentioned as being in the class of the intellectual elite, though they should be acknowledged as being among the more intelligent members of society, as the logical and systematic thinking required to be a professional Programmer greatly exceeds the level that is required to be a doctor or lawyer, or any of the professions traditionally recognized as being the professions of "smart people."