Curiouser and Curiouser

Michael Press wrote:
People get pale with fear, purple with anger.

Donald Munro wrote:
So what colour do they get when they're horny ?

William Asher wrote:
Whatever's available.

Like an octopus.

Scott wrote:

First, I haven't taken a position on Vino's intelligence or his
potential as a DS. I merely asked as to how you arrived at your
position.

You'll have to forgive me. It appeared to me that you were simply taking pot
shots at Vino. If you aren't them I was mistaken.

As for the relative smarts required to be a DS, I would've thought the
smiley face would've tipped you off about the fact that I was joking
when I said they may not need to be all that smart.

It isn't clear to me what people mean when they say "smart". From watching
the way that Vino responded to questions in several languages I have a hunch
that he's extremely smart. But not politically inclined enough to keep
himself clean.

I don't particularly like the way that he seems to have acted, but I'm
always ready to give these guys a chance to prove me wrong.

On Aug 23, 8:33*pm, "Tom Kunich" cyclintom@yahoo. com wrote:
Scott wrote:

First, I haven't taken a position on Vino's intelligence or his
potential as a DS. *I merely asked as to how you arrived at your
position.

You'll have to forgive me. It appeared to me that you were simply taking pot
shots at Vino. If you aren't them I was mistaken.

As for the relative smarts required to be a DS, I would've thought the
smiley face would've tipped you off about the fact that I was joking
when I said they may not need to be all that smart.

It isn't clear to me what people mean when they say "smart". From watching
the way that Vino responded to questions in several languages I have a hunch
that he's extremely smart. But not politically inclined enough to keep
himself clean.

I don't particularly like the way that he seems to have acted, but I'm
always ready to give these guys a chance to prove me wrong.

If he learned multiple languages in the last decade or so, then I'd
agree he's probably pretty smart. If, like many eastern Europeans, he
learned multiple languages as a child, he could in fact be as dumb as
a post.

Le 8/24/2009 18:16, Scott a bien réfléchi et puis a déclaré:
On Aug 23, 8:33 pm, "Tom Kunich"cyclintom@yahoo. com wrote:

Scott wrote:


First, I haven't taken a position on Vino's intelligence or his
potential as a DS. I merely asked as to how you arrived at your
position.

You'll have to forgive me. It appeared to me that you were simply taking pot
shots at Vino. If you aren't them I was mistaken.


As for the relative smarts required to be a DS, I would've thought the
smiley face would've tipped you off about the fact that I was joking
when I said they may not need to be all that smart.

It isn't clear to me what people mean when they say "smart". From watching
the way that Vino responded to questions in several languages I have a hunch
that he's extremely smart. But not politically inclined enough to keep
himself clean.

I don't particularly like the way that he seems to have acted, but I'm
always ready to give these guys a chance to prove me wrong.

If he learned multiple languages in the last decade or so, then I'd
agree he's probably pretty smart. If, like many eastern Europeans, he
learned multiple languages as a child, he could in fact be as dumb as
a post.

If one were to take your expertise on East Europe (PS - Kazakhstan in in
Central Asia), you would know that the foreign language teaching is no
more than rudimentary, unless you choose to specialize in a related
profession.

More likely, Vino, a Russian ethnic, learned perfect Russian in the
mostly Russian city of Pavlodar (formerly Zelenograd - "green city"),
maybe a smidgen of Kazakh (it was not even an official language until
1998), but did pick up western European languages well enough to be
understood through a thick accent, while he lived and rode in that part
of the world, mostly in the last 15 years, since he moved to France.

So I guess you now know he's smart, just by your standards. Do you
measure up?
--
Sandy
Verneuil-sur-Seine FR
-
"Our knowledge is a little island in a great ocean of non-knowledge."
- Edward O. Wilson

On Aug 24, 4:51*pm, Sandy wrote:
Le 8/24/2009 18:16, Scott a bien réfléchi et puis a déclaré:



On Aug 23, 8:33 pm, "Tom Kunich"cyclintom@yahoo. com *wrote:

Scott wrote:

First, I haven't taken a position on Vino's intelligence or his
potential as a DS. *I merely asked as to how you arrived at your
position.

You'll have to forgive me. It appeared to me that you were simply taking pot
shots at Vino. If you aren't them I was mistaken.

As for the relative smarts required to be a DS, I would've thought the
smiley face would've tipped you off about the fact that I was joking
when I said they may not need to be all that smart.

It isn't clear to me what people mean when they say "smart". From watching
the way that Vino responded to questions in several languages I have a hunch
that he's extremely smart. But not politically inclined enough to keep
himself clean.

I don't particularly like the way that he seems to have acted, but I'm
always ready to give these guys a chance to prove me wrong.

If he learned multiple languages in the last decade or so, then I'd
agree he's probably pretty smart. *If, like many eastern Europeans, he
learned multiple languages as a child, he could in fact be as dumb as
a post.

If one were to take your expertise on East Europe (PS - Kazakhstan in in
Central Asia), you would know that the foreign language teaching is no
more than rudimentary, unless you choose to specialize in a related
profession.

More likely, Vino, a Russian ethnic, learned perfect Russian in the
mostly Russian city of Pavlodar (formerly Zelenograd - "green city"),
maybe a smidgen of Kazakh (it was not even an official language until
1998), but did pick up western European languages well enough to be
understood through a thick accent, while he lived and rode in that part
of the world, mostly in the last 15 years, since he moved to France.

So I guess you now know he's smart, just by your standards. *Do you
measure up?
--
Sandy
Verneuil-sur-Seine FR
-
"Our knowledge is a little island in a great ocean of non-knowledge."
- Edward O. Wilson- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Wow, you're pretty smart.

To be honest, I hadn't given any particular thought to where
Kazakhstan is. I had forgotten that the USSR stretched across two
continents. But then again, I didn't say he was eastern European, I
said if he was like many eastern Europeans. If you or I had learned
many languages as a child, we too could be like many eastern
Europeans. How's that for weasling??

To your last point, if the sole determinant of smarts was how many
languages someone had learned as an adult, then I'd say most people
aren't very smart as most people don't learn multiple languages as an
adult. If, however, we use the number of languages learned as an
adult as one possible determinant of smarts, then many more people may
be considered smart, given that the ability to learn a new language as
an adult requires a certain type of intelligence. It is also quite
possible that Vino, and many others, who've learned languages late in
life, have a knack for languages but may find themselves completely
stumped by tasks requiring other types of intelligence. On the other
hand, we often hear of pro cyclists picking up the language of
whatever country the live in for the bulk of their season, and if my
hunch is correct lots of folks here on RBR don't think the typical pro
cyclist is all that smart.

As for me, by the learned languages standard, I'm not that smart. If
we break it down to having the aptitude to learn languages, then maybe
I'm a bit smarter. I have been tested for language aptitude some
years ago and scored very highly, but didn't pursue it. I openly
recognize that I 'should' be able to speak more languages than English
and Southern. Like many Americans, I didn't learn any additional
language skills beyond how to order a beer or to declare the
yellowness of my pencil. Oh, I can butcher a phrase which roughly
translates to "I don't speak Russian" after three semesters of Russian
as an undergrad a long time ago. FWIW, the professor, a Hungarian,
spoke somewhere on the order of six or seven languages, all fluently
except English. He admitted that he didn't learn English until his
early twenties and it was very difficult for him. The others were
learned before the age of seven and it was if he just learned one
really big, all encompassing language.

In article ,
Scott wrote:

To your last point, if the sole determinant of smarts was how many
languages someone had learned as an adult, then I'd say most people
aren't very smart as most people don't learn multiple languages as an
adult.

Learning and speaking another language is a skill but I don't think it's
indicative of anything other than the ability to learn a language. A person's
expertise in one skill set or another doesn't correlate to expertise in another area.
Someone can be a great pianist but suck ass at tuning one, for example. So I think
someone being able to speak multiple languages is no indication at all about their
possible suitability as a DS. They're different skill sets.

--
tanx,
Howard

Caught playing safe
It's a bored game

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

On Aug 24, 8:21*pm, Howard Kveck wrote:
In article ,

*Scott wrote:
To your last point, if the sole determinant of smarts was how many
languages someone had learned as an adult, then I'd say most people
aren't very smart as most people don't learn multiple languages as an
adult.

* *Learning and speaking another language is a skill but I don't think it's
indicative of anything other than the ability to learn a language. A person's
expertise in one skill set or another doesn't correlate to expertise in another area.
Someone can be a great pianist but suck ass at tuning one, for example. So I think
someone being able to speak multiple languages is no indication at all about their
possible suitability as a DS. They're different skill sets.

--
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * tanx,
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Howard

* * * * * * * * * * * * *Caught playing safe
* * * * * * * * * * * * * It's a bored game

* * * * * * * * * * *remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

The ability to learn a language (spoken, written, whatever) is indeed
a form of intelligence and not just a 'skill'. It's all about the
ability to memorize and recognize patterns and the rules that govern
them.

We agree, absolutely, that the ability to speak multiple languages
does not necessarily correlate to suitability to be a DS.

In article ,
Scott wrote:

On Aug 24, 8:21*pm, Howard Kveck wrote:
In article
,

*Scott wrote:
To your last point, if the sole determinant of smarts was how many
languages someone had learned as an adult, then I'd say most people
aren't very smart as most people don't learn multiple languages as an
adult.

* *Learning and speaking another language is a skill but I don't think it's
indicative of anything other than the ability to learn a language. A person's
expertise in one skill set or another doesn't correlate to expertise in another
area. Someone can be a great pianist but suck ass at tuning one, for example.
So I think someone being able to speak multiple languages is no indication
at all about their possible suitability as a DS. They're different skill sets.

The ability to learn a language (spoken, written, whatever) is indeed
a form of intelligence and not just a 'skill'. It's all about the
ability to memorize and recognize patterns and the rules that govern
them.

Reading what I wrote, I wasn't as clear as I should have been. I wasn't trying to
say that learning or speaking other languages is merely a skill. The term "skill set"
is something I learned to mean something like this: an ability you have
(intellectual, physical, etc) in a particular area (such as languages, math,
composing music or playing an instrument). Is that somewhat more clear?

We agree, absolutely, that the ability to speak multiple languages
does not necessarily correlate to suitability to be a DS.

Yep.

--
tanx,
Howard

Caught playing safe
It's a bored game

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

Scott wrote:
We agree, absolutely, that the ability to speak multiple languages
does not necessarily correlate to suitability to be a DS.

All you need is the ability to shout Venga in a Spanish, French and
Italian.