Quote:
Originally Posted by aflametotheground
Its not a pointless question just because you cant measure or quantify it. Thats not how we decide if something is pointless or not. On the other hand we actually do have a (imperfect) measure of intelligene, IQ. Its hard to have hard data on anything, far less data that is a perfect measure of something. IQ can be one indicator, abstractness of field is another (mathematics).
There you go, i just showed you a few ways we can talk about objective measures, it wasnt very hard.
The spirituality part of your post im not going address, probably doesnt interrest many ppl around here tbh.
On topic: there seems to be a number of sources (good or bad) that have physicists having a slightly higher iq than mathematicians on average. I actually thought it was the other way around.
Other than that, like i said there is loads of variance. I dont necessarily give a physicist much credit if i engage them in a discussion. PPl need to prove what they have, because so often they dont have much.
No, you
didn't provide objective measures of intelligence, so, yes, it remains hard.
OP asked a question that requires measurement to answer. But the question fails because we can't, without bias, define "top philosopher or top mathematician/physicist," or intelligence, or provide a fair measurement.
About the
bolded quote: First, I didn't say "spirituality," I said "philosophy/spirituality/understanding/whatever you want to call it" because the idea that you can really distinquish between those ideas is false. But then again, you can't really intelligently distinguish between philosophy and physics, either.
You can, however, unintelligently make such a distinction. No one can stop you.
Academics make such distinctions so they can have departments and classes. The distinctions have some usefulness. But don't be fooled by them.
And you might find, as you grow, that your need for such distinctions, as well as your fear of admitting that you have a spirituality, a philosophy, fades.
The most beautiful and most profound experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their primitive forms - this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousness.
( Albert Einstein - The Merging of Spirit and Science)
http://www.sacred-texts.com/aor/einstein/einsci.htm