Genius cleans windows for a living.

[Famine]

Generally, the smarter you are, the less likely you are to want to work for someone else. I imagine it's a real pain having to answer to someone dumber than you (when it's actually true).

It worked so well for Einstein that he became the first pop star of physics. Strange old world, isn't it?

 

[Timppaq]

Still a job to be done, even if for yourself 👍

Generally I'd say, the smarter you are, you're just that much closer to doing what you want to do for a living. Regardless if it's for yourself or for somebody else - that's beside the point imo.

 

[Famine]

There's also the point about ambition too.

If you do a job you enjoy for someone else, do you want to be promoted up? You get more money (smart), but the higher you go the more stress there is and the less time you spend doing the job (not so smart). Or do you stay doing the job because you enjoy it (smart), while other people get promoted around you - people who are perhaps less smart and enjoy the job less (not so smart)?

Being self-employed means being your own boss (smart), but also that everything stops at you - ultrastress (not so smart). Being a "home maker" alleviates a lot of workplace stress (smart), but you're beholden to others for income (not so smart). Of course, you could try doing a bit of everything over the years and see what works (or not) for you.

I wouldn't be surprised to find truly smart people doing just about any job (or none). Except prime minister. Guy who can do IQ tests cleans windows. Meh.


Apropos of nothing, I enjoy a nice, clean window too and I find cleaning them therapeutic. I've also been lasciviously eyeing these recently...

 

[Timppaq]

There are plenty of examples of jobs that can't be done working for yourself, but I would imagine many would be dreaming of doing. So working to yourself doesn't let you choose any work in the world. Doing a job you want, be it for yourself or for others does. Then you just choose what you'd like to do (and under what conditions) and go after it with the advantages that the 'smartess' gives you. Surely word genious or smart can't tell you everything about the said person so those other things are the other factors affecting while choosing a job. There are different kind of smart & genious people with different values, generally (I'd say) more often found to be doing a work they like, than working for themselves.

 

[Famine]

There are plenty of examples of jobs that can't be done working for yourself, but I would imagine many would be dreaming of doing. So working to yourself doesn't let you choose any work in the world. Doing a job you want, be it for yourself or for others does.

Indeed - someone with a genius-level IQ could be found doing practically anything.

Though IQ alone means little, as discussed earlier.

 

[Timppaq]

Even clean windows 👍

 

[Famine]

Or raising kids. Hence "anything".

If only we were all so happy with our roles as the window cleaner.

 

[Timppaq]

Many people raise kids for a living. It must be a tough job and doesn't pay really well in money I hear but more in other ways. So you have to do some sacrifices in money involving things I'd guess. But if that's what a smart guy wants to do for a living, that's what a smart guy does then. Somebody needs to do that job as well, and the smarter the people raising other peoples kids all the better for the parents and the kids and for everybody really. 👍

 

[AlexGTV]

He isn't so smart after all. A guy I know works civil worker in the morning and buzuki player some nights a week and bought a brand new X5 recently. Add to that, that playing music is not a "job" at all if you're experienced as that guy and that as a civil worker he has specific, routine, duties.

 

[homeforsummer]

I can imagine intelligent people washing windows and loving it. There's a kind of zen to repetitive, brainless work that allows you to use the rest of your mental capacity for other things.

Tell me about it. My last job was hugely repetitive, but unfortunately not brainless enough that I could devote my time to simply thinking about stuff. As a result it was the worst job I've ever done, as it wasn't engaging enough to occupy my mind but not brainless enough that I could do it without thinking. It's the first - and only - job I've ever done that I'm happy to admit I wasn't that good at.

I do envy people who do simple, outdoorsy-type jobs, like window cleaners or tree surgeons. Hell, they're almost certainly earning more than I do and they don't have to put up with the sort of a-holes who comment on my articles Not that I'm complaining about my job though...

 

[Famine]

I've had a surprisingly wide range of jobs - some on a temping basis - some of which would literally destroy a man's soul. I worked in a printer's factory for about two weeks and it was like nothing you can possibly imagine. There'd been people working there for TWENTY YEARS. They simply didn't have the nous or imagination - they weren't necessarily unintelligent or stupid - to want to change their existence and do something else.

It was like essence of depression. And not actually the worst job I've had.

 

[Dennisch]

I worked in a factory making sauces and soups, in powder form. I was surrounded by really dumb people. 2 weeks into the job I could "read" the machine I was working on, and 3 weeks into the job I broke all the producing records. In my shift, the machine poured out the amount of powder in 5 days, what normally would take 6,5 days. So it wasn't strange I was the highest paid temp worker they ever had.

 

[AlexGTV]

A premium worker eh?

 

[Famine]

Does that mean he has an interior view?

 

[AlexGTV]

Ordinary factory worker

Dennisch

 

[Dennisch]

👍

You chose the right car for me.

 

[Liquid]

And not actually the worst job I've had.

Dare we ask what was?

 

[AOS-]

I've had a surprisingly wide range of jobs - some on a temping basis - some of which would literally destroy a man's soul. I worked in a printer's factory for about two weeks and it was like nothing you can possibly imagine. There'd been people working there for TWENTY YEARS.

My parents have been working in a printing factory for over 25 years, would have kept going if the Company President didn't retire about 2-3 years ago.

 

[niky]

I imagine it's a real pain having to answer to someone dumber than you (when it's actually true).

Not that I'm complaining about my job though...

It's difficult writing for an editor whose English isn't as good as yours, but it gets easier if they recognize your ability and defer to you. On the other hand, I've found that when I don't agree with editorial direction, it's easier to just not think about it... Not My Problem.

For my official work, on the other hand... dealing with people who don't listen to you because they have more "experience" or "credentials" can be downright maddening.

That's also why I stopped going to my first MBA course after the first two weeks. Wasn't learning anything new.

 

[Famine]

My parents have been working in a printing factory for over 25 years, would have kept going if the Company President didn't retire about 2-3 years ago.

I'm sure there's some thrilling jobs there - the guy with the forklift certainly enjoyed his time there - but the grunt job I was doing wasn't even a step up from being tied to a rock for eternity and having an eagle peck out your liver.

Dare we ask what was?

I'm not sure. I was thinking about it last night - I thought about the worst job I'd ever done and then another one sprang to mind... The worst time I ever had involved being in a store room in the summer with no windows and no aircon and a looped tape of about four songs, one of which was "Get Ur Freak On".


I think it might have been when I did a day at "a well known parcel delivery firm". That wasn't bad in terms of the job - Initially I did a bit of admin work (about 6 hours of it in 90 minutes), data entry and scheduling for local deliveries, inter city deliveries and national deliveries - it was bad in terms of just what they did. I'd always had issues with this particular firm as a customer, I'd just never made the link.

Suffice to say that everything you've heard about how this firm (and probably others) treats your parcels is true. And there's more besides.

 

[homeforsummer]

There'd been people working there for TWENTY YEARS. They simply didn't have the nous or imagination - they weren't necessarily unintelligent or stupid - to want to change their existence and do something else.

Yup, familiar with that. The woman sitting across from me in the aforementioned job was in her early forties. Honestly - she looked a lot older. Find out why in the next sentence...

...She'd been working there - doing the same job - since she left school at 16. Quarter of a century doing essentially, a data entry job. Though of course, when she started it was all still paper-based.

I was going insane after little more than six months there. After 25 years I'd be running out of places to hide the bodies.

It's difficult writing for an editor whose English isn't as good as yours, but it gets easier if they recognize your ability and defer to you.

I concur. I've had to correct mistakes made by my editor when he's edited my stuff. On the UK site anyway, my US editors are excellent.

I'm sure there's some thrilling jobs there - the guy with the forklift certainly enjoyed his time there - but the grunt job I was doing wasn't even a step up from being tied to a rock for eternity and having an eagle peck out your liver.

The worst time I ever had involved being in a store room in the summer with no windows and no aircon and a looped tape of about four songs, one of which was "Get Ur Freak On".

Funnily enough, one of the better jobs I've had - in fact, two of the better jobs I've had - both involved working in stockrooms. Neither had aircon, though both had access to windows, so it wasn't terrible. I did have to put up with Chris Moyles every damn morning though.

Mainly I enjoyed them because I quite like good, honest manual labour-type jobs. In the electronics-shop-that-isn't-quite-Asteroid I got in early, helped the delivery driver unload stock from the lorry, and spent the rest of the day (until 3pm - I got in at 7am) putting stuff away, and occasionally helping customers put stuff into their too-small cars.

As a nice byproduct of that job, it also meant I spent 8 hours of the day for a year or so essentially getting exercise. My subsequent jobs have all involved a lot of sitting on my backside, and my fitness has gone downhill as a result.

Part of me regrets leaving that job, as all I did instead was did a journalism degree that I've thus far not used, because I got into journalism via my own route. I spent a lot of time doing actual journalism rather than work for the journalism degree...

Moral of the story - be absolutely sure you need a degree before you get one.

 

[Shaun]

There'd been people working there for TWENTY YEARS. They simply didn't have the nous or imagination - they weren't necessarily unintelligent or stupid - to want to change their existence and do something else.

Some people get stuck in a rut and some are happy enough doing what they do.
We had a guy at our work who only a few months ago retired after 49 years of service. He drove cranes and a forklift, sure they are simple tasks but he was happy doing it.
He came to Australia from Greece when he was 24, so by working to the age of 73 (well above the retirement age of 65 here) just goes to prove he enjoyed coming to work as he wasn't short of money.

As per tradition at our work when a well liked employee leaves we have a whip around. Over the years alot of really nice guys have left but the amount of money that everyone chipped in for him was incredible. He was a true gentleman in the purest sense that not one of the thousands af people who worked with him over his time would honestly have had a bad word for him.

One his last day the company put on a lunch for all employees, around 200 odd so we could wish him well. During the speeches there was hardly a dry eye in the house of a workforce which is made up of pretty much all men (alot of who are of your hard type).

Really it's amazing the bond that can be made with just "workmates" over a long period of time and I can understand how some people find hard to leave.

Cheers Shaun.