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Comment by jwingy | Hacker News Reader

As a guy, and a geek, I definitely find intelligence highly attractive (and I think most of you would agree with me). Since geeks will eventually inherit the earth, wouldn't it be advantageous to start teaching our women how they can get ahead on this curve by flaunting their intelligence? :)

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As a guy, this type of thinking once again puts the value on women as 'attractiveness'. Why isn't intelligence good for its own sake?

I never said intelligence wasn't good for its own sake, nor was I trying to imply a woman's worth is only in her level of attractiveness. Certainly in a ideal world we would all aspire to goals without concern for outside opinion, but alas we don't live in a vacuum.

Well if you start doing that, you would spark off a new debate.

"Don't tell girls how intelligent they are".

Because then the very analogical argument will be used to say - telling girls they are intelligent is making them under perform in other areas.

In short, if you are not ready work hard and do something on yourself by your work alone. There are plenty of reasons you can use to justify what you are.

In fact, you should not tell anyone how intelligent they are. Not because it makes them underperform in other areas, but because it makes them underperform in that area exactly by failing to teach them that it's hard work that matters.

See e.g. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-secret-...

So, now I fail to understand what people are after. You praise someone for something, it becomes a problem. You don't then its a different problem. You criticize, you get noted for being rude and discouraging.

The key here is to take what is good and beneficial out of a talk and just move on.

Else each social persuasion and thought can ruin your life everytime one hears some one speaking.

So, now I fail to understand what people are after.

The mindset stuff is a scientific result, it's not "after" anything.

Maybe you think you are so strong-willed and independent that you are immune to this effect, but however dumb you feel it is, the majority of people (and kids especially) apparently are not.

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