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pluralToday I spent nearly an hour on the phone with customer service for my cell phone trying to fix a short list of things
I was bounced around quite a bit and got an opportunity to sample the customer service and relational skills of a broad section of their employees in a short enough time to reflect clear on each
For the most part they were all pleasant and reasonably competent for there job responsibilities
but I noticed in myself a particular response
with each new agent, all being kindly introduced by the previous agent, warm transfers are a beautiful things
[of course when your phone bill is $300 a month]
[they damn well better not put me on hold]
I quickly assessed the basic intellectual competency of the new individual, much like I do when meeting any individual, especially one with whom I must do business
What was surprising was the sudden sense of depression that I experienced when I realized that the incoming agent was not exactly the brightest bulb in the batch
I think I only noticed and even thought on it because there were no problems everything I needed got done
I didn't get a "goddamn freaking morons drive me crazy" story out of the experience
but still I felt this anxiety as if I was expecting the stupid bus to come crash my party and fuck everything up
because it was my expectation and because it did not happen that I stopped to think about it
Sure the last lady was a little slow on the uptake a little slow getting things done
it wasn't unreasonably slow but experience has bred in me an unreasonable fear of such people
now
human beings on a general spectrum vary greatly in intellect
some people have a surplus of intellect; think of them as intellectual millionaire
they have more intellect than they most likely will ever need
then you have your middle class; people with enough intellect to get by, with a comfortable margin of error
then you have your poor; the sorry sons of bitches who don't have two brain cells to rub together
now while this spectrum is quite wide the major of people tend to hover around the middle
and
because humans as social creatures
tend to surround themselves with people of similar intellectual capacity
we rarely notice the great diversity provided in the strata of human existence
now
a required mention is that except for the lowest 1% or 2%
every group has nearly unshakeable faith in their own intelligence
most people would not rate themselves as being complete dumb asses
[unfortunately most people are wrong]
but enclosed in their microcosm surrounded by people of relatively similar intellects, they are protected from this reality
now most of us live our lives in bliss interacting socially with people in a similar intellectual strata
and while we might admit there are people smarter than us, it is sort of a vague notion; "besides
they aren't really that much smarter"
[actually we are]
and every group takes enjoyment from mocking those lower on the intellectual ladder humoring themselves at the others stupidity
but only rarely do we actually have to interact with a person from a different class
when forced to deal with someone of a higher class people tend to minimize the differences to feel less inept or simply try to put the experience behind them. Alternately they may belittle the threat by assigning other unpleasant characteristics to said individual
hence the common terms
"brain"
"know it all"
etc
generally people do not talk and/or share broadly their experiences in which they were vastly outclassed intellectually people are generally fairly threatened by such events and do not choose to share them
this is remarkably different from experiences where people fail to use the most minimal amount of their own intellect resulting some bizarre or unfortunate circumstance, for in such cases they tend to ramble on and on beyond any real interest on the point of the listener, about whatever bonehead move they pulled.
such tales allow a person to share their mistakes and receive empathy but without threatening their perception of their intellectual status as they are the person recognizing their failure to use reason. This allows them to laugh about the situation.
however, should someone else illustrate their failure to use reason, the response is markedly different, specifically in that it is decidedly defensive and hostile.
When forced to deal with a person of a lower class, the response is similar in that it tends to create an opportunity for a story
"you are never going to believe the idiot ..."
such tales provide amusement at the expense of the less fortunate, as well as elevate the intellectual status of the speaker by illustrating that yet another person is below them on the intellectual food chain.
I was bounced around quite a bit and got an opportunity to sample the customer service and relational skills of a broad section of their employees in a short enough time to reflect clear on each
For the most part they were all pleasant and reasonably competent for there job responsibilities
but I noticed in myself a particular response
with each new agent, all being kindly introduced by the previous agent, warm transfers are a beautiful things
[of course when your phone bill is $300 a month]
[they damn well better not put me on hold]
I quickly assessed the basic intellectual competency of the new individual, much like I do when meeting any individual, especially one with whom I must do business
What was surprising was the sudden sense of depression that I experienced when I realized that the incoming agent was not exactly the brightest bulb in the batch
I think I only noticed and even thought on it because there were no problems everything I needed got done
I didn't get a "goddamn freaking morons drive me crazy" story out of the experience
but still I felt this anxiety as if I was expecting the stupid bus to come crash my party and fuck everything up
because it was my expectation and because it did not happen that I stopped to think about it
Sure the last lady was a little slow on the uptake a little slow getting things done
it wasn't unreasonably slow but experience has bred in me an unreasonable fear of such people
now
human beings on a general spectrum vary greatly in intellect
some people have a surplus of intellect; think of them as intellectual millionaire
they have more intellect than they most likely will ever need
then you have your middle class; people with enough intellect to get by, with a comfortable margin of error
then you have your poor; the sorry sons of bitches who don't have two brain cells to rub together
now while this spectrum is quite wide the major of people tend to hover around the middle
and
because humans as social creatures
tend to surround themselves with people of similar intellectual capacity
we rarely notice the great diversity provided in the strata of human existence
now
a required mention is that except for the lowest 1% or 2%
every group has nearly unshakeable faith in their own intelligence
most people would not rate themselves as being complete dumb asses
[unfortunately most people are wrong]
but enclosed in their microcosm surrounded by people of relatively similar intellects, they are protected from this reality
now most of us live our lives in bliss interacting socially with people in a similar intellectual strata
and while we might admit there are people smarter than us, it is sort of a vague notion; "besides
they aren't really that much smarter"
[actually we are]
and every group takes enjoyment from mocking those lower on the intellectual ladder humoring themselves at the others stupidity
but only rarely do we actually have to interact with a person from a different class
when forced to deal with someone of a higher class people tend to minimize the differences to feel less inept or simply try to put the experience behind them. Alternately they may belittle the threat by assigning other unpleasant characteristics to said individual
hence the common terms
"brain"
"know it all"
etc
generally people do not talk and/or share broadly their experiences in which they were vastly outclassed intellectually people are generally fairly threatened by such events and do not choose to share them
this is remarkably different from experiences where people fail to use the most minimal amount of their own intellect resulting some bizarre or unfortunate circumstance, for in such cases they tend to ramble on and on beyond any real interest on the point of the listener, about whatever bonehead move they pulled.
such tales allow a person to share their mistakes and receive empathy but without threatening their perception of their intellectual status as they are the person recognizing their failure to use reason. This allows them to laugh about the situation.
however, should someone else illustrate their failure to use reason, the response is markedly different, specifically in that it is decidedly defensive and hostile.
When forced to deal with a person of a lower class, the response is similar in that it tends to create an opportunity for a story
"you are never going to believe the idiot ..."
such tales provide amusement at the expense of the less fortunate, as well as elevate the intellectual status of the speaker by illustrating that yet another person is below them on the intellectual food chain.
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no subject
Date: 2003-11-06 03:23 am (UTC)BTW: I finally got around to digesting a post you made earlier about the number of mp3s you had at your disposal, and noticed there was a rather large discrepency between my own collection. Any plans on reciprocating?
no subject
Date: 2003-11-06 03:47 am (UTC)lemme figure a good way to do it
still dont really have my shit set up properly atm
no subject
Date: 2003-11-06 04:21 am (UTC)BTW, that fellow, art has another 20GB or so... I haven't checked out what exactly it is, but I'm guessing it is a little 'younger' and more popular as the fellow seems to really get into rap.
no subject
Date: 2003-11-06 04:33 am (UTC)just wait till I have finished downloading it
and then I will upload it to ya
no subject
Date: 2003-11-06 04:42 am (UTC)I think that server has a 20G hard drive, will that be enough?
no subject
Date: 2003-11-06 05:00 am (UTC)nope
just what I have sorted so far
which doesnt include at least half of your current stash is 25gb
I prolly have another 5 gb in unsorted files
plus however many I have yet to download from you
but I can break it up into smaller chunks to make it work
so dont worry about it
no subject
Date: 2003-11-06 09:22 am (UTC)I feel a little guilty though, if you want to send me a block to work on, I'm pretty sure I've figured out a good linux app to work on them.
no subject
Date: 2003-11-06 09:39 am (UTC)at this point I pretty much have the process automated
i just have to keep checking and moving stuff down the assembly line if you know what I mean
no subject
Date: 2003-11-06 09:25 am (UTC)