Monday, July 18, 2011

A Dream of Swimming

I dreamed I was swimming last night in a pool. Observing me were many people, including some I recognized, such as my supervisor and the vice president at the last company I worked for. They criticized my swimming as being too slow. That stung me, because I had always wanted to please the higher-ups, but I kept swimming. My favorite style was the Frog, where one kicks behind and sweeps above, keeping the head underwater until the hands are parallel with the shoulders, at which point one emerges for a gulp of air. It is not the fastest style. Other swimmers were faster, and I endeavored not to get in their way.

I was never considered slow in any job-related capacity. Faster than expected was a more common impression. I think the dream concerns the need for speed in so many online games, at least at the higher levels of competition. Chess and Lexulous are both timed, and players complain about a ponderer like me. When I forget myself, I can look at a position for hours, trying to riddle out the perfect line. It comes from being a programmer. Of course no one is much concerned with perfection. They want a good quick game during their coffee break or whatever thin slice of leisure time they find in the hectic modern life.

I've been asked to take timed tests in college and more recently for the sake of employment. In those cases, I have little trouble, because the time allotments tend to be quite generous in my opinion. I do find it bizarre that a college degree no longer suffices, that a high GPA no longer suffices, and employers demand that an applicant complete an IQ test. By doing so, they betray a contempt of higher education. In one case, I received a request to complete an IQ test from someone I did not recognize. I wrote back, asking for information about the position being applied for. I think if I took a test without knowing the stakes, then that would be flunking another kind of IQ test, showing gullibility. I won't just take a test for anybody out of the blue. There needs to be something in it for me, a potential reward, such as a job. If the sender is not willing to offer me any identification, then that particular opportunity was simply not meant to be. Good riddance. I think IQ tests are a bit insulting, not to mention time-wasters, but then so are drug tests. What they test for is pliability, not intelligence. They want sheep that will do as told. Work on this hour-long test for free, please, and we will contact you if we feel that you're not a moron, even though you've already indicated it by taking the test.

I am slow, compared to some I've seen. But I think simple things are never simple. I think complexity gets hidden and poses a danger when one remains unaware of it. The longer one thinks about something, the more that becomes apparent. I find that my opinions evolve as I uncover more information. That is why I have often deleted posts on my blog. One must remain open to the possibility of an initial impression being mistaken.
by igor 04:20 4 replies by igor 09:32 0 comments

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