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by ManBlanket 1622 days ago
Your point is totally valid, most high end careers are overtly hostile toward raising a family. I think it's a different tangentially related issue than that of this study. There's a difference between intelligent and ambitious individuals. Granted there's a certain intelligence filter in the capacity for a student to memorize and temporarily retain information, completing a medical residence is much more an act of attrition and perseverance than critical thinking. The tests administered in this study were puzzles like letter matrices and verbal analogies. I'm sure anybody can come up with plenty of anecdotes to the contrary. Under achievers who might smash these logical puzzles but bother with hardly more than what they need to tow the career line. Personally, I studied math and computer science, some of the cleverest people I know were pure math majors. Needless to say, most of which ended up on a different career path. On the other hand I known doctors and executives who, to put it nicely, lack a little spice when it comes to critical thinking. Career accolades have much more to do with a person's capacity to persevere and their priorities in life than with their intelligence.

That said I totally agree with your contention that careers need to be more accommodating of human behavior. The cynic in me has little hope anything of this nature will come from capitalist entities or governments. That said the optimist knows these societal constructs are composed of human beings, and are therefore capable of learning and improving.