Are computer programmers smart?

[Josh Packer Waist]

So I am doing a study in my B.A. degree in psychology, and it seems many societies coin computer programmers, or any person who works with computers to be "smart" as opposed to those in more common job/work fields.

I'd like to know this from the programmer's perspective(i.e. Do YOU think you're smart just because you program).

I realize that just labeling one person as "intelligent" from one skill alone is a bad idea, but I'd like some insight here.

Does being a computer programmer, in your opinion, put you up there above the average population of people?

If so, why or why not, and for what reasons specifically? Thanks.

[devonrevenge]

This one is because he said so

[Oria]

I smell troll,

However, this should have all of your answers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_multiple_intelligences

[z05DSL3A]

Which comes first, being a computer programmer or being able to be a computer programmer?

Albert Einstein wrote:

It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.

[maeriden]

If I were smart I would have chosen a career with higher salary and less debugging. Or just less debugging, that's fine too.

[Dy7SLyTq]

if i were smart i would have all of the pokemon seasons on my hard drive... oh wait... ;). actually i would go so far as to say intelligence has nothing to do with it. more common sense and experience

[ResidentBiscuit]

Hey spoonlicker :)

[Dy7SLyTq]

wait this guy is spoon licker?

[firedraco]

FEMINIST!

[Oria]

wait this guy is spoon licker?

Our designated forum troll.

[Program Programmer]

I have to BE smart to actually program.
I'm the smartest one in my grade, and the ONLY one who can program stuff.

[cire]

I have to BE smart to actually program.
I'm the smartest one in my grade, and the ONLY one who can program stuff.

My first experience with Basic (on an Apple II GS) happened around the age of 7 or 8, and I was likely the only person in my gradeschool who knew how to program anything. There were smarter kids in my school -- I was the only one interested in programming anything.

So, while you're patting yourself on the back about your perceived superiority, perhaps you might consider that not everyone your age shares your interest, and that soon enough you'll learn you aren't as smart as you think you are -- as we all do.

[devonrevenge]

someone could make an iq test program, Kick ur arse spoonlicker :P

[BHX]

One doesn't dictate the other. Being a programmer doesn't necessarily mean you are smart.

[rapidcoder]

Only smart programmers are smart. :)

[S G H]

I'm doing good with programming, but cannot say when was America discovered from Europeans, or when Napoleone died, or where Poland is without looking in a map.

I think programming mostly takes logic and math skills in consideration.
Is google a skill?

[z05DSL3A]

Is google a skill?

No, it's a life style.

[Dy7SLyTq]

well, if you want to be technical, we are a cult.

[BHX]

Program Programmer wrote:

I have to BE smart to actually program.

Again, not really. With tutorials and programs like Dev-C++ or Code::Blocks that remove the user from the compilation process and lowering it to a matter of hitting a button all you need is a good memory. Google for what you are wanting to do and memorize the steps or put the code in a module and put it aside for later projects to tweak it.

[ResidentBiscuit]

There's a little more to programming than compiling... Not to mention there isn't a tutorial out there for everything. And like most people say, the actual act of programming isn't what's hard. It's the planning and making it all work together without issues.