OF NERDHOOD AND GEEKDOM While a glance at a bell-shaped curve suffices to remind one that the most literate or intelligent 2% is less successful than the 3% known as morons, idiots and imbeciles, and a second glance reaffirms that the opinions of the brightest half of a committee tend to be neutralized by the half that is the most dim-witted; only time will tell whether either of these rules will be found particularly useful at a Mensan board meeting. We can speculate however, that those best able to afford a few books are among the least able to read them and those best able to read a few books are among the least able to afford them.
Similar problems are experienced in the world of computers, in that those best able to afford them are among the least able to program them and those best able to program them are among the least able to afford them. In offices and factories all over the planet, the cream rises to the top, bubbles rise to the surface of vats and Mensan level ditch diggers, truck drivers and pencil pushers frequently emerge from obscurity to read or possibly translate computer manuals, program the payroll and print the budget on desktops and mainframes formerly considered impervious to logic and reason. Committees of mouthy half-witted corporate executives will then retreat behind closed doors to analyze the chances of having an alphabetically sorted list of employees simultaneously sorted by employee number, by workstation and hire-date complete with rainbow colored pie charts.
The plot is fairly predictable. Computer generated reports and graphs proliferate for a spell and the newfoundprogrammer finds her/himself in demand but probably earning about as much as ditch diggers, truck drivers and pencil pushers. Nirvana may last as long as ten years but the bridge is out, ahead, however. The pressure of balancing three plates on one's knees, twirling five rings from each foot while explaining incessantly why the output from version 3.16b cannot be read by version 4.26gx can be intense, particularly on paydays if the managing committee gives everyone a raise of 4.3976% and a brand new purple fly swatter, 15 minutes after the cheques have been printed.
As time moves on, everyone becomes a computer user. Programs, after all can created to the preferences of - - wait for it - - committees. What sells, of course, does not always make sense and what makes sense does not always sell. Now we have university students typing essays on equipment designed for the 4th grade elementary school students. They cuss and they swear. They can be heard all over the office. "They" have no clue as to how it was done. "They" don't even know that it was done. The answer my friend is blowing in the wind. The question is also blowing in the wind. First we need to consider the question. "How does one program a word processor for the fourth grade?"
At this point we back track to the fundamentals. For example, not only are the literate not very successful; the successful are not very literate. Now then, is the answer you are looking for, or even the question, thought useless by a committee?
For a free color postcard of the bell-shaped curve send mailing address to George Noviss (http://www.gnoviss.com).


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