Nixy said:
Bish: I see where you're coming from and it's true...but I kinda think this discussion isn't so much actual street smarts and it is The ability to think on one's own and problem solve etc...versus people who can just spew facts from a book and can't thinkon their own...obviously one who can think on their own is a waste without books...but...what about people who can JUST spew memorized facts...how useful are they?
True enough...but the thread title was street-smarts and not wisdom per se. If we're talking about the inate ability towards problem solving, or the ability to look at problems sideways and upside-down in order to find a solution...then by all means, this is a useful skill.... ... but if we're talking just what people have learned off the street or in the home, then we're talking about socially-adapteable individuals. Social butterflies, if you will.
In either case, you need some amount of book-smarts. If you can thin your way around a problem, but don't have any 'knowledge' of the situation, then you may very well find a solution, but nowhere near as quickly as someone who had the book-knowledge easy at hand.
Example: It's mid-winter...it was about 40 below the night before, it's 27 below when you getup. You try to start your car, but it's dead...won't even turn over. So...you call a tow-truck and get a boost, it costs you $40, but you get to work on time. Street-smarts got you to work. A wee bit more street-smarts would've had you saving yourself $40 and a 45min wait for the truck, and you could've woken up a neighbor and gottena boost off of him/her.
Book-smarts...same problem. Your car won't start, you check but the lights weren't turned on all night...so the battery isn't drained. You remember your basic chemistry re: using acids and metal diodes to make electricity...and thus batteries. You recall that a large portion of a battery is water. You deduce that your battery is not drained, but merely frozen. You turn on the car's lights, knowing that the small flow of current that your battery is giving off is enough to light your headlights, and that the flow of electricity will begin defrosting your battery's water. After 2 minutes, your headlights are working at full strength, you place your key in the ignition and Voila...just like magic, your car starts. You've saved yourself $40, the 45 minute wait for a tow-truck, the embarrasment of waking up a neighbour for help and you're early for work.
Now...would someone who had no knowledge of battery-chemistry know to begin a current flowing through it to defrost it? Maybe...but only if someone told them. Myself, I see dozens of cars being boosted daily throughout winter... I've heard of records like "over 3500 cars boosted in Montreal today"...and I think to myself. That's a lot of money. Then I remember my chemistry and go out and start my car once more.
but dont worry I have had the same thing happen to me