North Atlantic rescue off Delaware coast

[dlochner]

It might have to do with the fact that educated people recognize that there a whole lot of really smart people out there who did not attend college, etc. Only about 30% of adults in the USA have college degrees (4 year). More than twice that many would fall within one standard deviation (+/-) of the mean of a Gaussian distribution. As with all quantitative genetic traits IQ, or intelligence, displays a Gaussian distribution in all human societies. A true measure of intelligence does not require the verbal or written answering of questions, IMO. Scientists can effectively measure the intelligence of animals, and so forth. Maybe your teachers were of “average IQ” even if scoring disproportionately high on the standard test.

Although admittedly, only about 2% of adults in the USA have a Ph.D., which “theoretically” could put them beyond 2 standard deviations on the high side of the mean IQ. So, they’d be smart if those proportions coincided.

For those of us who spend (spent) our days working with IQ tests, the average range was considered to be the middle 50% of the scores earned on those tests. There is also no universally accepted definition of intelligence. Responding somewhat sarcastically when asked what intelligence was some would answer "Intelligence is what the Wechsler tests measure." The point here is not to debate or opine on the nuances of cognitive assessment and the correlation of scores with real life outcomes.

The point I was making is about judgement, whether about risk or skills, humans are pretty poor at it. Tying back to the sailors, lower skilled individuals tend to over estimate their abilities. I would not be surprised to learn that the sailors in question, if tested would be relatively low skilled sailors and low skilled weather forecasters. Over estimating one's ability can put one into difficult situations which could be life threatening.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

hanging around a fuel dock or a boat ramp might show some insight.

Can IQ have a negative value ?

 

[dlochner]

Can IQ have a negative value ?

No. IQ scores are deviation scores, or how far the score is from the mean.

 

[jssailem]

Almost to a one they rated themselves as having average IQs and a few said they were below average.

Wasn’t the IQ test one of the early requirements in the teaching professional studies. I suspect their rating may have been discussed during the class on IQ’s and testing your students.

Or not.

 

[dlochner]

Wasn’t the IQ test one of the early requirements in the teaching professional studies. I suspect their rating may have been discussed during the class on IQ’s and testing your students.

Or not.

IQ tests, to my knowledge, have never been used to screen teachers. IQ testing began in the Paris school system around 1900. Alfred Binet was tasked with identifying which students were in need of specialized instruction, meaning which students had cognitive abilities well below average. Later in WWII the US military used them to separate identify which troops would be more useful as infantry and which would be better suited for more intellectually demanding jobs.

FWIW, in the professional world of psychology, IQ is an archaic term that is not widely used, though it remains in common use in popular culture.

 

[All U Get]

So just balancing the curve for us really smart sailors, eh?

 

[Scott T-Bird]

I suspect the rescued sailors over rated their sailing skills which lead them to make a risky decision. Throw that in with a common belief that NOAA weather reports are inaccurate, and you have the beginnings of a really bad sequence of events. Add to the mix some pressure to reach a destination and the decision making becomes even more impaired.

All talk of judgement and risk aside, I'll speculate that their decision to round Cape Hatteras was based purely on hubris and a desire for adventure that led them to tempt Neptune with the rounding of Cape Hatteras in winter just to be able to say that they "did it". There could be no logic in attempting to perform this based on scheduling or any other pragmatic matter.

The stated goal was to reach Morehead City from their position, which must have been Roanoke Island. You can't argue that the shorter and/or quicker route would be rounding Cape Hatteras, when it is actually the inland route that would be most expedient. As has already been discussed, in absolute terms, based on wind and currents, there is no "favorable" condition for rounding the cape. In relative terms, perhaps a dead calm is the only favorable condition, so that one could motor in relative comfort. Good luck with that in the winter.

I'd even say that you can't argue that the roundabout way could be quicker because it would be done non-stop, because I'll counter that one can easily make the inland route non-stop by sailing the relatively open waters of Pamlico Sound and Neuse River while timing the canal to Morehead City in daylight.

There was no sense or logic or even any risk assessment in making this trip. The decision could have only been made based on the irrational desire to "do it".

 

[Davidasailor26]

All talk of judgement and risk aside, I'll speculate that their decision to round Cape Hatteras was based purely on hubris and a desire for adventure that led them to tempt Neptune with the rounding of Cape Hatteras in winter just to be able to say that they "did it". There could be no logic in attempting to perform this based on scheduling or any other pragmatic matter.

The stated goal was to reach Morehead City from their position, which must have been Roanoke Island. You can't argue that the shorter and/or quicker route would be rounding Cape Hatteras, when it is actually the inland route that would be most expedient. As has already been discussed, in absolute terms, based on wind and currents, there is no "favorable" condition for rounding the cape. In relative terms, perhaps a dead calm is the only favorable condition, so that one could motor in relative comfort. Good luck with that in the winter.

I'd even say that you can't argue that the roundabout way could be quicker because it would be done non-stop, because I'll counter that one can easily make the inland route non-stop by sailing the relatively open waters of Pamlico Sound and Neuse River while timing the canal to Morehead City in daylight.

There was no sense or logic or even any risk assessment in making this trip. The decision could have only been made based on the irrational desire to "do it".

Though not necessarily shorter in mileage the outside route could be faster in time. They might have considered nighttime travel on that part of the ICW too challenging or risky, as many do. That makes the outside route faster if you go nonstop. Especially this time of year when daylight is short, that’s a lot more miles per day.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Though not necessarily shorter in mileage the outside route could be faster in time. They might have considered nighttime travel on that part of the ICW too challenging or risky, as many do. That makes the outside route faster if you go nonstop. Especially this time of year when daylight is short, that’s a lot more miles per day.

That was my point though ... traversing Pamlico Sound and Neuse River wouldn't be prohibitive in the dark. They are wide open and not confined to channels. Just time it so the canal section is in daylight. It's 20 hours non-stop at most. Leave Roanoke Island late afternoon and the final leg in the canal is in light of day. There is no reason to avoid night travel in the sounds. Going around Cape Hatteras is 36 to 48 hours minimum for that boat against current.