Quote:
Originally Posted by Crakkerjakk
I am a week from graduating with a mechanical engineering degree. It required years of training. I chose a mechanical engineering degree because it is (generally) a guaranteed respectably sized paycheck, although it is possible I might have been able to make more if I started up my own company or managed to become a sports super-star or something. I believe myself to be reasonably intelligent, and can perform math that 90% of the US population regards as magic. People of my level of intelligence and prediliction towards math and science are a rarity in the general population, yet more than 40 people will graduate with me this year.
When I graduate, I plan on trying to get a job in government because they have good benefits, it's a structured work environment, they offer some of the best starting pay in the industry, and because working for the benefit of my nation gives me a warm and fuzzy.
How am I any different than someone with Magery?
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Think of all the things you could do with your abilities that you choose not to because it's tedious, strenuous, or beneath your ambitions. Think of someone with similar capabilities to you who is capable of engineering some of the most valuable technology available in the world today. Would they be working at your job?
Assuming you have five years of training in mechanical engineering, let's say you have 4 points in your primary skill and an IQ of 12. Two things I can immediately observe. First of all, the hypothetical mage we are talking about has spent as much on spell prerequisites as you have on your entire field of study. Second, you are smarter than 75% of people with Magery. Unless we assume Magery is linked to intelligence, more than half of all people with Magery will be unsuitable to become professional metal-conjurers by dint of their lack of intelligence.
Imagine a job that required someone of your intelligence, who required three times as much training, and who also had to have naturally perfect musical pitch. That's the kind of person we are talking about.