For the job I’m going to have next year, I had to take a computer skills test this week. There were ten questions, each one testing a random aspect of using computers.
Which is bigger: 100 TB or 100 GB? (100 TB)
How do you make button selections when there isn’t a mouse? (Alt + the underlined letter)
What is the path for Notepad? (It’s not in “Program Files,” it’s in system32\notepad.exe)
I figured out most of the questions, but I was still offended that it called itself an aptitude test.
“This isn’t a test of my aptitude,” I realized and thought to myself.
There’s a difference between achievement tests and aptitude tests.
Achievement tests are a measure of what you have done; aptitude tests are a measure of what you could do. School quizzes are based on achievement, for instance, while intelligence tests measure aptitude.
So this computer test claimed to figure out what my potential was for learning software.
Now, let’s say I never had to press a button without a mouse. Does that really mean that I’m less able to learn than somebody else?
The immediate answer is “no.”
Go home and practice navigating around your desktop using just the keyboard.
Then if you ever take this test, you’ll be sure to score higher than most people who haven’t read this article.
There, I just improved your computer intelligence.
As I started thinking, I came to a depressing realization: In society’s eyes, the older you get, the more achievement is aptitude.
If I haven’t investigated computers enough by now to have discovered the Alt trick, I’m probably never going to learn those kind of things.
On an academic level, ask yourself if you have the ability to get better grades.
“If I didn’t get wasted so much,” you say. Nope, society says, you’re wrong. Getting wasted every night is part of who you are. You haven’t gotten good grades, so you can’t.
If you think I’m exaggerating by calling it “society” that thinks this way, let’s look at one of the high-profile post-graduate programs on campus.
Teach for America markets itself as bringing equality to America by giving underachieving students better educational resources.
Of anyone, they’d be most open to the idea that aptitude doesn’t equal achievement, right?
On the teaching side, they are.
On the hiring side, they only want people who have “demonstrated ability.” That means that by the time you finish college, if you haven’t been a leader, they don’t think you’re able to.
It’s teaching aptitude they want, and they measure that by your achievement.
All the rhetoric about achievement gaps and not judging the underprivileged — well, it’s a different story when there are paychecks and program prestige on the line.
Better learn the skills of leading now, because if you wait for Teach for America, it’ll be too late to do anythin about it.
The difference between students and civilians is that we have potential. Civilians only do different versions of what they’ve already done.
Is this true? Not really. Einsteins who flunked out win prizes.
Computer whiz kids who grew up with Macs can’t find Notepad on my computer aptitude test.
Aptitude isn’t achievement, but get ready.
When you’re in your senior year looking for jobs it’s really hard to think otherwise.
Will Penman is an English senior. His columns appear every other week.
