Do violent criminals have the capacity to be intellectuals?

**Posts:** 4 · by **SincereAnimal107** » Sun Mar 21, 2021 1:44 pm

Poker has been said to make you a genius in STEM fields like Math, Science, Problem Solving, and Logic due to Poker having a basis on Probability, Game Theory, and Psychology. Does this mean that gangsters, mobsters, and violent career criminals have the potential to become geniuses in STEM fields such as geometry, astronomy, physics, chemistry, astrophysics, engineering, robotics, and computer programming due to Poker being their favorite game in Casinos?

I know this question may sound silly to many of you because it's kinda contrary to the stereotype of violent alpha male macho criminal thugs being dumb, lazy, uneducated idiots but I swear to you guys and to God that this question is very sincere. I just desperately want an answer and I am very curious.

So what do you think? Do gangsters, drug lords, street thugs, and violent mobsters have the potential to be intellectual geniuses in STEM fields better than the average civilian due to them being so competitive and so good at playing Poker? I heard they already play Poker when they were still 13 year olds due to them being rebels against conventions. Do you think the Italian Mafia, the Yakuza, the Triads, the Latin American Drug Cartels, the Crips, the Bloods, the Barrio Azteca gangs, the Aryan Brotherhood, and the MS-13 have the potential to be geniuses in STEM fields better than the average civilian if they put an effort to Mathematics, Science, Problem Solving, and Logic?

Please don't flag or downvote my question. Please be open minded. I am just sincerely curious and I want to know how accurate is the stereotype of violent lawless alpha male macho criminal thugs being stupid dumb uneducated lazy idiots.

**Posts:** 12131 · by **Richard@DecisionSkills** » Sun Mar 21, 2021 1:49 pm

SincereAnimal107 wrote:Poker has been said to make you a genius in STEM fields

Let's just start with this...

-1- Who do you think said this?
-2- What evidence did they provide that shows poker makes a person a genius in STEM fields?

**Posts:** 4 · by **SincereAnimal107** » Sun Mar 21, 2021 2:56 pm

Richard@DecisionSkills wrote:
SincereAnimal107 wrote:Poker has been said to make you a genius in STEM fields

Let's just start with this...

-1- Who do you think said this?
-2- What evidence did they provide that shows poker makes a person a genius in STEM fields?

According to Wikipedia about Game Theory:

"Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interaction among rational decision-makers.[1] It has applications in all fields of social science, as well as in logic, systems science and computer science."

According to Wikipedia about Poker:

"With the exception of initial forced bets, money is only placed into the pot voluntarily by a player who either believes the bet has positive expected value or who is trying to bluff other players for various strategic reasons. Thus, while the outcome of any particular hand significantly involves chance, the long-run expectations of the players are determined by their actions chosen on the basis of probability, psychology, and game theory."

Seriously, search up Wikipedia about these two topics and you will see these paragraphs.

So what do you think?

**Posts:** 12131 · by **Richard@DecisionSkills** » Sun Mar 21, 2021 5:13 pm

Poker -> actions can include game theory.

Can include game theory does not mean that a poker player does use game theory. And it is important to note "long-run expectations". This means, over thousands of hands of poker, a person that does use game theory will do better than someone that does not use game theory.

Playing poker does not teach a person game theory.

Actions can also include probability and psychology. Does that mean you believe that people that play poker are made into geniuses in psychology?

Here is another way to think about your question. Why do schools not just have all the children play poker? Then, according to your logic, all these children would become geniuses at probability, psychology, and game theory and this would make them geniuses in STEM.

Do you see anything wrong with my logic?

**Posts:** 3015 · by **tokeless** » Sun Mar 21, 2021 6:41 pm

I'm sensing two things here. Firstly, you believe what you think to be true, so any attempt to disprove it will be met by resistance, because you are quite certain you are correct in your belief.
Secondly, wikipedia, whilst being a decent resource but it needs backing up with references or it's just "What I know is" and no more than that. I know of some major criminals who have high IQ's and are very intelligent, but what they know is what's relevant to them. I knew a heroin addict who would convert a cash amount in to the amount of drugs, in weight he could buy with it.... he wasn't really smart at math, just how to score drugs with what he had available to him.

**Posts:** 105 · by **bawdyheated** » Mon Mar 22, 2021 1:05 pm

I think they could be, anybody can. It is what they choose to do that separates them from others.

**Posts:** 12131 · by **Richard@DecisionSkills** » Mon Mar 22, 2021 1:20 pm

bawdyheated wrote:I think they could be, anybody can.

Agreed. A violent criminal can also be an intellectual.

But it is not because they play poker. That is flawed logic.

**Posts:** 39 · by **romanrusso** » Tue Mar 30, 2021 10:05 am

Anyone can become a genius and pursuit the above mentioned fields. However, they would need to want to do it themselves, and i don't think that most gangsters, etc will want to make this transition.

Do violent criminals have the capacity to be intellectuals?

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