Congratulations! This is a great achievement at his age. Maybe a Fields medal next?
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Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes
131–140 of 264 posts
Re: Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes
#132I knew a guy in high school that carried around a sub-compact notebook and one day in science class we were learning about how to factor quadratic equations (a review of old math we should know) and this guy was not paying attention at all, just typing away. The teacher asked him what he was doing that was so important that he couldn't listen, and to please come up and solve the problem. This kid walked straight up t…
I figure out the formula of the number of diagonals of n-sided polygon within 15 minutes when I was 10. I thought I would be the greatest mathematician ever. Gauss figured out the formula of 1+2+3+...+n at a similar age and the difficulty was similar, right?
I have never been so wrong haha
Re: Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes
#133Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's easy to be a genius. All you have to do is give 100% of your attention to your subject, indefinitely.
That is the definition of a genius-savant. True genius is always happening at the crossroads of his interests. Not linear, not monosyllabic, but divergent-recomposing-thing.
Ya, true geniusses invariably add gratuitous multiple syllables to everything they say. It's one of the signs.
Re: Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, I have no problem admitting that there are people much smarter, more talented, better looking, etc than I am. The day that I assume I'm the top of whatever category is a sad sad day, as I must be the only one left.
I think what really bugs me is that for some hobby I chose, there is a always someone who already achieved everything I could dream to achieve in my life. Then I figured some hobbies are better suited for my use case. For example science is better suited for me. I somehow was never bothered by the fact that some geniuses in 19th century already knew enough math/physics that I could digest in my life. Science is infin…
> I somehow was never bothered by the fact that some geniuses in 19th century already knew enough math/physics that I could digest in my life. Science is infinite so however much knowledge someone gained, it's zero comparing to the total amount.
I think this is important to consider. Anyone even cursorily interested in science can know (just via public information, libraries, etc.) so much more about "everything-except-very-specific-thing" than any of the 19th century geniuses who knew and understood so much about "very-specific-thing".
Ofc, the geniuses are ultimately the ones responsible for the advancement of the state of the art, but... there's also a lot to appreciate for the rest of us.
Re: Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes
#135I've known quite a few families where both parents are scientists or software engineers or quantitative engineers. Very frequently, their children will have a scary intuitive understanding of concepts that took my many years to understand (I'm a slow learner; didn't really understand hash tables until my 30s) and then apply their abilities to be in the higher echelons at science in a very young age. I see a similar t…
Agreed, but this brings up the topic of nature vs. nurture, and perhaps even the previously (~90 years ago now?) popular concept of eugenics. I think society settled on a response of "yeah, but we shouldn't actively do anything about it as a group." It seems to be best left to individuals to seek out parental partners and enjoy the outcomes on a personal level.
Fundamentally, even ignoring the ethical problems, eugenics doesn't work. The interactions between nature and nurture, genetics, epigenetics, etc. are waaaay to complex (and even multi-generational) to boil down to a simple decision to allow/deny birth.
Re: Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't hear this viewpoint acknowledged enough. Society wasting and discarding undiscovered talent is one of my deepest fears.
"I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops." - Stephen Jay Gould
Mismeasure Of Man?
SJG is underrated.
Re: Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes
#137I knew a guy in high school that carried around a sub-compact notebook and one day in science class we were learning about how to factor quadratic equations (a review of old math we should know) and this guy was not paying attention at all, just typing away. The teacher asked him what he was doing that was so important that he couldn't listen, and to please come up and solve the problem. This kid walked straight up t…
It's easy to be a genius. All you have to do is give 100% of your attention to your subject, indefinitely.
i mean achievement is at the intersection of luck, talent, and hard work. Knew several people with the raw iq to be great but these people would much rather spend their time doing mental puzzles.
Re: Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes
#138I've known quite a few families where both parents are scientists or software engineers or quantitative engineers. Very frequently, their children will have a scary intuitive understanding of concepts that took my many years to understand (I'm a slow learner; didn't really understand hash tables until my 30s) and then apply their abilities to be in the higher echelons at science in a very young age. I see a similar t…
part of this is they are probably wired for it, and part of it is they are immersed in it from a young age. Probably don't need to worry though, a lot of geniuses come from left field where they grow their creativity in isolation.
Re: Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes
#139Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed, but this brings up the topic of nature vs. nurture, and perhaps even the previously (~90 years ago now?) popular concept of eugenics. I think society settled on a response of "yeah, but we shouldn't actively do anything about it as a group." It seems to be best left to individuals to seek out parental partners and enjoy the outcomes on a personal level.
This isn't eugenics. People are allowed to choose their mates for their phenotypes, and we don't sterilize (except in very rare, extreme circumstances, with legal approvals) people who don't have specific phenotypes. It's a gedanken experiment, but I would expect that people who measure low on IQ tests but are raised immersed in an technical or artistic environment have as much potential to become masters as people w…
but I would expect that people who measure low on IQ tests but are raised immersed in an technical or artistic environment have as much potential to become masters as people with higher IQ, or very nearly so.
I would strongly expect the opposite. But I agree it would be beneficial to figure out which of us is right.
Re: Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes
#140I've known quite a few families where both parents are scientists or software engineers or quantitative engineers. Very frequently, their children will have a scary intuitive understanding of concepts that took my many years to understand (I'm a slow learner; didn't really understand hash tables until my 30s) and then apply their abilities to be in the higher echelons at science in a very young age. I see a similar t…
Agreed, but this brings up the topic of nature vs. nurture, and perhaps even the previously (~90 years ago now?) popular concept of eugenics. I think society settled on a response of "yeah, but we shouldn't actively do anything about it as a group." It seems to be best left to individuals to seek out parental partners and enjoy the outcomes on a personal level.
i mean, we should be able to get to a future when everyone can enjoy in the bounty produced by technology, it is arrogant to think humans with their limited wisdom can determine who gets to breed and who doesn't