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A Redditor's insightful message for discouraged students

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Re: A Redditor's insightful message for discouraged students

#81

Post by Edootjuh »

rhino42 wrote: post #66
levesque wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, don't post a link to a post containing the link.

In this case, I disagree. Posting to that location lets us easily see the comments made on that posting (instead of just the replies to the comment being linked to)

The comments on /r/bestof links are usually about the fact that it was posted in /r/bestof, rather than about the subject itself. And if they are about the comment itself, it's really just because the comment itself already had too many replies for a new comment to be noticed.

Re: A Redditor's insightful message for discouraged students

#82

Post by forwardslash »

leilavc wrote: post #63

For anybody looking for solid tips on how to apply this attitude to their academics, I've found Cal Newport's blog* an invaluable resource. It's been linked to here before, mainly for its recent posts on 'deliberate practice' versus 'flow', but he also describes many strategies and tactics that high-scoring students at Ivy League-level universities use. They've helped me invaluably, and I find it a real pity that mor…

Thanks for the link! Definitely adding this to my daily reading.

Re: A Redditor's insightful message for discouraged students

#83

Post by sp332 »

neilparikh wrote: post #79
sp332 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was kind of the opposite in college for me. I remember in one class, I got a B- on every single paper regardless of how much time I spent on it or how much planning I put into the paper. I got very discouraged and almost flunked out of two courses in my last semester. So I guess some amount of effort is required :)

Ya, effort is required for sure, but I think the papers should be marked according to categories that actually can be marked, such as grammar and spelling, factual correctness etc. There is still some subjectivity, but it's way more fair.

It's hard to grade a non-research paper that way though. For example, that class was a Humanities 101 class. We were supposed to do some analysis of whatever book we'd just read. So good grammar is not a large part of the grade, and factual correctness is not easy to check when you could "hit the stacks" and cross-reference any other books in the library. The teacher (who was good by the way, I'm blaming the system not him) would grade the paper based on how "good" he felt it was, based on your apparent understanding of the material, and your ability to think well and express your thoughts clearly.

Re: A Redditor's insightful message for discouraged students

#85

Post by araneae »

levesque wrote: post #65
temphn wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are right, and I came here to take issue with this quote: I admired R., and I looked up to him, and while I doubt I will ever compete with his genius, I recognize that it's because of a relative lack of my conviction and an excess of his, not some accident of genetics. Endurance, focus, and determination are likely to also be substantially heritable, just like raw intelligence.

I simply refuse to believe that :) As soon as you start thinking it's out of your control, it becomes out of your control.

You can believe that something is both heritable and flexible. Most personality traits are at maximum about 50% heritable; I don't think that's so bad.

Re: A Redditor's insightful message for discouraged students

#86

Post by ekm2 »

Klinky wrote: post #44
moultano wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's one of those facts that is probably true, but not useful (at least to an individual plotting their own course.) If you feel stupid, what's the more likely thing? That you are up against a fundamental barrier, or that you haven't worked hard enough? What's the better outcome, that you knuckle down or give up? Knowing the genetic basis for intelligence is kinda like knowing about obscure diseases. When you have…

Don't you like logic & understanding? I am not sure why anyone here would promote an ignorance is bliss kind of attitude when it comes to mental or learning disorders. This reeks of the military's inability to accept PTSD as a real condition, ostracizing those who claim they have it as being weak or lazy. Does the hacker/geek crowd have the same trouble accepting learning disabilities as a valid form of mental illnes…

Appeals to genetics are usually made by the successful to convince the unsuccessful that their success was inevitable.By doing that they help ward off potential competitors.

Re: A Redditor's insightful message for discouraged students

#87

Post by ekm2 »

araneae wrote: post #85
levesque wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I simply refuse to believe that :) As soon as you start thinking it's out of your control, it becomes out of your control.

You can believe that something is both heritable and flexible. Most personality traits are at maximum about 50% heritable; I don't think that's so bad.

Height is heritable yet highly subject to manipulation at a young age.

Re: A Redditor's insightful message for discouraged students

#89

Post by felipemnoa »

levesque wrote: post #65
temphn wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are right, and I came here to take issue with this quote: I admired R., and I looked up to him, and while I doubt I will ever compete with his genius, I recognize that it's because of a relative lack of my conviction and an excess of his, not some accident of genetics. Endurance, focus, and determination are likely to also be substantially heritable, just like raw intelligence.

I simply refuse to believe that :) As soon as you start thinking it's out of your control, it becomes out of your control.

You are right in not buying into that.

Henry Ford: If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right.

Re: A Redditor's insightful message for discouraged students

#90

Post by mynameishere »

kingatomic wrote: post #80
mynameishere wrote: post #78

The more I learned the more I realized that the bulk of his intelligence and his performance just came from study and practice Bullshit. When a 3rd grader masters differential calculus it is almost entirely hard-core innate intelligence combined with an innate ability to concentrate. No normal 3rd grade has the ability to study at that level. People who succeed often want to think it was entirely their hard work, and…

I strongly doubt that the writer meant it to be taken literally that R.R. had mastered DiffEQs in 3rd grade.

There are kids at that level at that age: No exaggeration. They are incredibly rare on earth, but when you get to MIT, they become much less rare.
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