Curse Of The Gifted (2000) • Hacker News Board

Re: Curse Of The Gifted (2000)

#321

Post by bane » Wed, Feb 12, 2014, 4:33 PM UTC

kayoone wrote: post #317

bane wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I appreciate your comment and the spirit it was presented in. You should dig back through my comment history to find out more about my background. The TL;DR, grew up pretty poor, came out of that environment with lots of burdens, did exactly what I said above and now am not poor anymore. It sucked, hard , but it's possible. And it's more possible to do it before you make lots of bad decisions that make it even harder…

Other people could give you the same advice in regards to your weight problems. It sucks, its hard, but its possible. Its not complex, but its not always easy. Still you struggle and its complex for you. So why are you so judgemental about other peoples seemingly simple problems ?

It's not complex for me. It's simple. I'm just not doing it. That's it. There's no complexity at all. It's not a "struggle".

If I were to wake up tomorrow and decide "I want to solve this weight problem" I know exactly what to do and how to do it. There's a clear path from problem to solution and there's nothing complicated about it. It might not be fun, and it might take a while, solutions aren't guaranteed to offer immediate gratification, but it's absolutely trivially solvable.

And that's the point. The kinds of normal problems people struggle with are usually pretty easy to solve, but they just don't for . And they'll have those problems until they simple decide to stop having that problem and solve it. There's nothing complicated about their issues, and often the solution is trivially simple, but they don't because they haven't decided to.

They add all kinds of conditions and oddball requirements (e.g. "I need to make more money, but I need to stay here, doing this exact job that's not paying me enough because I have lots of friends here."). That's not deciding to solve their problem.

Re: Curse Of The Gifted (2000)

#322

Post by bane » Wed, Feb 12, 2014, 4:38 PM UTC

dennisgorelik wrote: post #298

bane wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This sounds a bit narcissistic. I know. That's the trouble with talking about growing up or being highly intelligent, you end up sounding like a narcissistic prick. Even saying something like "I've tested in the top 1-2% of dozens of aptitude and intelligence tests" sounds like I'm lording it over those who haven't. But I don't think it's really all that different than saying "I'm taller than 99% of the population"…

If you are smart, why is it hard to figure out a way to develop daily habits that would allow you to lose weight?

It's not hard. Just like it's not hard for most people to solve most of their problems. Just not doing it. That's it. Nothing complicated about it.

Re: Curse Of The Gifted (2000)

#323

Post by berto99 » Wed, Feb 12, 2014, 5:03 PM UTC

austenallred wrote: post #18

I am miles away from Eric or Linus, but the "curse of the gifted" is very real. Thankfully I wasn't smart or gifted enough that I could ride it for long, but when it comes to math and problem-solving I rode it well into my high school years. I never learned to do algebra "by the book," because I didn't need to. Or maybe because I wasn't smart enough to. The math teacher would teach "3x + 6 = 9." Basic algebraic probl…

ugh, the way you did it, I thought that was the way most people did it. Usually you see the answer and only "show working". Though the mechanical approach can facilitate more complex problems.

Re: Curse Of The Gifted (2000)

#324

Post by larrys » Wed, Feb 12, 2014, 5:07 PM UTC

dennisgorelik wrote: post #297

bane wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So you are in awe of her because your metric is your own intelligence which you have already figured out is quite high. And you have proof of that from past experience. Yeah, I suppose that would be the metric then! It's fantastic to have somebody, everyday, who constantly challenges me and forces me to exercise my mind. I would definitely have had trouble with a "trophy" wife...and actually I find that I get along…

> I would definitely have had trouble with a "trophy" wife "Trophy" wife does NOT mean "not intelligent".

Would like to point out that in my experience most men who use that expression (at least that I have run into or in popular culture) say "trophy wife" when they mean someone who is attractive and that that is their main redeeming value.

So for example one wouldn't have called Hillary Clinton a "trophy wife" because although she is quite accomplished she is not really of the grade of looks that would be "trophy" (in the common usage).

Ok so now I go and seek the definition on the internet to see what it says. And it says this:

"a young, attractive wife regarded as a status symbol for an older man."

That said of course you are right that "trophy wife" does not mean "not intelligent" but that is most likely the assumption that the majority of people are making.

Re: Curse Of The Gifted (2000)

#325

Post by OGC » Wed, Feb 12, 2014, 5:17 PM UTC

bane wrote: post #244

doctorstupid wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "the kinds of problems most people have seem trivially simple to me" From this I can tell that you're smart, but not really smart. The really smart never say things like that.

Can you provide an example of a typical problem most people have that's not trivially solvable by "don't do the thing that causes you to have the problem?" There's literally hundreds of thousands of pages of advice columns and books and lectures you can go to about various typical money/relationship problems which make up the vast bulk of people's issues which are all summed up with the above. Problem: I don't make e…

Your approach can be summarized in the profit joke:

1) Do something

2) ?

3) Profit

Re: Curse Of The Gifted (2000)

#326

Post by bane » Wed, Feb 12, 2014, 5:19 PM UTC

larve wrote: post #299

bane wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you provide an example of a typical problem most people have that's not trivially solvable by "don't do the thing that causes you to have the problem?" There's literally hundreds of thousands of pages of advice columns and books and lectures you can go to about various typical money/relationship problems which make up the vast bulk of people's issues which are all summed up with the above. Problem: I don't make e…

This seems completely delusional to me. Your answer to every problem is saying "solve the problem". I can think of two problems every person has that are not trivially solvable with your approach: Problem: people die Problem: people are unhappy Or, to relate to what transpires as "your" problem, having a meaningful fulfilling time with other people. Which by the way is a problem that I think is fundamental to human e…

Problem: people die, unsolvable don't bother.

Problem: people are unhappy, sounds like you found the trivial solution, no? Your explanation sums to me as "don't do things that make you unhappy, do things that make you happy".

Problem: it's hard to connect with people, do things that connect with people. Do them with lots of people till you find connections.

My central thesis here is that solving normal every day problems, the kind that people write into Dear Abby about, is usually pretty simple. It's why Dear Abby and similar columns have

a) been around for decades

b) are given just a couple inches of column space

c) answer half a dozen "life problems" every week in under 2 paragraphs.

Would it come across better if I framed it as a Dear Abby question? Nobody seems to have particular problems with her? If you strip away the polite wording, her solutions are usually one or two sentences.

Or would it be better if I padded the simple solution in easier to digest language like Dear Abby?

Problem: People Die

Solution: I'm very sorry that people die. It's a sad thing when a particularly bright light, who's contributed so much to the world, and so much yet to contribute, is snuffed out. People have desired long and hard for an end to the end, but it's a simple fact of life. Learning to accept death, and find closure, without dwelling in the past (move forward in celebration of their life!) is an important part of living your own life.

Does that make you feel better? The solution is no different. But now we've both wasted time getting to it. It's not any more complex than it was before, but now it's coated with sugar. That's not problem solving.

Here's an article acknowledging and celebrating this

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/01/17/words-of-wi...

Read very carefully her advice and see if it's materially different than mine.

Re: Curse Of The Gifted (2000)

#327

Post by rrrazdan » Wed, Feb 12, 2014, 5:21 PM UTC

hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #115

taternuts wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I definitely remember the first time I could no longer slack off, take 0's on homeworks, and ace tests to get a C+/B and it was in high-school :( I jumped to AP Calculus without taking the pre-requisite AP class everyone else had taken, and I thought I was so cool and smart. By the weeks end I no longer felt so cool and smart - I was completely lost.

Calculus sucked more for me because here in Brazil the education system doesn't include it in the high-school curriculum, so unless you're on some top private school, you only first hear about "calculus" in college. In the USA and other places there's exposure to it prior to college, which I believe is sensible. As a side note, I can't stress enough how bad the education system is in Brazil (in the sense of lack of s…

In India we had pretty advanced calculus in our senior and pre senior year. This included extensive use of calculus in physics courses. Electrodynamics was totally calculus based and we used to have lots of 'word problems' involving calculus. This was pretty standard across most schools, so much so that when I went to college to do my engineering we had zero basic calculus classes and went straight to advanced calculus. I have no clue if learning advanced calculus this early helped us or not. Or exposing the whole class to these courses was such a good idea. However now they are easing these courses a bit and moving some of the tougher parts out.

Re: Curse Of The Gifted (2000)

#328

Post by bane » Wed, Feb 12, 2014, 5:24 PM UTC

gizzlon wrote: post #311

bane wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you provide an example of a typical problem most people have that's not trivially solvable by "don't do the thing that causes you to have the problem?" There's literally hundreds of thousands of pages of advice columns and books and lectures you can go to about various typical money/relationship problems which make up the vast bulk of people's issues which are all summed up with the above. Problem: I don't make e…

But none of those are solutions.. you've solved nothing. "Whenever I start feeling sick, I just stop being sick and be awesome instead" - Barney Stinson

In what way are they not solutions?

Pertinent to your quote:

Dear Abby: My last job had me at an open office work site where people did lots of international travel. Inevitably somebody would come back sick from some exotic illness. That, combined with a high stress job had me sick constantly and it has me feeling sick, tired and run down. I feel like I've aged 6 years in the last 6 months and it's impacted everything from my relationships to my fitness. How can I solve this problem?

Solution: Stop being around sick people and get a lower stress job.

Re: Curse Of The Gifted (2000)

#329

Post by frodopwns » Wed, Feb 12, 2014, 5:40 PM UTC

I don't compare to Linus but I think I was hit by this bug.

I cruised through high school without trying and actually made it through undergrad the same way. Now however I am faced with the prospect of relearning a lot of it if I want to move forward. That or be a run of the mill web dev for the rest of my life.

Re: Curse Of The Gifted (2000)

#330

Post by ylem » Wed, Feb 12, 2014, 5:55 PM UTC

bunderbunder wrote: post #103

ejk314 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Straight As can mask a lot of problems. I've got a room mate who was put ahead a grade in middle?late-elementary school and missed the whole foundation of algebra. They did so because he got straight A's so obviously he's smart enough; he could just skip that. (They promised to give him a text book so he could learn on his own that summer, but never got around to giving it to him.) Of course, he started struggling i…

I have never, ever, ever met someone who was well-served by skipping a grade. Myself included. Ever. Skipping a grade means giving up a full year of education. If that proposition doesn't give you pause, you probably don't have enough respect for the value of education. Even if you you get absolutely nothing out of that year aside from the soft skills you develop by sitting in a class with other kids and listening to…

I skipped 6th grade and I'm still glad that I did so. I spent years before in school just being incredibly bored. Some years, I would write plays for my fellow students to perform, sometimes I would take "advanced" math, but I just felt like I wasted a lot of time.

I wanted to skip my senior year in high school as well, but my parents wouldn't let me. I have to say that I'm glad they didn't. I actually enjoyed that year a lot. One of my favorite classes was a humanities course that was rather unique. We had a team of teachers and would study the music, art, literature, and history from a period in time and gradually marched our way forward. It was great! Also, in college, the only humanities course that I took was science fiction, so if I hadn't taken that course, I would have missed out on a lot!

At least for me, skipping grades isn't about an "ego boost" it's about time. It's the same thing with AP courses--some people say that they aren't equal to college courses, but if you take them, pass, and the school accepts them, then it saves you an incredible amount of time.