151–160 of 447 posts
Why aren't we working on drugs to make people smart?
IIRC nicotine is the most effective nootropic by far, the problem being that it's super addictive. But none of them work as well as sleep and exercise.
That was a fun read. What really stuck out to me was how R failed in a bunch of other subjects except math because he wasn’t interested in them. I know society and norms expect students to learn all these other subjects. But what if those just aren’t interesting to someone? I wonder how many geniuses we skip on because doing the chores of homework and getting through boring classes is busywork and memorization for th…
Instead of giving kids grades with a ceiling, each subject would have (unlimited number of) levels of proficiency, and to attain a level, kids would have to pass a test (demonstrate certain skill). The choice of subjects and levels to attain would be up to each kid, but they would have to choose to do something (working at getting next level of something would be mandatory). (Although perhaps they should be encouraged to explore different subjects and attain some minimum of levels.)
Also, I would group kids by subject, and not by age. So kids of slightly different levels would train together, and the higher level kids would be obligated to help kids on lower level to learn, while lower level kids were taught to be respectful of higher level kids.
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So in grade 5 you maths is A++++ (like college entry level), you're excused from English, Civics and what not, and when by the time of graduation you've fizzled out (which most prodigies do) you're just an unemployable nerd. School education standards are the barest minimum and anyone of IQ > 85 can make them.
Personally I can’t say I learned anything professionally useful in english or civics. An actually decent math class in just one of my years of k-12 would have been much more useful.
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I feel way more productive since going sxe. I am naturally so tired around 9pm when I shut the lid of my laptop that I fall asleep within minutes of getting in bed. On a side note.. Somehow my dreams have been insane and I’ve low key enjoyed the vivid worlds I find myself in over the past few months. Wake up around 5 or 6, go for a stroll and then eat some breakfast. Then I can work taking only breaks for lunch and d…
> sxe Weird. First time I've ever seen that (abbreviation?) For straight-egde. Thought you were talking about some supplement at first.
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Most colleges now inundate students with painful core classes that go on into senior year. It's getting ridiculous.
Specific citation needed. At Big US Engineering School, many people are done with their prerequisites in a year. Unless you're talking about painful core classes like "compiler design" and "networking", which I would say is a different conversation.
The stories of mathematicians like Srinivasa Ramanujan, who claimed to have derived complex partitions and identities in dreams, have always captivated me. It's as if their minds were tapping into some hidden reservoir of knowledge. I'm curious what drives these intuitive leaps. Was Ramanujan's brain quietly processing patterns during sleep, leveraging its default mode network in ways we're still struggling to unders…
That's not to say there isn't something spiritual and mystical in knowledge. I think the fact that he was from a different background gave him a different perspective. But yeah you cannot skip all the math studying.
"An equation for me has no meaning, unless it represents a thought of God" - Ramanujan
In the Ramanujan story, a true MVP is G.H. Hardy. He read letters from some random unknown guy (a savage "native" no less!) half the world away, and took them seriously. And then organized resources to have that guy travel to England. A true MVP. All the others Ramanujan wrote to ignored him (understandably so). Such a tragedy that he died so young.
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IIRC nicotine is the most effective nootropic by far, the problem being that it's super addictive. But none of them work as well as sleep and exercise.
IIRC nicotine itself isn’t super addictive when used solely in a less addictive form, as in gum or patch.
...or me?