Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A remarkable kid has died in Newcastle, Utah

deseret.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 196 posts

Re: A remarkable kid has died in Newcastle, Utah

#171

Post by JeremyNT »

karaterobot wrote: post #103
fock wrote: post #15

So, as a European I read: mormon paper (Deseret...) hails parents who made their child work their farm. Because reading things like: > His spelling and grammar lagged behind grade level. He consistently misspelled the word “business,” and stumbled over the pronunciation of simple words. doesn't really spell hidden genius of the 21st century but probably describes millions of peasants in Europe during the middle-ages.…

Did you read on a couple sentences and see this part? > Later, when opportunities came to publish his thoughts, the written word became more important to him and he found mentors to help him polish his communication skills. Worthy of note is that he'd published a book by the age of 14, so was probably at least at grade level. Sounds like he just didn't learn things homogeneously, but rather focused on some things bef…

And just how much of the "mentoring" is actually just plain old ghost writing?

There are too many red flags and people with agendas here to take much at face value.

Re: A remarkable kid has died in Newcastle, Utah

#172

Post by RalfWausE »

vaidhy wrote: post #111
TrispusAttucks wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree with this sentiment. You wish to take away the very condition which made him uniquely special. He seems like he was enjoying his childhood. Adversity breeds character and this kid had more than character than some entire classrooms.

Yes.. When you are struggling to put food on the table, you are not enjoying childhood.. Adversity breaks more people than building character. Which is why, we insist that kids have good food, good environment to grow up in etc. It is not right that 1000 kids suffer for one to build a character (as you may call it). You can build character in better environments too.

Hard times creates great men, great men creates good times, good times create weak men, weak men create hard times...

Re: A remarkable kid has died in Newcastle, Utah

#173

Post by chiefalchemist »

contingencies wrote: post #52
chiefalchemist wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I imagine he'd be cookie like all the other cookies; as in cut by a cookie cutter that limits the majority of all the other minds cranked out of the formal K - 12 mill.

"supportive teachers" != regular K12 teachers

I know a number of teachers. All of them want to do the best job possible. Unfortunately, a good number of them are in systems that don't support them as well as they should. That said, I'd take it a step further and say the (USA) culture doesn't do enough to support the systems and the teachers.

What goes in, trickles down, and comes out the other end. With the power structure, teachers have some, but others have far more. That's where the accountability (read: blame) needs to go. Blaming the powerless is a fool's errand.

That is, for example, we can sign off billions to foreign countries, and at home our teachers are going out of pocket for supplies. Huh? I'm not suggesting that we don't help others. I am insisting that if we can do that, we can certainly do better for teachers, and other similar high-value (to the future) professions.

Re: A remarkable kid has died in Newcastle, Utah

#174

Post by GBond »

didibus wrote: post #134
peteforde wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I consider this rebuttal to be exceptionally well-argued, and I thank you for it. You do raise several excellent points, and I have no interest in being a shill for the LDS church. And yes, Bari Weiss should be considered a red flag. My bad for letting her name slide past without a sniff test. I stand by my point that we shouldn't be so damn skeptical that there are exceptional young people, because I've known them p…

I remember reading some article about why there are no adult prodigy, only child prodigy. It went something like, the reason there are only child prodigy, and no adult prodigy, is because other kids eventually catch up. And that child prodigies are basically just children that are ahead compared to other kids of the same age. It looked at the data, and showed that once adult, child prodigies just distribute themselve…

A reason why I browse HN is to learn about adult prodigy projects

Re: A remarkable kid has died in Newcastle, Utah

#175

Post by thomastjeffery »

xeromal wrote: post #84
xani_ wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Poor kid, the family are basically gimping his start in life by a decade... it's outright abuse

Abuse by whom? His disabled parents?

Yes. And those who promote their behavior.

People with disabilities are capable of doing wrong, and we shouldn't pretend otherwise.

Re: A remarkable kid has died in Newcastle, Utah

#176

Post by thomastjeffery »

wyager wrote: post #22
xani_ wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Poor kid, the family are basically gimping his start in life by a decade... it's outright abuse

The preponderance of evidence suggests that schooling has essentially zero impact on adult outcomes until around middle/high school. Most public schools are clearly more abusive than simply not subjecting your children to the standard industrial schooling regimen.

Tell that to the ones who never learn to read. I know a few, in rural Utah, no less.

Re: A remarkable kid has died in Newcastle, Utah

#177

Post by xeromal »

thomastjeffery wrote: post #175
xeromal wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Abuse by whom? His disabled parents?

Yes. And those who promote their behavior. People with disabilities are capable of doing wrong, and we shouldn't pretend otherwise.

I feel like abuse is a stretch of a word. His parents's hands were tied and he stepped up. If you asked him, he was running the family and doing it well. His success in strife should be celebrated even if it wasn't an ideal growing environment.

Re: A remarkable kid has died in Newcastle, Utah

#178

Post by towaway15463 »

soared wrote: post #100
effingwewt wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea, we grew up pretty rural and we sold rabbits, goats, even horses as kids. We also traded them for equipment like ATVs, guns, or whatever we needed. OP has never left the city and so just assumes his life is all life. Even his statement 'do we ' just assumes we all believe as he does. Cole also probably did what many young business owners do and put it in his parent's names. Much of this is common place for countr…

He sold rabbits to restaurants located in California, which excludes the local rural-only argument.

Through someone who was able to make the trip. Its in the article.

Re: A remarkable kid has died in Newcastle, Utah

#179

Post by towaway15463 »

watwut wrote: post #117
karaterobot wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you read on a couple sentences and see this part? > Later, when opportunities came to publish his thoughts, the written word became more important to him and he found mentors to help him polish his communication skills. Worthy of note is that he'd published a book by the age of 14, so was probably at least at grade level. Sounds like he just didn't learn things homogeneously, but rather focused on some things bef…

You can publish pretty much anything. The hard part is to get one of good publisher houses that can do promo etc. But publishing on itself does not require anything. Thins kid also supposedly bought 50000$ by himself at 11.

Financed. He was able to make the payments and I’m guessing the loan was in his parents names.

Re: A remarkable kid has died in Newcastle, Utah

#180

Post by crawfordcomeaux »

watwut wrote: post #115
crawfordcomeaux wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard there's evidence that delaying literacy and numeracy has meaningful and potentially desirable effects on brain development. If a child and parents want to test that out, why not allow them to do so?

Yes if you mean starting to teach them read and write at 7 instead of at 5. No if you mean cutting away majority of curriculum and teaching the rest by having kid doing sheets alone on kitchen table until isolated bored kid slows or gives up.

Yeah, the former.
Post reply on HN