Gotenosente writes "11-Year-Old Moshe Kai Cavalin has graduated from East Los Angeles Community College with a degree in astrophysics. 'At a time when his peers are finishing 6th grade, this only child of a Taiwanese mother and an Israeli father is trying on a cap and gown preparing to graduate with a 4.0 from community college.' The article continues with a quotation by the boy, hinting at his modesty, 'I don't consider myself a genius because there are 6.5 billion people in this world and each one is smart in his or her own way.' Daniel Judge, Cavalin's statistics professor, says, 'Most students think that things should be harder than they are and they put these mental blocks in front of them and they make things harder than they should be. In the case of Moshe, he sees right through the complications.'"
Leaves a bit to be desired. Is it possible to "get" a degree in physics (let alone a special area of physics) with the most advanced course being "Optics and Modern Physics?" I think in my undergrad we touched on relativity in required physics courses with several advanced courses devoted entirely to it and its special forms.
I could barely tie my shoe laces when I was 11 let alone come out with: "I don't consider myself a genius because there are 6.5 billion people in this world and each one is smart in his or her own way." That's a very special comment right there.
"I don't consider myself a genius because there are 6.5 billion people in this world and each one is smart in his or her own way." That's a very special comment right there.
It's also an incredibly shallow triumph of an Olympic grade platitudinous pandering politically correct aphorism. The kid's teacher says he can "see right through the complications," but he's still been brainwashed into thinking that he's not unusual. What a shame. And how typical.
But why can't he be an evil genius? The world needs more evil geniuses so that we can get more super heroes.
Wow, I never thought of super-villainy from the supply and demand curve viewpoint. If each superhero kills or incarcerates one super villain every month, each super hero is going to go through a dozen evil geniuses annually. And they can't all be super-duper evil geniuses, because any super-duper evil genius will recognize that mortality rate right quick and is likely to make a different career choice, such as stock trading.
I think an associate's degree at age 11 is just about the right time for something horrible to happen that will corrupt him into turning evil. Perhaps there's a super-duper evil genius right now who is plotting to kidnap his mother to turn him into a revenge-motivated evildoer! Maybe the super-duper evil genius is seeking out dozens of these smart kids in advance, hoping to create enough evil geniuses to serve as cannon fodder for the future superheroes, and for them to serve as a distraction for when he puts his ultimate plan for world domination into motion.
Why is it a shame? If he was raised to think he was very different from everyone else he might have feigned stupid to fit in. Regardless he'll probably discover in his teenage years that he lacks peers and seek to remedy the situation somehow. Actually with his current ambition to be an actor he may end up facing just as much difficulty as anyone else - and it's not a shame to waste a genius mind on acting. Everyone is entitled to attempt to succeed at their own dreams.
Didn't your mother ever teach you never to pass on an opportunity to alliterate?
My mother made me master multi-syllabic meta-mutterings merely to modify my meandering mental malapropisms and to manipulate my meager mix of mangled messages into a more magnificent maelstrom of mightily meaningful... um... stuff.
Nonsense. There is absolutely nothing wrong with improving the vocabulary of preliterate Slashdot readers, and the practice should be actively encouraged.
Malarkey.
True genius is making the complicated seem trivial. This means writing as clearly as possible rather than trying for the highest scrabble word score.
There's a time and a place for "waxing loquacious": Academic papers of predefined arbitrary lengths.
Being smarter than the vast majority of the population does not mean you have, or ever will, accomplish anything. Better the kid learn humility and challenge himself than become the kind of person who whines about political correctness on the Internet.
I think he probably knows he's special. But he probably also wants to be a kid and enjoy life with his friends. He probably knows that some of them play sports quiet well and others are incredibly adept socially. He understands that we are all different.
When I was going to high school my best friend at the time couldn't read or write very well - and as for math - he was terrified of it. At 17 he had already pulled his first complete engine and transmission apart and rebuilt them without a single book. He went on to build a business out of rebuilding transport truck transmissions and has about 30 employees under him. He specialized in this because, with his reading skills, he would never be able to become a licensed mechanic. In school, he was always teased as the 'stupid' guy because he, well, from a school standpoint, was.
We've also all met people who are smart as hell but socially inept. Can't make friends and have no idea of what to talk about or how to keep a conversation going. And conversely, people who you like and feel like you are friends with 5 minutes after you meet them. You feel good every time you talk to them. They just make it work and you don't know how.
Skill sets are varied. And he knows it. And for you to call him shallow because he appreciates that and is modest is - well, you said it best - Shallow.
Some how I don't think he is done with his schooling. Yea I was going to make a joke about it just being a community college but thought better of it. So he has a two year degree at 11. I wonder if he will start adding a few more Associates degrees before he goes to a major university. By the time he is say 16 he could have several associates degrees in a variety of subjects. Actually that would probably be a better choice as long as he doesn't get board. He could actually end up a very well rounded person by the time he goes off to a major University.
A whole pile of degrees, and zero real-life experience.
School ain't the be-all end-all of a person's career.
Here we go again with the "real world" paradigm. Would you rather he did pot, get drunk and have all sorts of cool stories to tell at parties? Or get a few dozen year-long dead end jobs before settling into his permanent cubicle? Although, you are correct in one respect - he should learn as soon as possible that the real world has too many idiots in it (not referring to parent since I don't know his views on this matter) who will devalue any of his intellectual accomplishments unless it can be made into a Lifetime movie while deifying pseudo-celebrities whose only contribution to society is an entertaining way to dig themselves out of shit holes of their creation.
Much better that he finds something he really likes, work really hard at it and build a career for himself. Just because most kids can't make up their minds until they are old farts who think they are still young doesn't mean that this budding genius should deliberately feign indecisiveness so that his peers feel good about themselves. (this last part was a response to several comments thrown around, NOT to parent).
Is it possible to "get" a degree in physics (let alone a special area of physics) with the most advanced course being "Optics and Modern Physics?" I think in my undergrad we touched on relativity in required physics courses with several advanced courses devoted entirely to it and its special forms.
I teach physics at a nearby community college (not ELAC). Community colleges in the US generally offer a bunch of different flavors of introductory physics. At my school, for instance, there are four different flavors of physics: Physics 130 (gen ed), 205-206 (algebra-based, for biology majors), 210-211 (calc-based, for biology majors), and 221-223 (calc-based, for physical science and engineering majors). I guarantee you ELAC's will match up almost exactly with these, because everything has to articulate properly with the Cal State and UC systems. You don't take more than one of these sequences. If he got an AA in physics at ELAC, presumably he had to take the highest-level physics sequence (probably the one they list as General Physics), plus 2 years of calculus. The physics sequence would include some of the more gee-whiz topics like relativity and quantum physics, but at a fairly basic level.
Perhaps a rather odd statement coming from a lad whose passions include martial arts, scuba diving and playing piano. He also aspires to be a movie actor.
I found that amusing that he finds some form of entertainment to (music & movies) to benefit humanity more so than games. I wonder if he's ever played Settlers of Catan?
I thought genius was defined as something like an IQ in the 98th percentile or higher.
By the way, most preteens don't have the emotional maturity to succeed in a "normal" college social environment. I'm not saying they can't succeed academically, it's just unlikely they will "fit in" in most college social organizations. We all need to be with our social peers.
Community college is a bit different as there's less of a social environment. On-line school is also a huge opportunity for "non-traditional" students such as those too young to drive or old enough to not be carded.
Our social peers? Allow me to laugh derisively. Ha. Ha. Ha.
Being different in school SUCKS ASS. At least in college people are sufficiently grown up to not be assholes 100 percent of the time.
Social peers is all to often a nice waying of saying "hang out with the half wits". There is a lot of value being put on "functioning well in groups" that for certain people mean they get to learn that they really don't want to be part of any group that they haven't selected for themselves.
Brilliant little kid, I must say. And I am very glad that he is given the recognition he deserves.
However, I'd like to point out that every time we see an extraordinary case like his, there are countless other examples that are half way there. What I mean is that why do only the "super-genius" kids get to advance faster in schools and colleges? What about those people that are smart and dedicated enough to pass through say high-school in 1-2 years, rather than the usual 5-6. Instead these people are forced to stay 5-6 years doing highschool. Same thing with college.
Not everyone is meant to fit into the average of society. That is why we allow people to repeat grade levels and university subjects. So why not go the other way and allow above average students, or students with above average dedication to finish faster. Sounds like a double standard to me.
The option to advance faster is available, but recommended against. School isn't just about mental development, it is social development as well, and that is something that seems to be harder to accelerate.
When I was going in to first grade, my parents were offered the option to skip me ahead a grade. Whatever test it was I took showed I was far enough ahead to skip a grade. Apparently it actually showed I was far enough ahead to skip more than one, but one was all they offered. However my mom (a teacher) decided against it for social reasons.
I'm glad she did. I'm sure I would have done fine academically, school was never all that great a challenge for me. I probably could have skipped grades a few times and graduated at a young age... but to what end? I had enough trouble with socialization, as many geeks do, that wouldn't have helped at all. Especially since one valuable lesson I learned in school is yes, maybe you are smarter than many people, but that doesn't make you better than them. Don't look down at someone just because they aren't as smart as you.
Also, what do you do if you graduate early? University would suck. You'd be practically the only non-adult there. Just loaf around the house for a few years? That's not a good idea.
So really I think it makes sense to keep kids in school until a regular graduation time. Instead, just offer opportunities to learn more. My school was pretty good about there. There was advanced placement classes in some subjects, plenty of extra curricular activities and so on. I think that's a much better idea than trying to rush through school and then be a minor, yet be expected to enter the real world. The growing up part is important too. No need to rush it. You've got lots and lots of time to be an adult.
As for university, I dunno about where you went but where I went you could complete it as fast as you could handle. You can CLEP a lot of stuff, and with a dean's permission take as many units as would fit in your schedule. Completing a degree in 2 years would be an amazing amount of work, but perfectly doable if you could handle the load.
Hum, being so precocious, he is probably very intelligent. Why then go to community college? I am not entirely familiar with US education system, but I was under the impression that these places were considered much less challenging.
They are much less selective than 4-year schools and the programs tend to be more vocational in nature.
That said, taking some things like composition or entry-level mathematics tends to be the same regardless of whether you take it at a community college for $40/hour or at a university for $200/hour. Some of the stuff the kid took won't be worth anything anywhere, but he'll have a good chunk of his general education requirements knocked out at whatever university he gets into.
They are much less selective than 4-year schools and the programs tend to be more vocational in nature.
They only appear to be more vocational in nature because that's the general impression of associates degrees. Anyone not aspiring to a bachelor's degree or higher would be an idiot for going anyplace other than a community college. I went to a community college but my professors normally taught at universities. I felt that community college was second rate too until I really looked around. I had a professor from CMU who told us that the course he was presenting was the same as he would present for one of his Carnegie Mellon classes. My Astronomy 101 professor was an actual professional astronomer and not just some academia with a big head. My sociology teacher had a doctorate from Yale, also studied in Berlin and Moscow and taught at Pitt. I look back now and see that there was a lot of quality education that went on and any "dumbing down" that was done was more so from the aspect of the students than the teaching staff. As much as college is a way to filter out the dead weight it's no different than public schools in that you get out of it what you put into it.
That said, taking some things like composition or entry-level mathematics tends to be the same regardless of whether you take it at a community college for $40/hour or at a university for $200/hour.
You're right, the current numbers from my CC (CCAC) to PSU was roughly 95 dollars a credit from CCAC to nearly 500 USD a credit at Penn State. These numbers are for a part time student. As a full timer YMMV.
Some of the stuff the kid took won't be worth anything anywhere, but he'll have a good chunk of his general education requirements knocked out at whatever university he gets into.
If this is true than it's his own fault. PSU gladly sent me their transfer sheet for CCAC. All in all I think I took 7 credits that didn't transfer and 4 of those were for a sub-100 course I took just to get back into the swing of things after not having been in a classroom for over a decade. A student at CCAC could take all the courses they need to at 1/5th the price and put themselves in the same arena as a second semester junior at Penn State. I don't think that's a bad step to take for a student unless they have grants and scholarships that require that they be enrolled at a university level institution.
Sorry if parts of this sounded like a rant. I just feel that students shouldn't downplay a community college if they don't have what it takes financially to get into a big school. Maybe I went to an extraordinary community college but my experience is that with a little research and planning a student can get a really great step towards a better education at a discount price and the vast majority of it should transfer. I was in a situation where I simply couldn't afford even the second rate universities when I graduated high school and I let that hold me back because I had a bad taste in my mouth when someone mentioned community college. Like I said, I got out of it what I put into it and I'm grateful that it was there.
I think as we grow more aware of the extraordinary talents and focuses of those that are on the autism spectrum, we will see more of these fast-track through college kids. People with autism spectrum disorders tend to develop intellectually much faster, but when it comes to dealing with the real world, are usually way behind their peers. One big clue is that he sees no purpose to games. The unpredictability is probably overwhelming to him at this point in his development. If he has motor-coordination issues, that could also make him dislike sports.
So, we'll come to accept people like this for who they are, give them an outlet for their early intellectual development, and also provide a society that supports the fact that emotionally they may be far behind their peers. That sounds like a much better world than one that treats ASD's as a disease or freakshow. While is IQ may qualify as genius, I hope his parents realize that he may very well be disabled in other areas of functioning, and give him the proper support. Too often, people like this feel enormous pressure, and get no support for their weaknesses.
by Anonymous Coward
on Monday June 08, @11:40AM (#28252359)
There exists focused, driven and intelligent people that don't have a shred of aspergers in them you know. At this level of intellectual accomplishment, having a freakish intellect apart from AS is probably the main factor. I agree however that most people who monomanically studies terse subjects probably (by direct observation of my peers) have at least sub-clinical aspergers.
Saying "I'm not a genius because there are 6.5 billion people" is not humility, it's selflessness. He's 11, I don't blame him, but why does the article extol this as some kind of virtue. There's nothing virtuous in making deliberately biased assessments against oneself. Humility is about objectively acknowledging fallibility. Saying "Indeed I am very precocious and I do qualify as a "child prodigy", however, you should refrain from drawing too much conclusions as many geniuses were late bloomers, etc". That's humility. Self-dissing isn't.
No, no. You're assuming he actually means it. More likely is the possibility that when he says "I'm not a genius because there are 6.5 billion people with unique gifts" he knows it isn't true, but is a good way to keep the other 11-year-olds from kicking his smart ass.
You see this happen all the time they push kids who are really smart so hard they fizzle out. I went to a special school for "gifted" children and most of my friends were burned out by their mid 20's. Not to mention depressed because they didn't make their first million by the age of 25. I "gave up" dropped contact with all my smart friends and got a "civil service" job. Ignorance truly is bliss, if your not freaked out by the state of the world you probably don't understand what is going on. The world doesn't know what to do with gifted people and gifted people are sideswiped by the fact that even though logically and by all reason they should succeed they don't. The world just doesn't work that way.
"logically and by all reason they should succeed"?!? That's bullshit. The ability to do well on IQ tests has never been a valid predictor of success in life. What is the most important predictor of success? Being born to the right parents! Failing that, the ability to delude yourself into thinking you are the best is one of most important ingredients to success. Making the right friends also helps, which is why getting into a "good" school is so important. Your sense of disappointment comes from bad assumptions; you assumed that since academics were so easy for you to master, that everything else in life would be also. It doesn't work that way. Life isn't fair; persistence is frequently rewarded more than excellence, and bullshit is frequently rewarded more than anything else. For many important questions there is no one "right" answer like there was in school.
That being said, you can still make a difference in the world. A "civil servant" who actually cares about helping other people is an anomaly; try your best to be one. Try not to get frustrated by the fact that for most people it is more about CYA than getting tangible results. And, take it easy on yourself... you're only human after all.
I am not sure why this is newsworthy. When I was a freshman in college, one of the kids on our floor was a 14 year old starting his PHd in Computer Science. He already had his bachelors from UC Berkeley. He fit in ok, and we properly corrupted him, and he had his PHd by 17. I know other kids who did similar things. The academic work is not THAT difficult for lots of younger kids. Socially it is a bit harder, but many of the kids who decide to go to college do so not just because they are academically ready, but because they have trouble fitting in with kids their own age. Hell, I took many college courses while I was in middle and high school. We even talked about skipping grades, but I liked the social and athletic aspects of middle and highschool too much. Sure, the work was easy... which gave me more time to mess around and be a kid. For these kids, they clearly do not enjoy the social experience of highschool, so they skip it. It isn't like the kid is some sort of mad genius.
At six years old, he memorized pages out of phone books faster than most people could read them as a party trick. As an adult, he invented modern computer memory architecture, made foundational advances in quantum mechanics, invented the entire field of game theory, and helped work on the nuclear bomb.
Two Year Associate's Degree of Liberal Arts (Score:5, Informative)
Once again, I'm not trying to detract from his accomplishments but this isn't exactly as intensive as a four year bachelor's of science.
I was looking for a course plan from that college but could not find one for astrophysics [google.com]
Leaves a bit to be desired. Is it possible to "get" a degree in physics (let alone a special area of physics) with the most advanced course being "Optics and Modern Physics?" I think in my undergrad we touched on relativity in required physics courses with several advanced courses devoted entirely to it and its special forms.
Re:Two Year Associate's Degree of Liberal Arts (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Two Year Associate's Degree of Liberal Arts (Score:5, Insightful)
It's also an incredibly shallow triumph of an Olympic grade platitudinous pandering politically correct aphorism. The kid's teacher says he can "see right through the complications," but he's still been brainwashed into thinking that he's not unusual. What a shame. And how typical.
Parent
Re:Two Year Associate's Degree of Liberal Arts (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Two Year Associate's Degree of Liberal Arts (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Two Year Associate's Degree of Liberal Arts (Score:5, Funny)
But why can't he be an evil genius? The world needs more evil geniuses so that we can get more super heroes.
Wow, I never thought of super-villainy from the supply and demand curve viewpoint. If each superhero kills or incarcerates one super villain every month, each super hero is going to go through a dozen evil geniuses annually. And they can't all be super-duper evil geniuses, because any super-duper evil genius will recognize that mortality rate right quick and is likely to make a different career choice, such as stock trading.
I think an associate's degree at age 11 is just about the right time for something horrible to happen that will corrupt him into turning evil. Perhaps there's a super-duper evil genius right now who is plotting to kidnap his mother to turn him into a revenge-motivated evildoer! Maybe the super-duper evil genius is seeking out dozens of these smart kids in advance, hoping to create enough evil geniuses to serve as cannon fodder for the future superheroes, and for them to serve as a distraction for when he puts his ultimate plan for world domination into motion.
Parent
Re:Two Year Associate's Degree of Liberal Arts (Score:5, Funny)
I think an associate's degree at age 11 is just about the right time for something horrible to happen that will corrupt him into turning evil.
He will discover girls.
Parent
Re:Two Year Associate's Degree of Liberal Arts (Score:5, Insightful)
Why is it a shame? If he was raised to think he was very different from everyone else he might have feigned stupid to fit in. Regardless he'll probably discover in his teenage years that he lacks peers and seek to remedy the situation somehow. Actually with his current ambition to be an actor he may end up facing just as much difficulty as anyone else - and it's not a shame to waste a genius mind on acting. Everyone is entitled to attempt to succeed at their own dreams.
Parent
Re:Two Year Associate's Degree of Liberal Arts (Score:5, Insightful)
> he'll probably discover in his teenage years that he lacks peers
He seems to be doing better with relating to girls than many slashdotters:
http://www.daylife.com/photo/076m3k4g056Fe [daylife.com]
So maybe his social skills are OK.
Parent
Re:Two Year Associate's Degree of Liberal Arts (Score:5, Insightful)
Didn't your mother ever teach you to not use a $20 word where a $5 word will do? ;)
Parent
Re:Two Year Associate's Degree of Liberal Arts (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Two Year Associate's Degree of Liberal Arts (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re:Two Year Associate's Degree of Liberal Arts (Score:5, Funny)
My mother made me master multi-syllabic meta-mutterings merely to modify my meandering mental malapropisms and to manipulate my meager mix of mangled messages into a more magnificent maelstrom of mightily meaningful
Parent
Re:Purple prose... (Score:5, Insightful)
Malarkey.
True genius is making the complicated seem trivial. This means writing as clearly as possible rather than trying for the highest scrabble word score.
There's a time and a place for "waxing loquacious": Academic papers of predefined arbitrary lengths.
Not normal conversation.
Parent
Re:Two Year Associate's Degree of Liberal Arts (Score:5, Insightful)
Being smarter than the vast majority of the population does not mean you have, or ever will, accomplish anything. Better the kid learn humility and challenge himself than become the kind of person who whines about political correctness on the Internet.
Parent
Re:Two Year Associate's Degree of Liberal Arts (Score:5, Funny)
Hey, if a kid that smart tells me I'm just as smart as he is, who am I to argue?!
Parent
Re:Two Year Associate's Degree of Liberal Arts (Score:5, Insightful)
When I was going to high school my best friend at the time couldn't read or write very well - and as for math - he was terrified of it. At 17 he had already pulled his first complete engine and transmission apart and rebuilt them without a single book. He went on to build a business out of rebuilding transport truck transmissions and has about 30 employees under him. He specialized in this because, with his reading skills, he would never be able to become a licensed mechanic. In school, he was always teased as the 'stupid' guy because he, well, from a school standpoint, was.
We've also all met people who are smart as hell but socially inept. Can't make friends and have no idea of what to talk about or how to keep a conversation going. And conversely, people who you like and feel like you are friends with 5 minutes after you meet them. You feel good every time you talk to them. They just make it work and you don't know how.
Skill sets are varied. And he knows it. And for you to call him shallow because he appreciates that and is modest is - well, you said it best - Shallow.
Parent
6.5 billion? What an idiot! (Score:5, Funny)
"there are 6.5 billion people in this world"
The real number is much closer to 7 billion by now.
Is this the kind of idiot we're handing out degrees to these days?
Parent
Re:6.5 billion? What an idiot! (Score:5, Funny)
Never mind. One should probably remind you of the Chinese Relativity Theorem:
No matter how stupendous your triumphs, or how abject your defeats, there are always approximately two billion Chinese who couldn't give a fuck.
Parent
Re:Two Year Associate's Degree of Liberal Arts (Score:4, Informative)
Some how I don't think he is done with his schooling. Yea I was going to make a joke about it just being a community college but thought better of it.
So he has a two year degree at 11. I wonder if he will start adding a few more Associates degrees before he goes to a major university. By the time he is say 16 he could have several associates degrees in a variety of subjects. Actually that would probably be a better choice as long as he doesn't get board.
He could actually end up a very well rounded person by the time he goes off to a major University.
Parent
Re:Two Year Associate's Degree of Liberal Arts (Score:5, Insightful)
A whole pile of degrees, and zero real-life experience.
School ain't the be-all end-all of a person's career.
Here we go again with the "real world" paradigm. Would you rather he did pot, get drunk and have all sorts of cool stories to tell at parties? Or get a few dozen year-long dead end jobs before settling into his permanent cubicle? Although, you are correct in one respect - he should learn as soon as possible that the real world has too many idiots in it (not referring to parent since I don't know his views on this matter) who will devalue any of his intellectual accomplishments unless it can be made into a Lifetime movie while deifying pseudo-celebrities whose only contribution to society is an entertaining way to dig themselves out of shit holes of their creation.
Much better that he finds something he really likes, work really hard at it and build a career for himself. Just because most kids can't make up their minds until they are old farts who think they are still young doesn't mean that this budding genius should deliberately feign indecisiveness so that his peers feel good about themselves. (this last part was a response to several comments thrown around, NOT to parent).
Parent
Re:Two Year Associate's Degree of Liberal Arts (Score:5, Informative)
I teach physics at a nearby community college (not ELAC). Community colleges in the US generally offer a bunch of different flavors of introductory physics. At my school, for instance, there are four different flavors of physics: Physics 130 (gen ed), 205-206 (algebra-based, for biology majors), 210-211 (calc-based, for biology majors), and 221-223 (calc-based, for physical science and engineering majors). I guarantee you ELAC's will match up almost exactly with these, because everything has to articulate properly with the Cal State and UC systems. You don't take more than one of these sequences. If he got an AA in physics at ELAC, presumably he had to take the highest-level physics sequence (probably the one they list as General Physics), plus 2 years of calculus. The physics sequence would include some of the more gee-whiz topics like relativity and quantum physics, but at a fairly basic level.
Parent
Re:Two Year Associate's Degree of Liberal Arts (Score:5, Funny)
Of the ones you mentioned the only real degree is journalism.
You haven't read a newspaper lately have you?
Parent
Games Are a "Waste of Time" (Score:4, Interesting)
There is one thing this boy wonder does not like.
"I feel it's a waste of time playing video games, I feel its a waste of time and it's not helping humanity in any way."
And GamePolitics' Andrew Eisen [gamepolitics.com] notes:
Perhaps a rather odd statement coming from a lad whose passions include martial arts, scuba diving and playing piano. He also aspires to be a movie actor.
I found that amusing that he finds some form of entertainment to (music & movies) to benefit humanity more so than games. I wonder if he's ever played Settlers of Catan?
Re:Games Are a "Waste of Time" (Score:5, Funny)
Everything I needed to learn about wagon-wheel axles I learned from Oregon Trail.
Parent
Re:Games Are a "Waste of Time" (Score:5, Insightful)
Bull. Shit.
He's spouting off what his teachers and parents feed to him.
I can just picture a middle-aged english teacher complaining about kids not reading anymore, and then having "film fridays" for her class.
Remember, it's educational if you call it a film, it's deplorable trash and a waste of time if it's a movie.
Parent
I'm not surprised.... (Score:5, Funny)
Its not rocket science after all
Not a genius? He probably is. (Score:5, Interesting)
I thought genius was defined as something like an IQ in the 98th percentile or higher.
By the way, most preteens don't have the emotional maturity to succeed in a "normal" college social environment. I'm not saying they can't succeed academically, it's just unlikely they will "fit in" in most college social organizations. We all need to be with our social peers.
Community college is a bit different as there's less of a social environment. On-line school is also a huge opportunity for "non-traditional" students such as those too young to drive or old enough to not be carded.
Re:Not a genius? He probably is. (Score:5, Insightful)
Our social peers? Allow me to laugh derisively. Ha. Ha. Ha.
Being different in school SUCKS ASS. At least in college people are sufficiently grown up to not be assholes 100 percent of the time.
Social peers is all to often a nice waying of saying "hang out with the half wits". There is a lot of value being put on "functioning well in groups" that for certain people mean they get to learn that they really don't want to be part of any group that they haven't selected for themselves.
Parent
Re:Not a genius? He probably is. (Score:5, Funny)
And around here you can't even get higher than 5.
Parent
Re:Not a genius? He probably is. (Score:5, Funny)
com'on now, dont you get 30 points automaticlly for writting your name? Maybe an extra 10 if you spell it correctly....
"your name". "it".
Ha! 40 points, bitches!
Parent
oh yeah? (Score:5, Funny)
Think you're smart, kid? Well, I can still kick your ass at teatherball. (I hope.)
Re:oh yeah? (Score:5, Funny)
Certainly you can't beat him at spelling...
Parent
Quote (Score:5, Insightful)
"I don't consider myself a genius because there are 6.5 billion people in this world and each one is smart in his or her own way."
Clearly he has never read Youtube comments.
FTFA (Score:4, Insightful)
I like to study just because knowledge goes to wisdom and only by wisdom can we help the world
Wow, what a kid. All the best to him.
Selection unfairness. (Score:5, Insightful)
However, I'd like to point out that every time we see an extraordinary case like his, there are countless other examples that are half way there. What I mean is that why do only the "super-genius" kids get to advance faster in schools and colleges? What about those people that are smart and dedicated enough to pass through say high-school in 1-2 years, rather than the usual 5-6. Instead these people are forced to stay 5-6 years doing highschool. Same thing with college.
Not everyone is meant to fit into the average of society. That is why we allow people to repeat grade levels and university subjects. So why not go the other way and allow above average students, or students with above average dedication to finish faster. Sounds like a double standard to me.
Also in some cases (Score:5, Insightful)
The option to advance faster is available, but recommended against. School isn't just about mental development, it is social development as well, and that is something that seems to be harder to accelerate.
When I was going in to first grade, my parents were offered the option to skip me ahead a grade. Whatever test it was I took showed I was far enough ahead to skip a grade. Apparently it actually showed I was far enough ahead to skip more than one, but one was all they offered. However my mom (a teacher) decided against it for social reasons.
I'm glad she did. I'm sure I would have done fine academically, school was never all that great a challenge for me. I probably could have skipped grades a few times and graduated at a young age... but to what end? I had enough trouble with socialization, as many geeks do, that wouldn't have helped at all. Especially since one valuable lesson I learned in school is yes, maybe you are smarter than many people, but that doesn't make you better than them. Don't look down at someone just because they aren't as smart as you.
Also, what do you do if you graduate early? University would suck. You'd be practically the only non-adult there. Just loaf around the house for a few years? That's not a good idea.
So really I think it makes sense to keep kids in school until a regular graduation time. Instead, just offer opportunities to learn more. My school was pretty good about there. There was advanced placement classes in some subjects, plenty of extra curricular activities and so on. I think that's a much better idea than trying to rush through school and then be a minor, yet be expected to enter the real world. The growing up part is important too. No need to rush it. You've got lots and lots of time to be an adult.
As for university, I dunno about where you went but where I went you could complete it as fast as you could handle. You can CLEP a lot of stuff, and with a dean's permission take as many units as would fit in your schedule. Completing a degree in 2 years would be an amazing amount of work, but perfectly doable if you could handle the load.
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Community college? (Score:5, Insightful)
Hum, being so precocious, he is probably very intelligent. Why then go to community college? I am not entirely familiar with US education system, but I was under the impression that these places were considered much less challenging.
Re:Community college? (Score:5, Informative)
That said, taking some things like composition or entry-level mathematics tends to be the same regardless of whether you take it at a community college for $40/hour or at a university for $200/hour. Some of the stuff the kid took won't be worth anything anywhere, but he'll have a good chunk of his general education requirements knocked out at whatever university he gets into.
Parent
Re:Community college? (Score:5, Insightful)
They only appear to be more vocational in nature because that's the general impression of associates degrees. Anyone not aspiring to a bachelor's degree or higher would be an idiot for going anyplace other than a community college. I went to a community college but my professors normally taught at universities. I felt that community college was second rate too until I really looked around. I had a professor from CMU who told us that the course he was presenting was the same as he would present for one of his Carnegie Mellon classes. My Astronomy 101 professor was an actual professional astronomer and not just some academia with a big head. My sociology teacher had a doctorate from Yale, also studied in Berlin and Moscow and taught at Pitt. I look back now and see that there was a lot of quality education that went on and any "dumbing down" that was done was more so from the aspect of the students than the teaching staff. As much as college is a way to filter out the dead weight it's no different than public schools in that you get out of it what you put into it.
That said, taking some things like composition or entry-level mathematics tends to be the same regardless of whether you take it at a community college for $40/hour or at a university for $200/hour.
You're right, the current numbers from my CC (CCAC) to PSU was roughly 95 dollars a credit from CCAC to nearly 500 USD a credit at Penn State. These numbers are for a part time student. As a full timer YMMV.
Some of the stuff the kid took won't be worth anything anywhere, but he'll have a good chunk of his general education requirements knocked out at whatever university he gets into.
If this is true than it's his own fault. PSU gladly sent me their transfer sheet for CCAC. All in all I think I took 7 credits that didn't transfer and 4 of those were for a sub-100 course I took just to get back into the swing of things after not having been in a classroom for over a decade. A student at CCAC could take all the courses they need to at 1/5th the price and put themselves in the same arena as a second semester junior at Penn State. I don't think that's a bad step to take for a student unless they have grants and scholarships that require that they be enrolled at a university level institution.
Sorry if parts of this sounded like a rant. I just feel that students shouldn't downplay a community college if they don't have what it takes financially to get into a big school. Maybe I went to an extraordinary community college but my experience is that with a little research and planning a student can get a really great step towards a better education at a discount price and the vast majority of it should transfer. I was in a situation where I simply couldn't afford even the second rate universities when I graduated high school and I let that hold me back because I had a bad taste in my mouth when someone mentioned community college. Like I said, I got out of it what I put into it and I'm grateful that it was there.
Parent
So what (Score:4, Funny)
If I was too young to buy booze and be interested in chicks I probably could have got an A+ too. Show off....
Aspergers (Score:5, Insightful)
I think as we grow more aware of the extraordinary talents and focuses of those that are on the autism spectrum, we will see more of these fast-track through college kids. People with autism spectrum disorders tend to develop intellectually much faster, but when it comes to dealing with the real world, are usually way behind their peers. One big clue is that he sees no purpose to games. The unpredictability is probably overwhelming to him at this point in his development. If he has motor-coordination issues, that could also make him dislike sports.
So, we'll come to accept people like this for who they are, give them an outlet for their early intellectual development, and also provide a society that supports the fact that emotionally they may be far behind their peers. That sounds like a much better world than one that treats ASD's as a disease or freakshow. While is IQ may qualify as genius, I hope his parents realize that he may very well be disabled in other areas of functioning, and give him the proper support. Too often, people like this feel enormous pressure, and get no support for their weaknesses.
Re:Aspergers (Score:4, Insightful)
There exists focused, driven and intelligent people that don't have a shred of aspergers in them you know. At this level of intellectual accomplishment, having a freakish intellect apart from AS is probably the main factor. I agree however that most people who monomanically studies terse subjects probably (by direct observation of my peers) have at least sub-clinical aspergers.
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Re:Aspergers (Score:5, Insightful)
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Humility (Score:5, Insightful)
Sorry this is off-topic but this makes me boil:
Saying "I'm not a genius because there are 6.5 billion people" is not humility, it's selflessness. He's 11, I don't blame him, but why does the article extol this as some kind of virtue. There's nothing virtuous in making deliberately biased assessments against oneself. Humility is about objectively acknowledging fallibility. Saying "Indeed I am very precocious and I do qualify as a "child prodigy", however, you should refrain from drawing too much conclusions as many geniuses were late bloomers, etc". That's humility. Self-dissing isn't.
proof of intellegence (Score:5, Insightful)
No, no. You're assuming he actually means it. More likely is the possibility that when he says "I'm not a genius because there are 6.5 billion people with unique gifts" he knows it isn't true, but is a good way to keep the other 11-year-olds from kicking his smart ass.
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And was never heard from again. . . (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:And was never heard from again. . . (Score:5, Insightful)
That being said, you can still make a difference in the world. A "civil servant" who actually cares about helping other people is an anomaly; try your best to be one. Try not to get frustrated by the fact that for most people it is more about CYA than getting tangible results. And, take it easy on yourself... you're only human after all.
Parent
This is not that unusual (Score:5, Insightful)
I am not sure why this is newsworthy. When I was a freshman in college, one of the kids on our floor was a 14 year old starting his PHd in Computer Science. He already had his bachelors from UC Berkeley. He fit in ok, and we properly corrupted him, and he had his PHd by 17. I know other kids who did similar things. The academic work is not THAT difficult for lots of younger kids. Socially it is a bit harder, but many of the kids who decide to go to college do so not just because they are academically ready, but because they have trouble fitting in with kids their own age. Hell, I took many college courses while I was in middle and high school. We even talked about skipping grades, but I liked the social and athletic aspects of middle and highschool too much. Sure, the work was easy... which gave me more time to mess around and be a kid. For these kids, they clearly do not enjoy the social experience of highschool, so they skip it. It isn't like the kid is some sort of mad genius.
Sometimes (Score:5, Insightful)
Read up on John Von Neumann.
At six years old, he memorized pages out of phone books faster than most people could read them as a party trick. As an adult, he invented modern computer memory architecture, made foundational advances in quantum mechanics, invented the entire field of game theory, and helped work on the nuclear bomb.
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