Local 12yo off to Jr. High errr.... Cornell Engineering. (Dallas: home, school)

[EDS_]

Dallas Morning News:
Talk about smart: 12-year-old from Grand Prairie heads to the Ivy League | Dallas Morning News

Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...ays/?tid=sm_tw


Outstanding!

[platon20]

I find it interesting that all of these child prodigies eventually turn out to fail to live up to expectations.

How many child prodigies have won Nobel prizes or made some kind of stupendous genius-level contribution? There have been at least 100 child prodigies over the last 50 years, yet I can think of only 1 or 2 who made a profound genius-level contribution to their field.

Sure, they all end up way beyond average, achieving things at a young age like a PhD from MIT or Caltech but considering where they started in life I would have expected even more from them. Once the uniqueness of their age wears off and they are an 18 year old working in a lab, you never hear anything else about them.

Sho Yano is a good example. He graduated from the MD/PhD program at the University of Chicago in 2011 at age 21, the youngest MD and MD/PhD graduate in the history of the United States. You would have expected major scientific contributions from him by this point in his career yet a pubmed search shows only a handful of publications, none of which are particularly high impact. Sho Yano is now just an above-average pediatric neurology resident, but certainly not showing the genius-level impact that we all assumed that he would have.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by platon20

I find it interesting that all of these child prodigies eventually turn out to fail to live up to expectations.

How many child prodigies have won Nobel prizes or made some kind of stupendous genius-level contribution? There have been at least 100 child prodigies over the last 50 years, yet I can think of only 1 or 2 who made a profound genius-level contribution to their field.

Sure, they all end up way beyond average, achieving things at a young age like a PhD from MIT or Caltech but considering where they started in life I would have expected even more from them. Once the uniqueness of their age wears off and they are an 18 year old working in a lab, you never hear anything else about them.

Sho Yano is a good example. He graduated from the MD/PhD program at the University of Chicago in 2011 at age 21, the youngest MD and MD/PhD graduate in the history of the United States. You would have expected major scientific contributions from him by this point in his career yet a pubmed search shows only a handful of publications, none of which are particularly high impact. Sho Yano is now just an above-average pediatric neurology resident, but certainly not showing the genius-level impact that we all assumed that he would have.

Just a few off the top of my head and cheating a little to your point:
Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Bizet, Saint-Saens and a good number of other composers and musicians.

Newton, Gauss, Euler, Hertz, Bohr (sp?), Tesla, Curie, Schodinger, Hawking, von Neumann, Nash, Wiles, Turing, von Braun and many other math and physics types.

John Stuart Mill (a prodigy and later an idiot), JM Keynes, Milton Friedman

I'd give Yano some slack. Maybe he'll hit the research harder after residency and fellowship.

[tcualum]

Why do you they have to live up to your measures to be considered "successful?" My husband came to the US at 14 from another country to attend a university (he majored and math and engineering and minored in physics) and live in the dorm. He applied to MIT and other prestigious universities but they didn't believe his application was truthful and that a 14 year old from his country would be sending in an honest application. All he had with him was a suitcase and a boombox. He now has a BS, MS and co-owns two companies. He's also happily married, owns his own home and has 2 happy kids. Most people would think that's a great life if they didn't know his past and his supposed potential.

Our older son is smarter than my husband. When he was young though we made a conscious effort to not turn him into a prodigy or a show pony. Too many prodigies these days burn out too early. We encourage him to pursue his intellectual interests but really want him to be happy and socially well adjusted. When you have a kid who's far off the bell curve in either direction it's tough to figure what's best for him.

[BLDSoon]

Originally Posted by platon20

I find it interesting that all of these child prodigies eventually turn out to fail to live up to expectations.

How many child prodigies have won Nobel prizes or made some kind of stupendous genius-level contribution? There have been at least 100 child prodigies over the last 50 years, yet I can think of only 1 or 2 who made a profound genius-level contribution to their field.

Sure, they all end up way beyond average, achieving things at a young age like a PhD from MIT or Caltech but considering where they started in life I would have expected even more from them. Once the uniqueness of their age wears off and they are an 18 year old working in a lab, you never hear anything else about them.

Sho Yano is a good example. He graduated from the MD/PhD program at the University of Chicago in 2011 at age 21, the youngest MD and MD/PhD graduate in the history of the United States. You would have expected major scientific contributions from him by this point in his career yet a pubmed search shows only a handful of publications, none of which are particularly high impact. Sho Yano is now just an above-average pediatric neurology resident, but certainly not showing the genius-level impact that we all assumed that he would have.

Because the truth is most truly smart people... Genius ones especially, couldn't give two cents worth of thought to achievement. At least not in a traditional sense. Success for them tends to be a side effect of their genius not a goal. Most of them in fact never achieve any mind blowing level of financial success. ( note the geniuses of old...how many of them were actually well to do in life?)

In reality they'd rather plunge head first into the deepest depths of whatever subject they are interested in. For that reason the vast majority of genius level people end up in academia or research. Two not very high paying professions compared to others.

Truth is it doesn't take genius level knowledge to make money but it does take that kind of knowledge to cure cancer or come up with the next fuel or to figure out how to live on mars. And for that reason on I'm personally okay with these geniuses diving deep into their books to figure out things we cannot fathom. Their contributions will certainly be more needed and far reaching than us getting a few more billionaires.

[mSooner]

Well since he seems ready and will be living with his parents, good luck to him. I sort of feel like he will miss out on a lot of really important non-academic life experience though :/

[UnfairPark]

I just pity this soon to be teen. I would rather keep him in a gifted school near Cornell with his peers and let him attend some classes at university online or during summers. If he wants to do some research work then hook him up with some Cornell professor. Parents seem obsessed with his giftedness. He must be much more than his IQ.

Well, he isn't my child so guess his parents get to decide for him and they are probably doing what seems right to them.

[mkdude_08]

Originally Posted by platon20

I find it interesting that all of these child prodigies eventually turn out to fail to live up to expectations.

How many child prodigies have won Nobel prizes or made some kind of stupendous genius-level contribution? There have been at least 100 child prodigies over the last 50 years, yet I can think of only 1 or 2 who made a profound genius-level contribution to their field.

Sure, they all end up way beyond average, achieving things at a young age like a PhD from MIT or Caltech but considering where they started in life I would have expected even more from them. Once the uniqueness of their age wears off and they are an 18 year old working in a lab, you never hear anything else about them.

Sho Yano is a good example. He graduated from the MD/PhD program at the University of Chicago in 2011 at age 21, the youngest MD and MD/PhD graduate in the history of the United States. You would have expected major scientific contributions from him by this point in his career yet a pubmed search shows only a handful of publications, none of which are particularly high impact. Sho Yano is now just an above-average pediatric neurology resident, but certainly not showing the genius-level impact that we all assumed that he would have.

Then this kid is clearly a total loser.