5 ms·
why is it bad to label somebody ungifted? if i had known before i did not have what it takes to become a good mathematician, i would perhaps not have pursued th
by timwaagh 10y ago
why is it bad to label somebody ungifted? if i had known before i did not have what it takes to become a good mathematician, i would perhaps not have pursued that. maybe i would have saved myself a lot of trouble.
- Jimmy 10y agoThere are many ungifted people who make their livings as mathematicians. Have you already abandoned math? If you haven't given up yet, there are likely things you can do to improve your chances of success.
- iopq 10y ago> There are many ungifted people who make their livings as mathematicians They're still well above average IQ.
- Jimmy 10y agoSure. It depends on what definition we're using for "gifted". Practice may not make you into von Neumann, but it may very well make you into a professional mathematician with stable employment. My intuition is that if someone is interested enough in a career in mathematics that they begin putting regular practice into it, then they're already likely (but not certainly) past the minimum IQ threshold.
- timwaagh 10y agoyeah i did. i finally got my Bsc after five years and then made the switch to programming.
- toast0 10y agoThe problem with labels is "gifted" vs "ungifted" is very often interpreted as "smart" vs "stupid" Another problem is that there's a spectrum of ability/interest being turned into a binary. For those near the threshold of the criteria, this is especially problematic.