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> Usually what happens in these stories is that a kid makes something that is a pale imitation of current standards, and the parents use their industry connecti
by throwaway0255 9y ago
> Usually what happens in these stories is that a kid makes something that is a pale imitation of current standards, and the parents use their industry connections to get a PR blast about their awesome kid, that gets the kid a leg up in college or getting a job, and the 'invention' is forgotten.
I think what more often happens is one of the parents are almost entirely responsible for the project, and the kid understands it well but had little to do with its creation/invention/discovery.
If not, then it's quite a coincidence that most of the kids in these stories just happen to have a parent who works in the same field their project was exploring.
Then the parents use their connections to generate news stories about it. It works because these are harmless fluff pieces, and anyone casting doubt on the work of a supposed child is viewed as a cynical curmudgeon, so they mostly go uncontested.
That gets them into a better college, then the project is forgotten and the kid does average from there on out.
I remember a particularly egregious example of this from a few years ago, something about a 9-year-old raising millions of dollars and digging thousands of water wells in Sub-Saharan Africa. Clearly this is BS, but what kind of monster would point out the absurdity of that?
These stories are pretty much always PR tactics by wealthy and/or connected parents to boost the profile of their kid.
- ben_jones 9y agoReminds me of [1]. It's tech's equivalent of the crazy mother pushing her children into beauty pageants. It should not be applauded (in many circumstances). [1]: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-17-year-old-that-yahoo-paid-30-million-was-renting-his-startups-core-technology-2013-3 http://www.businessinsider.com/the-17-year-old-that-yahoo-pa...
- icebraining 9y agoI think what more often happens is one of the parents are almost entirely responsible for the project, and the kid understands it well but had little to do with its creation/invention/discovery. If not, then it's quite a coincidence that most of the kids in these stories just happen to have a parent who works in the same field their project was exploring. I don't understand, why can't the parents be helping and mentoring their kids, without necessarily doing the work for them? I'm a son of two voice actors, and have done some voice acting myself as a 12-year-old. No, it wasn't a coincidence, but I also guarantee you that my parents didn't act on my behalf! I just, you know, learned from them.
- jldugger 9y agoWhile my dad was a programmer, I wouldn't say any of the BASIC programs I wrote at age 11 were world changing.
- icebraining 9y agoRight, neither was I a great voice actor, I never did any characters more important than "Student #4". And I think it's reasonable to be skeptical of the story. But the argument presented above is absurd.
- kafkaesq 9y agoI wouldn't say any of the BASIC programs I wrote at age 11 were world changing. They changed your world, because they got you into programming, and how cool and complicated and frustrating and wonderful that can be an activity. So don't underestimate that aspect.