4 ms·

As someone said on another story about Zuckerberg, if a person can go from $0 to having a net worth of over $6.9 billion then they are most definitely a genius.

by cb33 16y ago

lotusleaf1987 16y ago
Wealth does not imply intelligence. Some people are at the right place at the right time. People who win the lottery aren't usually geniuses. I'm not saying intelligence didn't help Zuckerberg, I just disagree that wealth=intelligence. There are plenty of poor geniuses out there, like Grigori Perelman who solved the topological conundrum.
- cb33 16y ago
  Comparing winning the lottery to creating a social phenomenon on the scale of Facebook is pretty ridiculous. I'm not sure why people are so against giving this guy his due credit, but I find it very discomforting as an aspiring entrepreneur. I can see how some people could not enjoy Zuckerberg's personality, but that should be separated from what he has created. "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."
  - lotusleaf1987 16y ago
    All I am pointing out is that wealth does not equate intelligence. There are many many intelligent people who do not end up rich. I didn't say Zuck isn't intelligent, I just think that it's only one piece to the puzzle--timing being another crucial aspect, and yes luck in the sense that FB took off virally. I didn't bring up his personality at all so I don't know what you're responding to. Look at Tesla, he died poor, in debt, and not very well respected. Only now is Tesla regarded as the genius that he was. Neither, Einstein or Edison died wealthy.There are many more examples (Socrates, Oscar Wilde, John Milton) I can go on if needed. Not to mention all the unintelligent wealthy people: Paris Hilton, Tom Cruise, Britney Spears, etc.
  - loewenskind 16y ago
    Probably the reason people are against "giving this guy his due credit" is because he seems to have screwed over and betrayed several people to get what he wants. If you don't do that then you wont run into the "problems" [1] he's having. [1] I say "problems" because it's irrelevant. I'm sure he's crying his way to the bank because of all the hate he gets.
- sasvari 16y ago
  Perelman might not be the right example, for him choosing to stay poor by denying to accept the Fields Metal. just by the way ...
  - omaranto 16y ago
    I think refusing the million dollar Millenium prize probably contributed more to his lack of money than refusing the Fields Medal.
sasvari 16y ago
or, as Balzac wrote in his novel Le Père Goriot: behind every great fortune lies a great crime
- brc 16y ago
  ..except that he didn't. What he actually wrote was (one translation): "Behind a great success for which there is no obvious source is a crime that has never been discovered, because it was properly executed." Bear in mind this is a translation from 19th century french to modern english, so there's a lot of wiggle room for getting different meanings. The common, shorter version that is bandied about on the internet drops the important qualifier "success which there is no obvious source for" - in other words, there's only a crime behind a success that has no apparent reason. Also keep in context that this was written ~7 years before the French revolution, about French society. People should keep that in mind when applying that to modern situations. In Facebook's example, I'm sure most will agree the reason for the success is pretty apparent, and thus no 'great crime' was committed.
  - sasvari 16y ago
    actually, this was only meant as a humorous replica to the OP's opinion of Zuckerberg being a genius. never mind ... :-)
    - brc 16y ago
      well, nitpick comments usually tend to get downvoted but this is one of those examples where I thought people would be genuinely interested in the background. It's not intended to be a putdown, more of a 'did you know...' I could fill a whole website with mis-attributed, mistranslated and misrepresented popular quotes. Poor old Einstein has got a lot floating around that he never said.
loewenskind 16y ago
Who are you talking about? Zuckerberg was born to what many would consider rich parents, went to an Ivy school. This isn't a rags-to-riches story it's a story of someone given literally every opportunity to succeed and doing so. But not without crossing some moral boundaries.

As someone said on another story about Zuckerberg, if a person can go from $0 to having a net worth of over $6.9 billion then they are most definitely a genius.

by cb33 16y ago

As someone said on another story about Zuckerberg, if a person can go from $0 to having a net worth of over $6.9 billion then they are most definitely a genius.

lotusleaf1987 16y ago

Wealth does not imply intelligence. Some people are at the right place at the right time. People who win the lottery aren't usually geniuses. I'm not saying intelligence didn't help Zuckerberg, I just disagree that wealth=intelligence. There are plenty of poor geniuses out there, like Grigori Perelman who solved the topological conundrum.

cb33 16y ago
Comparing winning the lottery to creating a social phenomenon on the scale of Facebook is pretty ridiculous. I'm not sure why people are so against giving this guy his due credit, but I find it very discomforting as an aspiring entrepreneur. I can see how some people could not enjoy Zuckerberg's personality, but that should be separated from what he has created. "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."
- lotusleaf1987 16y ago
  All I am pointing out is that wealth does not equate intelligence. There are many many intelligent people who do not end up rich. I didn't say Zuck isn't intelligent, I just think that it's only one piece to the puzzle--timing being another crucial aspect, and yes luck in the sense that FB took off virally. I didn't bring up his personality at all so I don't know what you're responding to. Look at Tesla, he died poor, in debt, and not very well respected. Only now is Tesla regarded as the genius that he was. Neither, Einstein or Edison died wealthy.There are many more examples (Socrates, Oscar Wilde, John Milton) I can go on if needed. Not to mention all the unintelligent wealthy people: Paris Hilton, Tom Cruise, Britney Spears, etc.
- loewenskind 16y ago
  Probably the reason people are against "giving this guy his due credit" is because he seems to have screwed over and betrayed several people to get what he wants. If you don't do that then you wont run into the "problems" [1] he's having. [1] I say "problems" because it's irrelevant. I'm sure he's crying his way to the bank because of all the hate he gets.
sasvari 16y ago
Perelman might not be the right example, for him choosing to stay poor by denying to accept the Fields Metal. just by the way ...
- omaranto 16y ago
  I think refusing the million dollar Millenium prize probably contributed more to his lack of money than refusing the Fields Medal.

sasvari 16y ago

or, as Balzac wrote in his novel Le Père Goriot: behind every great fortune lies a great crime

brc 16y ago
..except that he didn't. What he actually wrote was (one translation): "Behind a great success for which there is no obvious source is a crime that has never been discovered, because it was properly executed." Bear in mind this is a translation from 19th century french to modern english, so there's a lot of wiggle room for getting different meanings. The common, shorter version that is bandied about on the internet drops the important qualifier "success which there is no obvious source for" - in other words, there's only a crime behind a success that has no apparent reason. Also keep in context that this was written ~7 years before the French revolution, about French society. People should keep that in mind when applying that to modern situations. In Facebook's example, I'm sure most will agree the reason for the success is pretty apparent, and thus no 'great crime' was committed.
- sasvari 16y ago
  actually, this was only meant as a humorous replica to the OP's opinion of Zuckerberg being a genius. never mind ... :-)
  - brc 16y ago
    well, nitpick comments usually tend to get downvoted but this is one of those examples where I thought people would be genuinely interested in the background. It's not intended to be a putdown, more of a 'did you know...' I could fill a whole website with mis-attributed, mistranslated and misrepresented popular quotes. Poor old Einstein has got a lot floating around that he never said.

loewenskind 16y ago

Who are you talking about? Zuckerberg was born to what many would consider rich parents, went to an Ivy school. This isn't a rags-to-riches story it's a story of someone given literally every opportunity to succeed and doing so. But not without crossing some moral boundaries.