5 ms·

This applies to academics as well. A lot of people have stories of being the best in their class/school at something, but when they get to college they are aver

by ptd 7y ago

This applies to academics as well. A lot of people have stories of being the best in their class/school at something, but when they get to college they are average, or even below average because they never had to deliberately study.

seisvelas 7y ago
ESR wrote a semi-famous email to Linus Torvalds about exactly this phenomenon: http://lwn.net/2000/0824/a/esr-sharing.php3 http://lwn.net/2000/0824/a/esr-sharing.php3
agota 7y ago
I think this is a serious issue for intelligent people. The curriculum is tailored towards people of average intelligence, so if you are one, two, or three standard deviations above that, you won't be under pressure to develop a work ethic because you can get good grades without it. Of course, if your intelligence is above average, then you probably are interested in a career that attracts other intelligent people. And then you are in a serious trouble, because now you are in an environment where everyone is of similar intelligence, so you don't have your competitive advantage anymore, plus some people have a work ethic that you lack. And even if you are still a standard deviation above most people, there are likely other people who are at the same level as you, and they might have a work ethic. I think this is something that people who have intelligent children need to pay attention to.
matwood 7y ago
I wasn't the best in HS, but I never had to study...ever. Got to college and nearly failed out my first semester while I taught myself how to study.
bertr4nd 7y ago
A related thing happened to me in grad school: I had always done well in academics, and I even had a strong work ethic in addition to “natural” talent. But I had never really needed to exercise creativity in an academic domain, and I more or less fell flat on my face when I had to define my own novel problems. Even after grad school, in industry, I’ve been much more of a strong executor than an idea generator.

by ptd 7y ago

seisvelas 7y ago

ESR wrote a semi-famous email to Linus Torvalds about exactly this phenomenon: http://lwn.net/2000/0824/a/esr-sharing.php3 http://lwn.net/2000/0824/a/esr-sharing.php3

agota 7y ago

I think this is a serious issue for intelligent people. The curriculum is tailored towards people of average intelligence, so if you are one, two, or three standard deviations above that, you won't be under pressure to develop a work ethic because you can get good grades without it. Of course, if your intelligence is above average, then you probably are interested in a career that attracts other intelligent people. And then you are in a serious trouble, because now you are in an environment where everyone is of similar intelligence, so you don't have your competitive advantage anymore, plus some people have a work ethic that you lack. And even if you are still a standard deviation above most people, there are likely other people who are at the same level as you, and they might have a work ethic. I think this is something that people who have intelligent children need to pay attention to.

matwood 7y ago

I wasn't the best in HS, but I never had to study...ever. Got to college and nearly failed out my first semester while I taught myself how to study.

bertr4nd 7y ago

A related thing happened to me in grad school: I had always done well in academics, and I even had a strong work ethic in addition to “natural” talent. But I had never really needed to exercise creativity in an academic domain, and I more or less fell flat on my face when I had to define my own novel problems. Even after grad school, in industry, I’ve been much more of a strong executor than an idea generator.