4 ms·

From little I read, it is not clear if she was comparably intelligent in general or just a fluke in brain that gave her a prototype math co-processor.

scarecrow112 6y ago
> just a fluke in brain that gave her a prototype math co-processor. Would a better word of choice be "predisposition to do arithmetic"? I've been wondering the same with artists in general (painters, musicians, etc.). Would a person without the predisposition be able to practice say Piano/Vocals for years together and reach a certain level of artistry? Any reference to academic studies on this would be appreciated. EDIT: Formatting
- newyankee 6y ago
  I am pretty confident a lot of extreme outliers do have some innate predisposition in any field. It is such that the world beaters have their talent identified, nurtured and perfected at the right age and an outlet created. Also i think it is considered impolite to completely base our intelligence, understanding or creativity on some natural gift nowadays due to some kind of just world fallacy. Although i am still inclined to personally believe that nurture is more important and you can do many good things reasonably well if your specific talent was nurtured well and you did not have some unfortunate mental deficiency that you were born with. Till recently very few people in the world had the right kind of nurture - education. I had a lot of challenges in some fields when in school, however unlike in the Western world the school system in my location was rigid and i could not improve on my weaknesses.
thewhitetulip 6y ago
She has done exceptional calculations and she used to do shows where people got to ask her random number multiplication and they'd verify it with a calculator. She wasn't a fluke. Unfortunately, she didn't contribute to Maths because she didn't have education
- blackoil 6y ago
  No way denying her prowess in calculations. Simply curious if it translates to multi-dimensional intelligence or was it limited to calculations. Also, I am not questioning her general intelligence, but when I said fluke, I meant if growth/difference in some part of brain gave her 1 in a billion intelligence but limited only to mathematical calculations.
  - thewhitetulip 6y ago
    Oh like that? I watched her biopic and she was having general intelligence I think, based on the biopic. She was a jerk to her parents and to her only daughter. But at the end she did patch up with her daughter. I don't think she was outstanding outside maths.
    - adictator 6y ago
      I think that biopic misrepresented her. Assuming you're talking of the recent one starring Vidya Balan.
- mayankkaizen 6y ago
  In Ramanujan's biography, there is a mention of a british guy who was very fast at calculations. He was faster than Ramanujan himself. Unlike Ramanujan, that guy had easy access to all the modern math literature of the time but still he wasn't a mathematician. And Ramanujan became first class mathematician even without any resources or formal education. I think doing calculation is mechanical skill. But gaining insights from those calculations is wholly different skill.
  - thewhitetulip 6y ago
    Yes she was just a fast computer. She never claimed that she is a maths person
devnonymous 6y ago
Right, right, we need to ask this question because well, she's a woman and everyone knows being good with numbers doesn't come naturally to them. So there has to be a brain fluke. So for her to demonstrate true above average intelligence there's got to be more - like perhaps writing books on say homosexuality and also perhaps acknowledge her popularity and care enough about her community to do something useful like stand for election. No sir, a genuine love for numbers just won't qualify her as being comparably intelligent in general.
- blackoil 6y ago
  That good of calculations does not come naturally to man, woman, straight, gay, lesbian... She was one in a billion, question is in what all fields?
  - devnonymous 6y ago
    My sarcasm rose out of the way your question was framed. Seemingly to suggest that the only options are either being gifted in multiple fields or being a fluke by nature of being gifted in only one. Perhaps my comment missed highlighting those facts that she wrote a book on homosexuality back when India didn't even acknowledge it exists and that she contested elections standing against the then Prime minister of India. But even she hadn't why was the question framed as though the only explanation for her abilities, in the case she wasn't a polymath, is fluke?
sbmthakur 6y ago
Don't stress too much. She was good with calculations, just like Kathrine Johnson. https://www.nasa.gov/content/katherine-johnson-biography https://www.nasa.gov/content/katherine-johnson-biography

scarecrow112 6y ago

> just a fluke in brain that gave her a prototype math co-processor. Would a better word of choice be "predisposition to do arithmetic"? I've been wondering the same with artists in general (painters, musicians, etc.). Would a person without the predisposition be able to practice say Piano/Vocals for years together and reach a certain level of artistry? Any reference to academic studies on this would be appreciated. EDIT: Formatting

newyankee 6y ago
I am pretty confident a lot of extreme outliers do have some innate predisposition in any field. It is such that the world beaters have their talent identified, nurtured and perfected at the right age and an outlet created. Also i think it is considered impolite to completely base our intelligence, understanding or creativity on some natural gift nowadays due to some kind of just world fallacy. Although i am still inclined to personally believe that nurture is more important and you can do many good things reasonably well if your specific talent was nurtured well and you did not have some unfortunate mental deficiency that you were born with. Till recently very few people in the world had the right kind of nurture - education. I had a lot of challenges in some fields when in school, however unlike in the Western world the school system in my location was rigid and i could not improve on my weaknesses.

thewhitetulip 6y ago

She has done exceptional calculations and she used to do shows where people got to ask her random number multiplication and they'd verify it with a calculator. She wasn't a fluke. Unfortunately, she didn't contribute to Maths because she didn't have education

blackoil 6y ago
No way denying her prowess in calculations. Simply curious if it translates to multi-dimensional intelligence or was it limited to calculations. Also, I am not questioning her general intelligence, but when I said fluke, I meant if growth/difference in some part of brain gave her 1 in a billion intelligence but limited only to mathematical calculations.
- thewhitetulip 6y ago
  Oh like that? I watched her biopic and she was having general intelligence I think, based on the biopic. She was a jerk to her parents and to her only daughter. But at the end she did patch up with her daughter. I don't think she was outstanding outside maths.
  - adictator 6y ago
    I think that biopic misrepresented her. Assuming you're talking of the recent one starring Vidya Balan.
mayankkaizen 6y ago
In Ramanujan's biography, there is a mention of a british guy who was very fast at calculations. He was faster than Ramanujan himself. Unlike Ramanujan, that guy had easy access to all the modern math literature of the time but still he wasn't a mathematician. And Ramanujan became first class mathematician even without any resources or formal education. I think doing calculation is mechanical skill. But gaining insights from those calculations is wholly different skill.
- thewhitetulip 6y ago
  Yes she was just a fast computer. She never claimed that she is a maths person

devnonymous 6y ago

Right, right, we need to ask this question because well, she's a woman and everyone knows being good with numbers doesn't come naturally to them. So there has to be a brain fluke. So for her to demonstrate true above average intelligence there's got to be more - like perhaps writing books on say homosexuality and also perhaps acknowledge her popularity and care enough about her community to do something useful like stand for election. No sir, a genuine love for numbers just won't qualify her as being comparably intelligent in general.

blackoil 6y ago
That good of calculations does not come naturally to man, woman, straight, gay, lesbian... She was one in a billion, question is in what all fields?
- devnonymous 6y ago
  My sarcasm rose out of the way your question was framed. Seemingly to suggest that the only options are either being gifted in multiple fields or being a fluke by nature of being gifted in only one. Perhaps my comment missed highlighting those facts that she wrote a book on homosexuality back when India didn't even acknowledge it exists and that she contested elections standing against the then Prime minister of India. But even she hadn't why was the question framed as though the only explanation for her abilities, in the case she wasn't a polymath, is fluke?

sbmthakur 6y ago

Don't stress too much. She was good with calculations, just like Kathrine Johnson. https://www.nasa.gov/content/katherine-johnson-biography https://www.nasa.gov/content/katherine-johnson-biography