4 ms·

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judit_Polg%C3%A1r http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judit_Polg%C3%A1r Please read the section about her early life. Edit: In case it's

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judit_Polg%C3%A1r http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judit_Polg%C3%A1r Please read the section about her early life. Edit: In case it's not clear: Judit Polgár and her two older sisters, Grandmaster Susan and International Master Sofia, were part of an educational experiment carried out by their father László Polgár, in an attempt to prove that children could make exceptional achievements if trained in a specialist subject from a very early age. "Geniuses are made, not born," was László's thesis. He and his wife Klara educated their three daughters at home, with chess as the specialist subject.

rudiger 15y ago
This doesn't refute the original point. It may even reinforce it! Her father and mother imparted some excellent genes, raised their daughters, and taught them in a way no school can. Judit Polgár and her sister were possibly born geniuses. However, it may show that female geniuses (made or born) can be as good as male geniuses (made or born), if given the chance (which I believe).
- happy4crazy 15y ago
  I guess it depends on what the original point was--I took narrator's point to be that certain people have bigger chess smarts than others, where smarts is something that you're blessed with at birth. I may have read too much into that. And yes, I agree that a sample size of three + massive survivor bias makes for tricky interpretation :) But I think the Polgar story is fascinating; Laszlo had a theory about how to develop genius, and he (rather creepily!) decided to test it out. From Bounce [0]: Realizing that the only way to vindicate his theory was to test it out on his own future children, he started corresponding with a number of young ladies, in search of a wife... A young Ukranian named Klara was one of those women. "His letters fizzed with passion as he explained his theories of to produce children with world-class abilities," Klara, a warm and gentle lady, a perfect counterpart to her husband, tells me. "Like many at the time, I thought he was crazy. But we agreed to meet." What's more, Laszlo would take issue with saying his daughters were born geniuses. As Polgar puts it: "If they had seen the painfully slow progress, the inch-by-inch improvements, they would not have been so quick to call Susan a prodigy." [0] http://www.amazon.com/Bounce-Federer-Picasso-Beckham-Science/dp/0061723762/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1303742665&sr=8-2 http://www.amazon.com/Bounce-Federer-Picasso-Beckham-Science...
samatman 15y ago
If Lazlo Polgar had really wanted to test his thesis, he should have adopted, not had biological children. He is pretty clearly an exceptional intelligence of his own, reading his Wikipedia page. That said, chess is simply not an inherent skill. But small differences in native ability can lead to large differences in interest, hence time spent, hence results achieved.

rudiger 15y ago

This doesn't refute the original point. It may even reinforce it! Her father and mother imparted some excellent genes, raised their daughters, and taught them in a way no school can. Judit Polgár and her sister were possibly born geniuses. However, it may show that female geniuses (made or born) can be as good as male geniuses (made or born), if given the chance (which I believe).

happy4crazy 15y ago
I guess it depends on what the original point was--I took narrator's point to be that certain people have bigger chess smarts than others, where smarts is something that you're blessed with at birth. I may have read too much into that. And yes, I agree that a sample size of three + massive survivor bias makes for tricky interpretation :) But I think the Polgar story is fascinating; Laszlo had a theory about how to develop genius, and he (rather creepily!) decided to test it out. From Bounce [0]: Realizing that the only way to vindicate his theory was to test it out on his own future children, he started corresponding with a number of young ladies, in search of a wife... A young Ukranian named Klara was one of those women. "His letters fizzed with passion as he explained his theories of to produce children with world-class abilities," Klara, a warm and gentle lady, a perfect counterpart to her husband, tells me. "Like many at the time, I thought he was crazy. But we agreed to meet." What's more, Laszlo would take issue with saying his daughters were born geniuses. As Polgar puts it: "If they had seen the painfully slow progress, the inch-by-inch improvements, they would not have been so quick to call Susan a prodigy." [0] http://www.amazon.com/Bounce-Federer-Picasso-Beckham-Science/dp/0061723762/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1303742665&sr=8-2 http://www.amazon.com/Bounce-Federer-Picasso-Beckham-Science...

samatman 15y ago

If Lazlo Polgar had really wanted to test his thesis, he should have adopted, not had biological children. He is pretty clearly an exceptional intelligence of his own, reading his Wikipedia page. That said, chess is simply not an inherent skill. But small differences in native ability can lead to large differences in interest, hence time spent, hence results achieved.