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>Name one scientific genius born into poverty. Ramanujan

• noisy_boy 6y ago
  Interesting you say that because I was just reading[0] about his life: > Ramanujan (literally, "younger brother of Rama", a Hindu deity[14]:12) was born on 22 December 1887 into a Tamil Brahmin Iyengar family in Erode, Madras Presidency (now Tamil Nadu, India), at the residence of his maternal grandparents.[14]:11 His father, Kuppuswamy Srinivasa Iyengar, originally from Thanjavur district, worked as a clerk in a sari shop.[14]:17–18[15] His mother, Komalatammal, was a housewife and sang at a local temple.[16] They lived in a small traditional home on Sarangapani Sannidhi Street in the town of Kumbakonam. He wasn't born in a rich family but it wasn't poverty either. He did become very poor at certain point in his life due to his inability to focus on anything other than mathematics but then recovered financially as his genius started to be known by more. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srinivasa_Ramanujan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srinivasa_Ramanujan
  • zorked 6y ago
    How did you reach the conclusion that he wasn't born in poverty? According to your own quote, his father was a clerk in a shop in India.
    • MisterBastahrd 6y ago
      Maybe learn about how times have changed. It was completely possible to be a clerk and have a middle class lifestyle in his era. His parents' home is a museum nowadays.
  • strikelaserclaw 6y ago
    Probably the more important point is that he was born into a brahmin family. Brahmin culture is heavily focused on learning and knowledge (a bit similar to jewish culture).
• dudeman13 6y ago
  I think the point of the expression "name one X who fits Y" is expressing that observing X given Y has low probability.
  • willis936 6y ago
    I should know by now that certain audiences will see it as a challenge rather than discuss the point. A pedant would blame me for not stating a more waterproof literal argument.