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Not that you're making bad points, but there's a big difference in acing a math exam vs actually assimilating the various underlying concepts, at least at a uni

Not that you're making bad points, but there's a big difference in acing a math exam vs actually assimilating the various underlying concepts, at least at a university level IME. I know plenty of people who would pass as 'geniuses' by your definition that just cram past problems and get high grades. And honestly if you've been to college you'd know that it's almost impossible for a novel problem you've never encountered before show up on an test. A lot of otherwise intelligent people fairly despise such practices so they adopt inefficient studying habits , failing to complete a set syllabus and achieving subpar results.

username90 6y ago
I didn't say people who ace math exams are geniuses, just that maths makes it very clear that talent is a huge factor for success in the field. So it isn't that STEM students were all told by their parents that they are intelligent and therefore believe that genius is about talent, it is that it is pretty hard to study STEM without noticing the huge difference in talent between people in the field.
- antegamisou 6y ago
  > talent is a huge factor for success in the field. Success in the field as in research? Most certainly so. However I think you're overestimating the 'math IQ' of STEM (under)grads especially considering the large discrepancy among its different subfields. Engineering students (EE/ME/Civil) are systematically 'dumber' maths-wise compared to their science (Maths [duh] or Physics) counterparts. Still, it's quite likely that you do not have to be a genius to be successful at landing a highly-paid, mentally-challenging related job. About parenting, smart math kids may not have had their egos boosted however their parents almost certainly exposed them to science from an early age. This holds true especially for children coming from 'STEM families'.
  - username90 6y ago
    > Still, it's quite likely that you do not have to be a genius to be successful at landing a highly-paid, mentally-challenging related job. I never said otherwise. However you can't be dumb to land those jobs.

username90 6y ago

I didn't say people who ace math exams are geniuses, just that maths makes it very clear that talent is a huge factor for success in the field. So it isn't that STEM students were all told by their parents that they are intelligent and therefore believe that genius is about talent, it is that it is pretty hard to study STEM without noticing the huge difference in talent between people in the field.

antegamisou 6y ago
> talent is a huge factor for success in the field. Success in the field as in research? Most certainly so. However I think you're overestimating the 'math IQ' of STEM (under)grads especially considering the large discrepancy among its different subfields. Engineering students (EE/ME/Civil) are systematically 'dumber' maths-wise compared to their science (Maths [duh] or Physics) counterparts. Still, it's quite likely that you do not have to be a genius to be successful at landing a highly-paid, mentally-challenging related job. About parenting, smart math kids may not have had their egos boosted however their parents almost certainly exposed them to science from an early age. This holds true especially for children coming from 'STEM families'.
- username90 6y ago
  > Still, it's quite likely that you do not have to be a genius to be successful at landing a highly-paid, mentally-challenging related job. I never said otherwise. However you can't be dumb to land those jobs.