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It’s super rare to be intellectually gifted and a world-class athlete. There was an NFL offensive lineman with a published mathematical paper as well, but I did
by awb 5y ago
It’s super rare to be intellectually gifted and a world-class athlete. There was an NFL offensive lineman with a published mathematical paper as well, but I didn’t know about Turing’s physical talents until now.
I don’t know of any other instances of brilliant people being paid or awarded medals for their physical abilities, so I personally found it interesting.
I guess the parent comment was for those of us that were intrigued by the intersection of top-tier physical and mental abilities.
- acdha 5y agoIt’s also a healthy correction for the nerds-versus-jocks dichotomy which was so common for years. There are a non-trivial number of people who actively questioned someone’s technical competency if they were athletic or assumed that the only way to be a successful academic was to grind everything else out of their life.
- jamincan 5y agoMy experience is that high-achievers in one area are often high-achievers in other areas as well. For academics as well as athletics, individual ability matters, but the discipline and work-ethic that most high-achievers have translates across fields.
- acdha 5y agoYes - also simply the circumstances: if you’re in a position to do either well, you probably don’t have serious chronic health problems, family demands, poverty, etc. That doesn’t make it easy but it makes it possible to focus on something more than survival, much as how coming from a financially stable family makes it easier for someone to take a gamble on a startup rather than a safer job at a big company.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- mncharity 5y agoThere's https://news.mit.edu/2019/student-john-urschel-math-football-0515 https://news.mit.edu/2019/student-john-urschel-math-football... .