4 ms·

I can't figure out if Wolfram is a brilliant scientist or a brilliant carney.

• pmarreck 5y ago
  There's a certain type of "success trap" where one's first success is so significant that they don't ever need to figure out how to work with other people (or at least people who are peers and not underlings), and I think that's where the "carney" element comes from, where you're sort of drunk on your own hubris (regardless of actual merit)
  • queuebert 5y ago
    Exactly. It's like he assumes that everything he does is brilliant, when in reality most people think Mathematica kind of sucks and cellular automata are flat out useless. Probably related to being a child prodigy and always being told how smart he is.
    • lioeters 5y ago
      That reminds me of a quote about arrogance/confidence/self-respect.. > I am persuaded that no one ever achieves anything worth-while in this world unless he has so great a respect for his work that he compels all other men to respect it. Apparently this comes from an article published in 1922 by an anonymous author. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28509935 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28509935
    • copperx 5y ago
      Can you expound a bit on "Mathematica kind of sucks"?
• jonas21 5y ago
  Why not both?