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Yes, prestigious schools open a huge number of doors. But more importantly, they teach elite mannerisms, standards and beliefs, and prejudices. If you are not
by aj7 5y ago
Yes, prestigious schools open a huge number of doors. But more importantly, they teach elite mannerisms, standards and beliefs, and prejudices. If you are not a true genius (true geniuses can always make their way, but they are rare, even at MIT et al), this knowledge is invaluable and irreplaceable.
I’ll give you an example from my own career. I went to MIT/Berkeley, SB/PhD. But I practically washed out of grad school, not due to lack of ability, but because I hated it. What I did like was making things and explaining things, and had a successful career in the more business aspects of science where successful scientists were the customers and decision makers. I understood, in a fundamental way, how these people thought and what they expected. This was invaluable, and was conveyed, in an irreplaceablely concentrated way, by my being a 30th percentile student in a 95th percentile university.
- strikelaserclaw 5y agoyes, true geniuses are a rare breed and a university gets more benefit from admitting a true genius than vice versa (Did harvard get more out of bill gates or bill gates out of harvard? I would argue Harvard got way more out of that exchange). But for the plethora of above average, hard workers going to a top school is still a pretty good deal.
- whatshisface 5y agoWhat defines true genius?
- aj7 5y ago1) Bachelor’s level by 15-16. 2) Doctorate or equivalent by 20-21. 3) Decent communication and social skills. This is a significant flameout point. 4) Creativity and absolute refusal to work on directed projects by others, except voluntarily for some higher good. 5) Tremendous persistence. 6) Cheerfulness, related to 3) above, increases the degree of genius-ness. What have I left out?
- bradlys 5y agoIf that's what it takes to be a "genius" - what a joke.
- whatshisface 5y agoNot to demand too much rigour for a casual discussion forum, but what you left out were the reasons to believe that was the list and not some other list of different things.
- MrMan 5y agogenius is not defined by accomplishments, believe it or not. geniuses may or may not achieve the things we hope or expect they will. genius is seeing reality, intuition, knowing things even though you maybe didn't even read the book. genius is generative, not always performative. it takes many forms.
- chii 5y agosomeone like Srinivasa Ramanujan. True genius needs to be found, identified and nurtured. If they are born in a poor household, there would not be as big an opportunity to identify them, and society would be poorer for it. Therefore, society should look to try and identify them, and spend resources to get them to flourish.