3 ms·
Are we still proliferating the myth that you have to be exceedingly smart to be a physicist? The only thing that makes a physicist a physicist is that they didn
by bowsamic 4y ago
Are we still proliferating the myth that you have to be exceedingly smart to be a physicist? The only thing that makes a physicist a physicist is that they didn't give up. Sure there are amazing geniuses out there, but a majority of physicists (including myself) are just average people who did not drop out when it got tough.
And, the only reason I didn't drop out is because I was scared to. I did not know what I would do otherwise.
- bena 4y agoI forget where I read this, so bear with me. 125ish is the minimum IQ range to be mentally capable of understanding anything. It's not _that_ far off the norm. It's an exceptionally bright person. It's like 90th-95th percentile. You're 1 in 10 or 20. And that's to do anything. The absolute limit of our understanding can be comprehended if you are "pretty smart". It's why Feynman and Hawking didn't really give a shit about IQ. It doesn't unlock any more doors. It might get you to them faster, but at the end of the day, you gotta put in the work. And that's where we do fail our brightest. The most important lesson to learn is that hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.