5 ms·

Jeeblus, what's wrong with you people? If she'd gotten a high score on the SAT, would you be telling her how boring and useless the SAT is? High scores on adu

by Eliezer 18y ago

Jeeblus, what's wrong with you people? If she'd gotten a high score on the SAT, would you be telling her how boring and useless the SAT is? High scores on adult tests at a young age, almost no matter the test, are something to congratulate her for. But instead you're dumping on her because of "Microsoft" in the title? If you're going to dump on someone, dump on Microsoft! And even that is a backhanded insult to her. There are just some very bright 9-year-olds out there.

dcurtis 18y ago
This isn't always true. When I was 12, I became the youngest Apple certified tehcnician. And I can tell you very clearly: my parents did not force or encourage me to do that at all. I am an American and I was older than this girl, but I don't think you can totally discount the possibility that she just wanted to do it for herself.
- randomwalker 18y ago
  I assume you meant to reply to my comment above instead of to Eliezer. The article leaves out one important fact (I saw the same news on Engadget but it linked to a more detailed article.) Apparently, the girl broke a record when she was 3 years old by reciting a certain humungous 1300-verse, 1900-year old text written in an ancient version of Tamil. Recently there have been a number of kids doing it at younger and younger ages and getting on TV. That's what prompted my "dog show" comment and I stand by it.
qqq 18y ago
The SAT is kinda boring and useless.
- maurycy 18y ago
  All tests resulting in credentials are kinda boring and useless.
  - DaniFong 18y ago
    Woz read a book about a ham radio operator and was so inspired he built his own radio and took the ham operator test. It seemed that he got a lot out of it. My cofounder and his wife once took the Diplomatic Service Exam. She had wanted to be a diplomat, he joined for support. They got through the final rounds, and it was far from boring! During their time there, they witnessed some incredible undiplomatic behavior from an actual diplomat in the foreign service, freaking out in the cafeteria line. They were quizzed ineptly on the 'canon' of American literature. Finally, (if I recall correctly) they passed the test. It was, however, useless, because all of the jobs went to Reagan's cronies, instead.
randomwalker 18y ago
I'm from the same part of India that this girl is. This kind of crap is very common there. The kids who do this are not necessarily intelligent, they usually just crammed for years. Nor do they have a say in the matter. Everything is orchestrated by the parents. It's like a dog show -- the parents compete using their kids. Needless to say, the kid's childhood and normal development are completely derailed (I've seen it in person). The parents aren't evil; it's just a facet of the hyper-competitive society. The best way to describe it is that it's India's version of the contest in Little Miss Sunshine. The negative comments here don't come close to capturing how messed up this is.
- gruseom 18y ago
  I've seen this kind of thing a lot - it's not limited to India - and completely agree with you that it's almost always the parent(s) pushing the kid, and very sad. Every now and then you see some 11-year-old or 13-year-old finishing an undergraduate degree, paraded in front of foolish journalists who dutifully put out the next "genius" story. Same thing with most musical prodigies - the 9-year old performing with the local philharmonic or what have you. Kids don't care about super-achievement of credentials. Mostly they just want to know their parents love them and to be like other kids. It's parents who perversely put their children through this, to fill their own ego needs. Your dog show analogy is unfortunately apt.
  - DaniFong 18y ago
    Actually, kids can be hyper-focused on credentials. That's why they're so susceptible. The very same behavioral triggers can create obsessions in videogames, especially RPG's. The nice thing about 'real-world' credentials is that they have a path leading out of that mess, whereas videogames often don't.
    - gruseom 18y ago
      I'm unconvinced. Sure, children can internalize anything very quickly - the question is why this rather than that? I'm sure that little girl was very focused on achieving her Microsoft certification. But I'll bet you the task itself was originally handed to her by a parent, and that her motivation had everything to do with pleasing that parent. As for "a path leading out of that mess", the only path I know is growing as a person. What's sad about these manufactured prodigies is that they end up having to do a lot of that the hard way, if they do it at all.

by Eliezer 18y ago

dcurtis 18y ago

This isn't always true. When I was 12, I became the youngest Apple certified tehcnician. And I can tell you very clearly: my parents did not force or encourage me to do that at all. I am an American and I was older than this girl, but I don't think you can totally discount the possibility that she just wanted to do it for herself.

randomwalker 18y ago
I assume you meant to reply to my comment above instead of to Eliezer. The article leaves out one important fact (I saw the same news on Engadget but it linked to a more detailed article.) Apparently, the girl broke a record when she was 3 years old by reciting a certain humungous 1300-verse, 1900-year old text written in an ancient version of Tamil. Recently there have been a number of kids doing it at younger and younger ages and getting on TV. That's what prompted my "dog show" comment and I stand by it.

qqq 18y ago

The SAT is kinda boring and useless.

maurycy 18y ago
All tests resulting in credentials are kinda boring and useless.
- DaniFong 18y ago
  Woz read a book about a ham radio operator and was so inspired he built his own radio and took the ham operator test. It seemed that he got a lot out of it. My cofounder and his wife once took the Diplomatic Service Exam. She had wanted to be a diplomat, he joined for support. They got through the final rounds, and it was far from boring! During their time there, they witnessed some incredible undiplomatic behavior from an actual diplomat in the foreign service, freaking out in the cafeteria line. They were quizzed ineptly on the 'canon' of American literature. Finally, (if I recall correctly) they passed the test. It was, however, useless, because all of the jobs went to Reagan's cronies, instead.

randomwalker 18y ago

I'm from the same part of India that this girl is. This kind of crap is very common there. The kids who do this are not necessarily intelligent, they usually just crammed for years. Nor do they have a say in the matter. Everything is orchestrated by the parents. It's like a dog show -- the parents compete using their kids. Needless to say, the kid's childhood and normal development are completely derailed (I've seen it in person). The parents aren't evil; it's just a facet of the hyper-competitive society. The best way to describe it is that it's India's version of the contest in Little Miss Sunshine. The negative comments here don't come close to capturing how messed up this is.

gruseom 18y ago
I've seen this kind of thing a lot - it's not limited to India - and completely agree with you that it's almost always the parent(s) pushing the kid, and very sad. Every now and then you see some 11-year-old or 13-year-old finishing an undergraduate degree, paraded in front of foolish journalists who dutifully put out the next "genius" story. Same thing with most musical prodigies - the 9-year old performing with the local philharmonic or what have you. Kids don't care about super-achievement of credentials. Mostly they just want to know their parents love them and to be like other kids. It's parents who perversely put their children through this, to fill their own ego needs. Your dog show analogy is unfortunately apt.
- DaniFong 18y ago
  Actually, kids can be hyper-focused on credentials. That's why they're so susceptible. The very same behavioral triggers can create obsessions in videogames, especially RPG's. The nice thing about 'real-world' credentials is that they have a path leading out of that mess, whereas videogames often don't.
  - gruseom 18y ago
    I'm unconvinced. Sure, children can internalize anything very quickly - the question is why this rather than that? I'm sure that little girl was very focused on achieving her Microsoft certification. But I'll bet you the task itself was originally handed to her by a parent, and that her motivation had everything to do with pleasing that parent. As for "a path leading out of that mess", the only path I know is growing as a person. What's sad about these manufactured prodigies is that they end up having to do a lot of that the hard way, if they do it at all.