5 ms·

ironically Peter Thiel has quoted that quote about Rhodes scholars in the class he is teaching at stanford.

confluence 14y ago
I had no idea :D. Do you have a link or can you quote in context. I may have more in common with Peter Thiel than I first thought - or not :D.
- dirtyaura 14y ago
  Class 4: http://blakemasters.tumblr.com/post/21169325300/peter-thiels-cs183-startup-class-4-notes-essay http://blakemasters.tumblr.com/post/21169325300/peter-thiels...
mjwalshe 14y ago
Well seeing as that 3 US presidents (aproximatly 6% of them) have been Rhodes Scollars he might want to re think that :-)
- confluence 14y ago
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States_by_education http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_Unite... states that only Bill Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar. Who are the other two?
  - planetguy 14y ago
    I think you're right, it was just Clinton. Mind you there's only 1794 living Rhodes scholars in the United States and one of them is a former President, so it increases your chance of becoming PoTuS from one in eighty million to one in 1794, and that's not bad. Anyway, the point of all this isn't to pick on Rhodes Scholars but to point out the unreliability of child prodigies. In fact, Rhodes Scholars tend not to be the child-prodigy types at all. The selection process includes not just academics but also sport, social service and character requirements, completely inaccessible to the kid who has spent his entire childhood locked in a room being drilled on calculus. Rhodes Scholars tend to be smart but well-rounded, sociable and a bit conformist, exactly the sort of people who grow up to be politicians. A Rhodes scholarship is no guarantee of success, but if I could buy shares in someone's life I'd put my money into Rhodes scholars rather than teenage prodigies.
    - confluence 14y ago
      Some faulty statistical reasoning there but I do agree with your sentiment that childhood precocity is a poor indicator of future performance.
    - Retric 14y ago
      Your 80 million number is presidents / population and includes 2 week old baby's. Also, 10 presidents did not graduate from collage. Including George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

I had no idea :D. Do you have a link or can you quote in context. I may have more in common with Peter Thiel than I first thought - or not :D.

dirtyaura 14y ago
Class 4: http://blakemasters.tumblr.com/post/21169325300/peter-thiels-cs183-startup-class-4-notes-essay http://blakemasters.tumblr.com/post/21169325300/peter-thiels...

mjwalshe 14y ago

Well seeing as that 3 US presidents (aproximatly 6% of them) have been Rhodes Scollars he might want to re think that :-)

confluence 14y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States_by_education http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_Unite... states that only Bill Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar. Who are the other two?
- planetguy 14y ago
  I think you're right, it was just Clinton. Mind you there's only 1794 living Rhodes scholars in the United States and one of them is a former President, so it increases your chance of becoming PoTuS from one in eighty million to one in 1794, and that's not bad. Anyway, the point of all this isn't to pick on Rhodes Scholars but to point out the unreliability of child prodigies. In fact, Rhodes Scholars tend not to be the child-prodigy types at all. The selection process includes not just academics but also sport, social service and character requirements, completely inaccessible to the kid who has spent his entire childhood locked in a room being drilled on calculus. Rhodes Scholars tend to be smart but well-rounded, sociable and a bit conformist, exactly the sort of people who grow up to be politicians. A Rhodes scholarship is no guarantee of success, but if I could buy shares in someone's life I'd put my money into Rhodes scholars rather than teenage prodigies.
  - confluence 14y ago
    Some faulty statistical reasoning there but I do agree with your sentiment that childhood precocity is a poor indicator of future performance.
  - Retric 14y ago
    Your 80 million number is presidents / population and includes 2 week old baby's. Also, 10 presidents did not graduate from collage. Including George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.