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Imagine every kid had had a maths professor that demonstrated live research in the classroom, like the Japanese teacher that June Huh benefitted from - who know

by jll29 1y ago

Imagine every kid had had a maths professor that demonstrated live research in the classroom, like the Japanese teacher that June Huh benefitted from - who knows, the world may be full of similar talent, we will never know. We should remember not to just present results, but to teach, demonstrate and live how to get there more. It's not even abour rich vs. poor education - almost all go through the whole system never seeing this, and for June Huh, sleeper maths genius, meeting that one person changed everything!

pm215 1y ago
There's definitely scope for doing more of that. But notice also that of the 200 students who also got that opportunity alongside him, 195 stopped attending those lectures after just a few weeks; we don't know about the other 4 but I'm guessing they didn't all change their life trajectories as a result. So you're looking for needles in haystacks, and if you do too much of it you're providing an experience that 95% of your audience concludes is a waste of their time.
- smackay 1y ago
  The path of progress is strewn with needles.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
wvh 1y ago
I'm a trail runner. When I look at the ultra runner community, there definitely is a sense that some people have gamified their ancient brains and mastered the skill of short-term inconvenience to obtain long-term success, and it translates to many areas of life. I don't think it's unlikely that somebody is successful in multiple areas; surely you need some natural ability to reach the top in any specific discipline, but if you learn to apply yourself and persist, clearly that can help you in many areas, regardless of innate talent. My point being that maybe it's not unique sleeper inborn talent, but just learning grit, persistence and well, not being stupid, that will lead to success in life. If one thing doesn't hit, try another. So maybe you don't become a poet, but a math genius, or a soccer player, or a dancer; something else than a TV consumer.

by jll29 1y ago

pm215 1y ago

There's definitely scope for doing more of that. But notice also that of the 200 students who also got that opportunity alongside him, 195 stopped attending those lectures after just a few weeks; we don't know about the other 4 but I'm guessing they didn't all change their life trajectories as a result. So you're looking for needles in haystacks, and if you do too much of it you're providing an experience that 95% of your audience concludes is a waste of their time.

smackay 1y ago
The path of progress is strewn with needles.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

wvh 1y ago

I'm a trail runner. When I look at the ultra runner community, there definitely is a sense that some people have gamified their ancient brains and mastered the skill of short-term inconvenience to obtain long-term success, and it translates to many areas of life. I don't think it's unlikely that somebody is successful in multiple areas; surely you need some natural ability to reach the top in any specific discipline, but if you learn to apply yourself and persist, clearly that can help you in many areas, regardless of innate talent. My point being that maybe it's not unique sleeper inborn talent, but just learning grit, persistence and well, not being stupid, that will lead to success in life. If one thing doesn't hit, try another. So maybe you don't become a poet, but a math genius, or a soccer player, or a dancer; something else than a TV consumer.