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force_reboot | 9 years ago

While I don't know if this is the right path for the kid, or if he really is a genius (from the article he seems very smart) your comment comes across as mean spirited.

Do you not believe in the existence of genius, or that people vary in intelligence? If not, why do you doubt his intelligence? Terrence Tao is an example of a child prodigy who became a famous mathematician, although I would say winning gold in the International Mathematics Olympiad is a more objective standard than admission to Cornell.

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ktta|9 years ago

I think he/she means to say we never know what they are doing later in life most of the time. I assume you've seen stories about kids who are very intelligent and there would've been news about child prodigies every year since decades so why don't we hear about the ones who are adults today?

My take is that there are those child prodigies making great scientific progress but we don't hear about them because they want to keep their past private.

Although I agree the quotes kinda give a doubtful vibe to the child's prodigy, which I definitely disagree with.

magic_beans|9 years ago

I think the real issue is that once child prodigies turn into adult prodigies, their stories are much less interesting. Of course the WP is going to write a story about a 12 year-old genius, but readers won't be so interested in a 24 year-old wunderkind.