Musings Report #38 9-17-16 How Many Kinds of Genius Are There?
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How Many Kinds of Genius Are There?
Unsurprisingly, it's not too hard to identify who is likely to be a top-tier scientist, STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) academic or inventor: just look at the young students who score in the top .01% of the math SAT test.
"A long-running investigation of exceptional children reveals what it takes to produce the scientists who will lead the 21st century."
How to Raise a Genius: Lessons from a 45-Year Study of Supersmart Children.
The article goes on to discuss the push-pull in the educrat industry over which group of kids should get more attention: those in the upper reaches of innate abilities, or the ones struggling at the bottom.
As correspondent Lew G. observed, it's a false choice: technology increasingly enables us to tailor education to each students' learning preferences and interests.
"Why should there be any choice about encouraging everyone vs focusing on the very superior?
Education should be individualized, which means it should have zip to do with any government. Government does one size fits all, at best."
Lew sent along another interesting article that is related to the study of supersmart kids: What I learned as a hired consultant to autodidact physicists (via Lew G.)
(Autodidact = self-taught)
This article is about amateur scientist adults, almost all male, who think they have an insight into high-level physics. Many are nearing retirement and many are engineers.
The writer, a journalist who specializes in cutting edge physics, observes that the self-taught researchers lack the rigorous foundation needed to actually contribute to such a demanding and dynamic field.
She also observed that many visualize their proposed solution based on spatial descriptions that are not entirely mathematically accurate, and this results in some basic misunderstandings of modern physics.
The study of supersmart kids found a high correlation between these kids' spatial abilities and their math wizardry: high spatial "genius" generates "genius" in a variety of fields.
This reminded me of Einstein's account of how he discovered special relativity: it was a visualization, not a series of formulas. Those followed as he formalized in math what he'd visualized spatially.
If you read his gedankenexperiments (thought experiments) on relativity, you can see how he visualized the relations of space, time, the speed of light and the speed/velocity of objects.
Where else can spatial genius lead other than math? Are we even exploring or testing for this possibility?
Many fields require foundations that are supremely difficult to master: physics is one such field, playing and composing classical music is another. (Try memorizing 45 minutes of complex music and playing it flawlessly with all eyes on you.)
But many others don't require such massive intellectual foundations. Imagine if there were an SAT test for emotional intelligence. Would we start focusing on kids who were supersmart in emotional-intelligence?
Is there a genius for authenticity and integrity? How about for spatial insights that cannot be reduced or formalized to mathematical formulas?
It seems likely that there are many forms of genius, and right now we only measure the few that can be leveraged into great wealth via patents and new technologies that can be commercialized by corporations.
Summary of the Blog This Past Week
On the Process of Awakening 9/17/16
How About Presenting the Facts and Letting Voters Decide Who's "Fit to Serve"? 9/16/16
The Mainstream Media Bet the Farm on Hillary--and Lost 9/15/16
What's the Real Unemployment Rate? That's the Wrong Question 9/14/16
It's Time to Bring Back Bernie 9/13/16
If Everything Is So Great, How Come I’m Not Doing So Great? 9/12/16
Best Thing That Happened To Me This Week
The translators of "A Radically Beneficial World" are in the home stretch, and I'm looking forward to publishing the Spanish language edition of the book.
Market Musings: Interest Rates and TLT
Bond prices and interest rates are on a see-saw: when rates decline, the value of existing bonds rises, as investors will pay a premium to secure the higher yields of existing bonds.
When interest rates rise, bond valuations drop, as investors demand a reduction in value to push the yield up to current rates.
We can see this in the chart of TLT: as rates fell, TLT rose. When rates rise, TLT drops.
It looks as if rates have bottomed, at least near-term. At some point, the cyclical low in rates will reverse, and rates will rise (if history is any guide) for years.
The chart is interesting for another reason: while central banks have held their discount rates steady for months, the bond market is shifting with the flow of capital chasing yields and avoiding risk.
In other words, yields can rise even if central banks are holding their discount rates at zero or negative rates.
From Left Field
The world is paying attention to 'Natto',which contributes to Japanese longevity. -- soy beans fermented with this bacteria have loads of K3 which acts as a clot buster, and also strengthens bones...
Migration in Motion: Visualizing Species Movements Due to Climate Change
Welcome to S.F., the premier assisted living community for Millennials -- a bit of sarcasm is always welcome..
Austerity has caused young men to turn into 'spornosexuals' -- not sure spornosexuals will catch on a buzzword...
Have men polarised into fitties and fatties?
British men are more image conscious than ever, but have one of the highest obesity rates in Europe. What on earth is happening to our bodies, asks Mark Simpson
How the Other Half Lifts: What Your Workout Says About Your Social Class -- another topic that's verboten...
American journalism is collapsing before our eyes --I hope their advert revenues follow suite...
8 Great Japanese Books in Translation That Aren’t by Haruki Murakami -- hard to tell if they're great...
With Japan's Unemployment Rate At 21 Year Lows, "A Hidden Problem" Is Revealed -- MEN DROPPING OUT OF WORKFORCE
Abundance/Scarcity and Equality/Hierarchy: Four Basic Scenarios for the Future
Millennials are obsessed with side hustles because they’re all we’ve got
Increasing Number Of Americans Are "Microdosing" On Psychedelics To Enhance Mental Performance
7 Out Of 10 Millennials Are "Disengaged" From Meaningful Employment -- are Gen Xers and Boomers any more engaged?
"All this in their ignorance they called civilization, when it was but a part of their servitude." Tacitus
Thanks for reading--
charles |
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