Made of tough stuff.

On 12/12/2016 2:29 PM, Phil Lee wrote:
considered Sun, 11 Dec 2016 08:15:38 -0800 (PST)
the perfect time to write:

On Sunday, December 11, 2016 at 8:08:01 AM UTC-8, Phil Lee wrote:


As an example (and probably largely due to genetics), when square
numbers were merely mentioned during teaching multiplication in
primary school (when he was 8 years old), he derived the concept
entirely for himself of square roots, and worked out for himself how
to calculate them long-hand - in less that a week, and from pure
interest in the subject. As he hadn't actually been taught them he
described them as "back-squares", and came to me asking if there was a
faster method for deriving them. To say I was astounded would be an
understatement!
I had to tell him that if he ever did work out a faster way, he would
probably never have to do any other work in his life!

Well I hope you intend to put him through mathematics and physics.

He's done some, but there's no point in trying to teach him what he's
not interested in, and he wasn't really interested in advanced
mathematics.
So he's doing computer game development, which at least uses a fair
bit of what he knows.

Years ago, we hosted a touring cyclist for a couple nights. (I
encountered him when I rode my bike to the grocery and invited him to
stay with us.)

He was a young guy on a cross-country trip, hoping to "find himself" but
in unusual circumstance. Seems he was, quite literally, a mathematical
genius. He was going to university tuition free, and all his professors
were telling him he REALLY needed to devote his life to mathematics
research - to pushing the math envelope, so to speak.

His conflict was that he couldn't see much value in doing something that
would be totally incomprehensible to the average person. He wanted to
devote his life to something that would produce more immediate and
consequential benefits for society. But yet, there was his genius...

So he decided to ride coast to coast to sort it all out. Trouble was,
he was riding west to east, and he still hadn't decided what to do. We
live in Ohio.

I've often wondered what became of him.


--
- Frank Krygowski

On Monday, December 12, 2016 at 9:25:21 PM UTC-8, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 12/12/2016 2:29 PM, Phil Lee wrote:
considered Sun, 11 Dec 2016 08:15:38 -0800 (PST)
the perfect time to write:

On Sunday, December 11, 2016 at 8:08:01 AM UTC-8, Phil Lee wrote:


As an example (and probably largely due to genetics), when square
numbers were merely mentioned during teaching multiplication in
primary school (when he was 8 years old), he derived the concept
entirely for himself of square roots, and worked out for himself how
to calculate them long-hand - in less that a week, and from pure
interest in the subject. As he hadn't actually been taught them he
described them as "back-squares", and came to me asking if there was a
faster method for deriving them. To say I was astounded would be an
understatement!
I had to tell him that if he ever did work out a faster way, he would
probably never have to do any other work in his life!

Well I hope you intend to put him through mathematics and physics.

He's done some, but there's no point in trying to teach him what he's
not interested in, and he wasn't really interested in advanced
mathematics.
So he's doing computer game development, which at least uses a fair
bit of what he knows.

Years ago, we hosted a touring cyclist for a couple nights. (I
encountered him when I rode my bike to the grocery and invited him to
stay with us.)

He was a young guy on a cross-country trip, hoping to "find himself" but
in unusual circumstance. Seems he was, quite literally, a mathematical
genius. He was going to university tuition free, and all his professors
were telling him he REALLY needed to devote his life to mathematics
research - to pushing the math envelope, so to speak.

His conflict was that he couldn't see much value in doing something that
would be totally incomprehensible to the average person. He wanted to
devote his life to something that would produce more immediate and
consequential benefits for society. But yet, there was his genius...

So he decided to ride coast to coast to sort it all out. Trouble was,
he was riding west to east, and he still hadn't decided what to do. We
live in Ohio.

I've often wondered what became of him.

Video games is probably a dead end but if he has the math, moving into another career path is fairly easy.

considered Tue, 13 Dec 2016 07:25:09 -0800 (PST)
the perfect time to write:

On Monday, December 12, 2016 at 9:25:21 PM UTC-8, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 12/12/2016 2:29 PM, Phil Lee wrote:
considered Sun, 11 Dec 2016 08:15:38 -0800 (PST)
the perfect time to write:

On Sunday, December 11, 2016 at 8:08:01 AM UTC-8, Phil Lee wrote:


As an example (and probably largely due to genetics), when square
numbers were merely mentioned during teaching multiplication in
primary school (when he was 8 years old), he derived the concept
entirely for himself of square roots, and worked out for himself how
to calculate them long-hand - in less that a week, and from pure
interest in the subject. As he hadn't actually been taught them he
described them as "back-squares", and came to me asking if there was a
faster method for deriving them. To say I was astounded would be an
understatement!
I had to tell him that if he ever did work out a faster way, he would
probably never have to do any other work in his life!

Well I hope you intend to put him through mathematics and physics.

He's done some, but there's no point in trying to teach him what he's
not interested in, and he wasn't really interested in advanced
mathematics.
So he's doing computer game development, which at least uses a fair
bit of what he knows.

Years ago, we hosted a touring cyclist for a couple nights. (I
encountered him when I rode my bike to the grocery and invited him to
stay with us.)

He was a young guy on a cross-country trip, hoping to "find himself" but
in unusual circumstance. Seems he was, quite literally, a mathematical
genius. He was going to university tuition free, and all his professors
were telling him he REALLY needed to devote his life to mathematics
research - to pushing the math envelope, so to speak.

His conflict was that he couldn't see much value in doing something that
would be totally incomprehensible to the average person. He wanted to
devote his life to something that would produce more immediate and
consequential benefits for society. But yet, there was his genius...

So he decided to ride coast to coast to sort it all out. Trouble was,
he was riding west to east, and he still hadn't decided what to do. We
live in Ohio.

I've often wondered what became of him.

Video games is probably a dead end but if he has the math, moving into another career path is fairly easy.

And the programming and general IT skills he's learning should make
him very employable.

On 12/15/2016 7:23 PM, Phil Lee wrote:
considered Tue, 13 Dec 2016 07:25:09 -0800 (PST)
the perfect time to write:

On Monday, December 12, 2016 at 9:25:21 PM UTC-8, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 12/12/2016 2:29 PM, Phil Lee wrote:
considered Sun, 11 Dec 2016 08:15:38 -0800 (PST)
the perfect time to write:

On Sunday, December 11, 2016 at 8:08:01 AM UTC-8, Phil Lee wrote:


As an example (and probably largely due to genetics), when square
numbers were merely mentioned during teaching multiplication in
primary school (when he was 8 years old), he derived the concept
entirely for himself of square roots, and worked out for himself how
to calculate them long-hand - in less that a week, and from pure
interest in the subject. As he hadn't actually been taught them he
described them as "back-squares", and came to me asking if there was a
faster method for deriving them. To say I was astounded would be an
understatement!
I had to tell him that if he ever did work out a faster way, he would
probably never have to do any other work in his life!

Well I hope you intend to put him through mathematics and physics.

He's done some, but there's no point in trying to teach him what he's
not interested in, and he wasn't really interested in advanced
mathematics.
So he's doing computer game development, which at least uses a fair
bit of what he knows.

Years ago, we hosted a touring cyclist for a couple nights. (I
encountered him when I rode my bike to the grocery and invited him to
stay with us.)

He was a young guy on a cross-country trip, hoping to "find himself" but
in unusual circumstance. Seems he was, quite literally, a mathematical
genius. He was going to university tuition free, and all his professors
were telling him he REALLY needed to devote his life to mathematics
research - to pushing the math envelope, so to speak.

His conflict was that he couldn't see much value in doing something that
would be totally incomprehensible to the average person. He wanted to
devote his life to something that would produce more immediate and
consequential benefits for society. But yet, there was his genius...

So he decided to ride coast to coast to sort it all out. Trouble was,
he was riding west to east, and he still hadn't decided what to do. We
live in Ohio.

I've often wondered what became of him.

Video games is probably a dead end but if he has the math, moving into another career path is fairly easy.

And the programming and general IT skills he's learning should make
him very employable.

I worry about IT in the U.S. There's this internet thing now, and
programmers in other countries work cheap.


--
- Frank Krygowski

On Thu, 15 Dec 2016 22:57:01 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 12/15/2016 7:23 PM, Phil Lee wrote:
considered Tue, 13 Dec 2016 07:25:09 -0800 (PST)
the perfect time to write:

On Monday, December 12, 2016 at 9:25:21 PM UTC-8, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 12/12/2016 2:29 PM, Phil Lee wrote:
considered Sun, 11 Dec 2016 08:15:38 -0800 (PST)
the perfect time to write:

On Sunday, December 11, 2016 at 8:08:01 AM UTC-8, Phil Lee wrote:


As an example (and probably largely due to genetics), when square
numbers were merely mentioned during teaching multiplication in
primary school (when he was 8 years old), he derived the concept
entirely for himself of square roots, and worked out for himself how
to calculate them long-hand - in less that a week, and from pure
interest in the subject. As he hadn't actually been taught them he
described them as "back-squares", and came to me asking if there was a
faster method for deriving them. To say I was astounded would be an
understatement!
I had to tell him that if he ever did work out a faster way, he would
probably never have to do any other work in his life!

Well I hope you intend to put him through mathematics and physics.

He's done some, but there's no point in trying to teach him what he's
not interested in, and he wasn't really interested in advanced
mathematics.
So he's doing computer game development, which at least uses a fair
bit of what he knows.

Years ago, we hosted a touring cyclist for a couple nights. (I
encountered him when I rode my bike to the grocery and invited him to
stay with us.)

He was a young guy on a cross-country trip, hoping to "find himself" but
in unusual circumstance. Seems he was, quite literally, a mathematical
genius. He was going to university tuition free, and all his professors
were telling him he REALLY needed to devote his life to mathematics
research - to pushing the math envelope, so to speak.

His conflict was that he couldn't see much value in doing something that
would be totally incomprehensible to the average person. He wanted to
devote his life to something that would produce more immediate and
consequential benefits for society. But yet, there was his genius...

So he decided to ride coast to coast to sort it all out. Trouble was,
he was riding west to east, and he still hadn't decided what to do. We
live in Ohio.

I've often wondered what became of him.

Video games is probably a dead end but if he has the math, moving into another career path is fairly easy.

And the programming and general IT skills he's learning should make
him very employable.

I worry about IT in the U.S. There's this internet thing now, and
programmers in other countries work cheap.

India is expected to have more programmers than the U.S. (the current
leader in IT) by the end of 2017 and they cost a lot less money to
hire :-)
--
cheers,

John B.

On Thursday, December 15, 2016 at 10:22:57 PM UTC-8, John B. wrote:

India is expected to have more programmers than the U.S. (the current
leader in IT) by the end of 2017 and they cost a lot less money to
hire :-)

And what do you suppose that is supposed to mean?