You HAVE to justify this comment. I will never be an Einstein (duh!). Why not, if I'm just as smart as he was?
everyone learns differently and certain circumstances come into play here. biologically, are people born smarter than others? I used to think some people were just wicked smart and possessed a gift or something and you could never be like them. then I realized something. kids who go to HYPS are "normal" people like the rest of us. they study like we all do. they fail exams like we all do. what's the difference? they're over achievers. they push themselves, and they've got solid academic backgrounds. this one girl who turned down an acceptance to Columbia told me that as a child, her dad didn't allow her to watch t.v. at all. He would wake her up at 5 in the morning and she would practice algebra and science until about late in the evening. (of course there were breaks in between). so it's no mystery this such a girl would grow up and find subjects like calc very easy. she spent her entire early years doing nothing but MASTERING the basics.
another supposed, "genuis" who doesn't even use a calculator. he's a good friend of mine. told me himself, as a child, he did nothing but learn from math texts inside out. so is it a mystery that he's ripping through math problems?
Mozart VERY good musician. but let's not forget from the time he could walk, talk, all this boy did was eat, sleep, music, repeat. time devoted to something certainly is a factor. (not sure it's a guaranteed 4.0 though
). from all these people I concluded that, people that we think are untouchable (intellectually) are really no different than us. people aren't born with bigger brains than others are they? that's why I made my statement.
I used to wonder why I would study and a friend wouldn't study as much and he'd get higher grades than me. then I discovered, it's like a review for him, because he learned it already at some point.
But I would like to throw it out there though. it's possible that I can devote every waking second of my time to music for the next 15 years to music and I still wouldn't be a Mozart. but, again, there's nothing biologically that suggests that people are (naturally) smarter than others. we're born not knowing anything. we acquire and gain knowledge as we get older.
I'd like to hear your side, please.