From Boy Genius to Billionaire

[adrock3215]

Saw this short 4 minute video on CNNMoney about Bill Gates' early life and thought it was interesting. One of my favorite parts of the video was when it talked about Gates being unusually intelligent at a very young age. His mother, trying to get him in the car when going somewhere with the family, called to him "Bill, where are you, what are you doing?" He hollered back up: "Mother, I'm thinking. Don't you ever think?"

Towards the end of the clip, Gates' Dad talks about Bill's certainty of the economic value of Microsoft's products in the face of some criticism, which I found inspiring.

Also on CNNMoney was this slideshow, which has Gates himself narrating a short slideshow with some early pictures.

[EC]

Yea, and now he's so ashamed of his ability to think and make money he's giving his $58 Billion to charity. The guy's messed up in the head.

[DarkWaters]

now [bill Gates is] so ashamed of his ability to think and make money

I definitely think that Bill Gates holds a number of bad ideas as he repeats how it is the "duty" of the wealthy to take care of the needy. However, I do not see any signs of him being ashamed of his ability in spite of him extolling an anti-life idea.

[eriatarka]

Yea, and now he's so ashamed of his ability to think and make money he's giving his $58 Billion to charity. The guy's messed up in the head.

What else is he going to do with it?

He obviously doesnt need that much money to live off, and presumably hes past the stage where he wants to use it to set up another business, so whats the problem?

Edited June 23, 2008 by eriatarka

[Benpercent]

He obviously doesnt need that much money to live off, and presumably hes past the stage where he wants to use it to set up another business, so whats the problem?

Practicality-wise, nothing. The problem here is his motivation, which comes from bad philosophy. Since the word "duty" is involved, I assume it's a Kantian influence.

[dadmonson]

Unusually intelligent at a young age? ehh, I don't know about that. I saw on the show Good Morning America where they were featuring a kid that was in college at the age of 11. The news anchors were calling him a genius and all that good stuff but when they asked him about what he does in a day's time he said that all he does all day is study and do work. He doesn't watch TV, play video games or anything. I think as long as you aren't retarded and you start at a young enough age(For brainwashing, I guess you could say), you are probably capable of "becoming" a genius.

[Chops]

He doesn't watch TV, play video games or anything.

Are you implying that that's a bad thing?

I think as long as you aren't retarded and you start at a young enough age(For brainwashing, I guess you could say), you are probably capable of "becoming" a genius.

You should know the quote: "Genius is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration" (I don't know who said it, some websites claim Edison, some claim Einstein, one claimed some Canadian writer).

[Thales]

Are you implying that that's a bad thing?

You should know the quote: "Genius is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration" (I don't know who said it, some websites claim Edison, some claim Einstein, one claimed some Canadian writer).

Thomas Edison.

[Matus1976]

Unusually intelligent at a young age? ehh, I don't know about that. I saw on the show Good Morning America where they were featuring a kid that was in college at the age of 11. The news anchors were calling him a genius and all that good stuff but when they asked him about what he does in a day's time he said that all he does all day is study and do work. He doesn't watch TV, play video games or anything. I think as long as you aren't retarded and you start at a young enough age(For brainwashing, I guess you could say), you are probably capable of "becoming" a genius.

Science justifies your opinion here as well. It's clear that pretty much any typical human mind can become an 'expert' at pretty much anything with directed and concentrated effort. The earlier you start, the bigger your advantage becomes, and while anyone may not be better than everyone else in the world at virtually anything (which should not be of concern to individualists anyway) virtually anyone can be a high level expert, even genuis level expert, at virtual anything if they put the time and study into it.

Scientific American “The Expert Mind”

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-expert-mind

"The preponderance of psychological evidence indicates that experts are made, not born. What is more, the demonstrated ability to turn a child quickly into an expert--in chess, music and a host of other subjects--sets a clear challenge before the schools. Can educators find ways to encourage students to engage in the kind of effortful study that will improve their reading and math skills?"

“What it Takes to be Great”

Research now shows that the lack of natural talent is irrelevant to great success. The secret? Painful and demanding practice and hard work

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/for...91794/index.htm

- “Scientific experts are producing remarkably consistent findings across a wide array of fields. Understand that talent doesn't mean intelligence, motivation or personality traits. It's an innate ability to do some specific activity especially well. British-based researchers Michael J. Howe, Jane W. Davidson and John A. Sluboda conclude in an extensive study, "The evidence we have surveyed ... does not support the [notion that] excelling is a consequence of possessing innate gifts."

“The Myth of Prodigy and Why it Matters”

http://www.psychologicalscience.org/observ...cle.cfm?id=2026

- “The other way to look at precocity is of course to work backward — to look at adult geniuses and see what they were like as kids. A number of studies have taken this approach, Gladwell said, and they find a similar pattern. A study of 200 highly accomplished adults found that just 34 percent had been considered in any way precocious as children. He also read a long list of historical geniuses who had been notably undistinguished as children — a list including Copernicus, Rembrandt, Bach, Newton, Beethoven, Kant, and Leonardo Da Vinci”.

A thread on it

http://www.objectivistliving.com/forums/in...pic=1909&hl

[EC]

A study of 200 highly accomplished adults found that just 34 percent had been considered in any way precocious as children. He also read a long list of historical geniuses who had been notably undistinguished as children — a list including Copernicus, Rembrandt, Bach, Newton, Beethoven, Kant, and Leonardo Da Vinci”.

Bold mine.

I never thought I would ever see Kant listed among a list of "geniuses" on an Objectivist forum. lol

[Matus1976]

Bold mine.

I never thought I would ever see Kant listed among a list of "geniuses" on an Objectivist forum. lol

Well that's a quote from the article, certainly not my personal opinion!

[Matus1976]

Thomas Edison.

Allegedly Nikola Tesla's response to this was

"If Edison had a needle to find in a haystack, he would proceed at once with the diligence of the bee to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search. I was a sorry witness of such doings, knowing that a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety percent of his labor."