The Boy Genius of Ulan Bator

An anonymous reader writes "A lot of us grew up tinkering with electronics and cherishing the one or two reference books we could find that explained exactly what we wanted to know. Nowadays, with internet access widely available and online educational materials coming into their own, we're going to see a lot more kindred spirits coming out of places all over the globe. The NY Times has a story about one such, a lad from Mongolia who hacked together complex sensors at the age of 16 and was one of the 0.2% of students to get a perfect score on MIT's first Massive Open Online Course. From the article: 'Battushig, playing the role of the car, moved into the sensor's path to show me how it worked, but it was clear he was not entirely satisfied with his design. "The use of the long wires is very inconvenient for my users," he said, almost apologetically, clasping his hands together in emphasis. He realized that contractors would be reluctant to install the siren in other buildings if they had to deal with cumbersome wiring, so he was developing a wireless version. ... Battushig has the round cheeks of a young boy, but he is not your typical teenager. He hasn't read Harry Potter ("What will I learn from that?") and doesn't like listening to music (when a friend saw him wearing headphones, he couldn't believe it; it turned out Battushig was preparing for the SAT). His projects are what make him happy. "In electrical engineering, there is no limit," he said.'"

Comments

limits

[Anonymous Coward]

"In electrical engineering, there is no limit,"

In real life, there is.

Re:limits

[war4peace]

Oh my, the genius boy who doesn't like music.
Therefore, if you listen to music, you're dumb :)
(doesn't matter which music...)

Re:limits

[Nerdfest]

Exactly what does Justin Beiber have to do with music? I refer to him as an example of pop culture. Yes, I realize he is marketed as having something to do with music, but that's quite questionable.

Re:limits

[Zero__Kelvin]

Yes. I agree. It is all the fault of those damn killjoys like Einstein, Coulomb and Newton!

Re:limits

[Zero__Kelvin]

Wrong story there bud.

Re:limits

[war4peace]

TFS says "doesn't like listening to music" - which implies he doesn't like listening to ANY music. That sounds like the guy's missing a lot in life.
justin bieber is not music - so he might even listen to justin bieber and still hold TFS true... - but I digress.

Re:limits

[Anonymous Coward]

Scienrology helps people okay? It helps peopel and if you're attacking it that means you must be afraid that people are going to get betetr! It's simple!

Re:limits

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course someone put them there.

Limits were put in place by Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz in the 17th century. Every calculus student knows this.

Re:limits

[Optali]

Kids in Mongolia don't do that, they prefer to gather in huge hordes and prepare to invade the fuck out of the rest of the planet.

Re:limits

[Bite The Pillow]

He seems singularly focused, very into one area at the expense of others. It is likely he is mildly autistic, or Asperger's. Functional, he just doesn't seem to like things outside of facts. No music, apparently isn't a casual reader.

While he is undoubtedly missing out, perhaps a mind uncluttered by fanciful notions and devoted to rooting out more facts is what we need.

So sad to see all of the people here saying he is missing out on parts of life and wanting to "fix" him. He is clearly different, and fixing him may actually break his focus. Until he has problems as a result, best to let him be. He may have no problems at all and be perfectly happy.

Re:limits

[war4peace]

Oh, I don't want to "fix" anyone, i just dislike it when these "particularities" are presented in such a way that they become "a model to follow".
Something like "see, kids, what you can accomplish if you don't listen to music?"

It's the difference between Stephen Hawking presented as a genius despite the fact he can't walk, and Stephen Hawking presented as a genius because he can't walk.
TFS says "he's not your typical teenager" - DOH. No genius teenager is typical - simply because the typical teenager is not a genius :)

Must we call him a genius?

[KingTank]

When we could simply call him "Master"?

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[Anonymous Coward]

When we could simply call him "Master"?

OK. "Master, you are a genius."

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[hairyfeet]

We'll be calling him burnout or a shrink in 5 years sadly. No music, no recreation at all? Yeah I've met a few of those types over the years and...well it never ends well. It is like they bottle everything, using the pressure to gain forward momentum, problem with that? No vessel can contain infinite pressure so sooner or later they blow and when they do its ugly.

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[Anonymous Coward]

When we could simply call him "Master"?

Master of Ulan Bator? Only if he's "hands on" ;-)

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[Anonymous Coward]

We'll be calling him burnout or a shrink in 5 years sadly. No music, no recreation at all?

You are confusing earplugs with listening to music and/or recreation. You never see me listening to recorded music, either. Particularly not while I am working. Or driving a car. Or doing anything else requiring concentration. Or, realistically speaking, ever. Listening to music requires attention for me. Because music makes sense. If I need to space out between concentration, I practice music. That's ok. It accomplishes something. Listening to music, in contrast, just burns attention for nothing.

And it's badly paced, too: I could never listen to an audio book: I'd go crazy with impatience. Reading books, in contrast, is fine. When I practice and/or play music, the pacing is mine. It may even be slower than music I listen to, but if it is, it is so for a reason.

There are places for eating dinner who play music. Mostly I can deal with that fine. But not if there's things like baroque music or so. Either I focus on the music or on the food. Not listening to the music is similar to throwing the food on the floor. It just does not make sense.

People confuse music with background noise and get uncomfortable when there is silence. That's really sick, and of course it lends a heavy advantage to braindead music.

Sorry for the rant, but I'm annoyed at people who think the right way to consume music is to treat it like white noise.

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[fustakrakich]

Another Genghis Khan in the making? The kid's in puberty. Wait until he's in male menopause. That should slow him down a bit.

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[Anonymous Coward]

TFA mentions his interest in photography, tennis and billiards, so it is unfair to say he does not have any time for recreation. As for music, not everyone is interested in music so much that they would bother to actively seek out opportunities for listening music. I am also an electronics guy and I don't listen to music either (instead, I have a passion for movies).

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[hedwards]

Pretty much. You look at the geniuses that are identified and lauded at that age and few of them are still doing well 20 years later.

The brain does decline somewhat with age, but not to that extent. At some point you hit a wall you can't figure out and if you haven't developed other interests, then you can spend 50 years banging your head up against it without noticing the door on the other end of the room.

But, more than that, this kind of focused genius isn't particularly resilient in the long term. The brain needs to have various stimuli in order to function best. Sometimes the answers you need are only accessible with mental flexibility.

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[zullnero]

There are plenty of prodigies who grow up to continue being quite important members of their particular profession. It's not automatic that someone born with a gift will implode and go berserk just because you see it in movies and you had that "one friend" who was smart but then he found drugs.

A lot of people make this exact point as a result of insecurity. No one really enjoys knowing that there's someone out there who's beating the pants off you and they haven't even gone to college yet. At some point, you just learn to let it go and do what you can.

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[Anonymous Coward]

Insecurity has nothing to do with it. I've got an IQ that measures in the 140s despite learning disorders, a head injury and significantly less working memory than average. I've literally never met anybody that's brain functions on the level mine does.

And I still take note of the fact that these prodigies rarely ever maintain that lead for long. Having a high IQ and talents like this is hardly the only factor. The people who wind up leading their fields are typically much broader in their abilities. Sure, they might not be the best in their area, but they've spent enough time with other disciplines that they can tell which way the wind is going and make appropriate plans.

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[aevan]

Have to agree with you. I can't fall asleep to music: I can narrow focus to just the music (and so be 'relaxing' as opposed to multitasking)...but it hits a certain plateau and from there never reaches sleep. At this point it's the music that's keeping me awake.

For background noise, just leave a fan on.

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[Belial6]

I agree. Music is like many things. It is fine is moderation. The current mentality is to make it a defining aspect of ones life. It is unhealthy.

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[Zero__Kelvin]

" just because you see it in movies and you had that "one friend" who was smart but then he found drugs. "

I'm his one friend you insensitive clod!

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[Anonymous Coward]

And the fact that you're commenting on it makes you sound like your jealous. I don't give a shit what you think of me, but the fact of the matter is that the GGGP has a point, these kids tend to burn themselves out before they've had a chance for their brain to peak.

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[hedwards]

Stress and pressure do horrible things to the brain. Not to mention that the choices these kids are pressured into making so they don't waste their gift tend not to be particularly good for the hypothalamus either.

I don't personally care, by the time I was 8 I was already smarter than most of the adults I came into contact with. And at 32 I'm smarter than I've ever been. Mostly because I wasn't identified and single out. Sure, I haven't been able to make the most of what I have because I lack access to the things I'd need to do so, but it's allowed me time to mature and gain meaningful understanding of most areas of inquiry that I've come into contact with. Truth be told, most people are too stupid to grasp even the basics of economic theory, what do I care if they respect my intelligence?

Specialism is great, but it's not a viable long term strategy if you want to maximize the impact you have. You do marginally better in a few areas, while giving up a huge amount you could have contributed in many others. Not a tradeoff that I'd like to make.

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[TheSeatOfMyPants]

The vast majority of people can actively enjoy music in the background *and* pay attention to what they're doing -- it doesn't become "white noise" just because we're not focusing all of our attention on it. Music also actually helps us enter the 'zen' state that results in markedly improved performance; at that point, we'll be focused on the task, but fall right back out of the zen state if someone shuts the music off. That's why music is commonly found playing in situations that require a great deal of concentration: performing surgery, playing a tough video game, writing fiction, etc.

It's definitely not "wasted" attention, in other words: it makes use of the unused/left-over attention that otherwise goes unused, and when well-chosen to fit the person's preferences & mood, it brings pleasure, enhances their emotional state, and helps them perform better.

It really sounds like you have to concentrate more than most other people do in order to make sense of certain sensory input. I have that problem when it comes to spoken communication: I must concentrate intensely to understand what's said (a condition known as an auditory processing disorder) or to formulate a spoken response, and I know a few people whose visual processing is so crappy that they have to consciously concentrate in order to drive a car even after 10 years of driving.

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[hairyfeet]

The candle that burns twice as bright burns twice as fast, truth is truth.

Ironically by doing everything in moderation I'd say I'm doing better now creatively than i was 20 years ago, at least as far as my music is concerned. Part of that has to be finding a damned good guitarist/singer/songwriter to work with and a nice tight drummer and sticking with the 3 piece format which makes me have to really bust my ass to make the band sound full with so few instruments, but I'd also say knowing when to step away and clear my head REALLY helps.

I have seen many push themselves like this kid, both in IT and in music and ya know what? It never ends well, they either burn out of fizzle out. I drive my GF nuts with all my sayings but truth is truth and "everything in moderation" is something frankly all should try to live by IMHO. I would love to see a follow up when this kid is 30, I bet he'll have had a burn out or a breakdown.

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[kermidge]

When walking, just walk.
When sitting, just sit.
Above all, don't wobble.

--Old Zen

"People confuse music with background noise and get uncomfortable when there is silence." That, or flip the TV on automatically when entering a room, not to watch, but for the whatever. It's as though they can't stand to be alone with themselves. I find that a bit scary. I'm not so pure, though; I'll sometimes put on a side while doing stuff around the pad.

I'm rooting for the kid. Just make sure he's getting in the daily dozens or such, otherwise let him play.

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[terryk29]

The vast majority of people can actively enjoy music in the background *and* pay attention to what they're doing -- it doesn't become "white noise" just because we're not focusing all of our attention on it. Music also actually helps us enter the 'zen' state that results in markedly improved performance; at that point, we'll be focused on the task, but fall right back out of the zen state if someone shuts the music off. That's why music is commonly found playing in situations that require a great deal of concentration: performing surgery, playing a tough video game, writing fiction, etc.

For me it is the exact opposite, and I'm coming to accept I'm in the minority. If I need to concentrate (e.g. soldering, writing code, or doing math), I need silence. Even when I worked as a bike mechanic, I had to exact compromise on the radio volume from my coworkers*.

*The only way I could explain it was that it "grabs my brain" or "pushes things out of my brain". Say I'm working on a bike: I notice something I must check next, after I'm done what I'm doing. Then I notice something else that must be checked, but any time later. (I'll jot the 2nd one down when I get the chance, but right now I can't let go of what I'm in the middle of.) Now I realize I need to choose a more appropriate tool for what I'm doing right now (notice my stack is now 3 deep), so I turn to the workbench, just as the radio blares out the even more annoying part of that song or a sponsor starts yelling about used cars, and - BLAM, I've lost one of those 3 items. I have to go back physically and mentally to the same point and quickly rerun things to try and get it back. In short, it breaks the continuity or "flow" and I'm less efficient. (And more "on edge" too, as I try to tune it out.)

I know it also reduces my skills of observation - e.g. when doing something mechanical, noticing defects or that a manual process didn't go as properly as it should have.

And forget about doing anything clerical - most music (or esp. annoying commercial radio) "pushes numbers out of my brain" that you need to keep a hold of for several seconds at a time.

At another workplace, a colleague in the next cubicle was working on ACAD drawings - while rocking his head to something heavy metal-like. I just can't get that. Meanwhile, I'm working on some technical document, and had to ask him to turn it down.

Aside from the volume, in general it may be that music with vocals is worse for this effect.

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[MisterSquid]

I don't personally care, by the time I was 8 I was already smarter than most of the adults I came into contact with.

With all due respect, I doubt you are as smart as you believe you are if you honestly believe this to be true.

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[volmtech]

What's wrong with a sprinter? He has to do it NOW. Most great minds do their best work in their 20s or early 30s. He may blaze a trail for the more pedestrian to follow.

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[Optali]

Don't worry, when the Horde comes we will have more than enough opportunities to call him Master, ROFL

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[hairyfeet]

Because unlike an athlete, like say a sprinter or boxer, where every second past maturity counts against them, somebody who has a brilliant mind can do great things for decades if they don't burn themselves out first? Look at Sagan, Hawking, hell Einstein did some of his best work in his later years.

Again sayings exist for a reason, and "the candle that burns twice as bright burns twice as quickly" has endured so long because it is truth,again I've met a few of these "wunderkind" in my time and they nearly always end up a burnout or a basket case before they are 30. Ironically you mentioned sprinting when in reality a better description of life would be a marathon and if you use all your energy you would be screwed?

Re:Must we call him a genius?

[PingPongBoy]

The candle that burns twice as bright burns twice as fast, truth is truth.

Ironically by doing everything in moderation I'd say I'm doing better now creatively than i was 20 years ago, at least as far as my music is concerned. Part of that has to be finding a damned good guitarist/singer/songwriter to work with and a nice tight drummer and sticking with the 3 piece format which makes me have to really bust my ass to make the band sound full with so few instruments, but I'd also say knowing when to step away and clear my head REALLY helps.

But look at it from this perspective. In a few years there will be cars that drive themselves everywhere. A complex action that seemed so out of reach of automation will be reduced to the execution of an algorithm working well in day to day situations. So it isn't farfetched to imagine that learning itself may be reduced to the execution of an algorithm and people everywhere, let alone machines, can become practically overnight experts if they just follow the steps of the algorithm.

So the hand wringing over too much pressure on kids may need to stop because there will be a lot of pressure on everyone. People will have to fluidly move from domain to domain taking on whatever comes along. There may be many advanced tools to help smooth the transition from one problem solving event to the next but those who try to stay in a niche may find it more like a rut.

Hero of this story is the high-school principal

[JoeyRox]

Not taking anything away from this young man's abilities but what struck me most about the article was his high school principal, Enkhmunkh Zurgaanjin. To quote from the article:

The answer has to do with Battushig's extraordinary abilities, of course, but also with the ambitions of his high-school principal. Enkhmunkh Zurgaanjin, the principal of the Sant School, was the first Mongolian to graduate from M.I.T., in 2009, and he has tried since then to bring science and technology labs to his students. "My vision," he told me, "is to have more skilled engineers to develop Mongolia. To do that, everything has to start from the beginning."

Here is a man who graduated from M.I.T. but rather than entering the private sector to cash in on his hard work he instead went back to his home country to bootstrap his fellow countrymen. Kuods to this man.

Re:Hero of this story is the high-school principal

[phantomfive]

It's a kid with a mentor who works hard. The right person in the right situation.

Re:Hero of this story is the high-school principal

[Anonymous Coward]

Western arrogance at it's worst.

Western spelling at its best.

Re:Hero of this story is the high-school principal

[quax]

Born in Germany, worked several years in the US, currently live in Canada. International enough for you?

Re:Hero of this story is the high-school principal

[quax]

And you are very cynical.

Re:Hero of this story is the high-school principal

[Anonymous Coward]

Kuods to this man

Is that the local currency?

Nothing ever comes of these "child geniuses"

[dryriver]

Seriously - Every couple of weeks there is news that some 12 - 18 year old spark somewhere in the world has come up with something ingenious. Anything from devices that create/save electricity, to some bio-trick that means that treated food doesn't spoil or decompose easily. And then comes - drumroll - NOTHING AT ALL. We never hear a word about these young geniuses again. We never see ingenious products/inventions created by them on the market. In all likelihood these "young geniuses" get recruited by some multinationals, and disappear into the belly of said multinationals, into some company lab, never to be heard from again. And its been this way for a while. The only "magic innovation" from a young genius that HAS made it into the market recently is Euclideon's Geoverse software. And with that one, everybody said/swore it was "vapourware", despite realtime videos showing the Euclideon 3D tech working as it should. ------ Wake me 5 years from now when these "young geniuses" have contributed something tangible to the real world; Something you can buy/lease/use in some way. My 2 Cents....

Re:Nothing ever comes of these "child geniuses"

[Anonymous Coward]

You're absolutely right. I was a childhood genius and now look at me. I'm posting on /.

Re:Nothing ever comes of these "child geniuses"

[ArchieBunker]

Agreed. They all probably burn out quickly and settle into something mundane. Same goes for all these breakthroughs that are written about. How long have we been hearing about 3 dimensional data storage?

Re:Nothing ever comes of these "child geniuses"

[DNS-and-BIND]

Wow, way to shit all over someone who is working hard and shows promise. What do you do on weekends, go to the old folks' home and shout at them for failing in life because they ended up in an old folks' home?

Re:Nothing ever comes of these "child geniuses"

[MaWeiTao]

Given that it's impossible to track the lives of all these individuals how do you know how they turn out later in life? Just because you haven't heard of it doesn't mean they're not doing significant work.

The problem with you, and most people for that matter, is that they've been educated by Hollywood to expect that everything important must be immersed in fanfare and drama. Most of it goes unnoticed until one day; holy shit, we're all driving cars, or browsing the internet or buried in our smartphones. The vast majority of human progress has been a very deliberate and iterative process.

But you unfortunately, in your mind this kid will be a failure because he'll never live up to your Iron Man-fueled fantasies.

Re:Nothing ever comes of these "child geniuses"

[asmkm22]

It's not at all impossible to track the lives of these people. And you're right that they very well might be going on to do great work that never see's the light of day for most people. Which is exactly what everyone else does. I think his point is that there are lots of smart people doing really great things out there, but the media has an over-fascination with these extreme cases where the kid ultimately ends up like everyone else.

You see it in the high school sports world as well. There will be some article about a 7 foot tall 9th grader who's tearing up the competition and is destined for the NBA and then... nothing. You actually can find out what happened with a little research, and it usually ends up being something like they weren't nearly as good in practice as they were on paper, at the higher levels of the sport. So they go on with life and maybe even play some college basketball, but eventually settle into something completely unrelated, but more realistic.

Re:Nothing ever comes of these "child geniuses"

[c0d3g33k]

I'd say you missed the point then. You accuse dryriver of needing Hollywood-fueled fanfare and drama, when in fact dryriver was questioning the need to play the "child genius" card every time a young person does something exceptional. That means nothing without some sort of followup so the second half of the story is told, hopefully involving living up to the early promise.

Re:Nothing ever comes of these "child geniuses"

[SteveAstro]

Some kill themselves.
Like Aaron Schwarz

Re:Nothing ever comes of these "child geniuses"

[jonfr]

You can only store data in 3 dimensions in quartz like materials. The problem is writing and reading and I just don't think the technical level is just there yet. They are now testing 5 dimensional storage. I am not sure how stable that is (due to quantum factors that is impossible to predict for) in the short and long run.

I am sure they are going to work out the issues in the end. It might take 30 to 100 years until they do so. I am not up to speed on how the progress has been going in this research.

Information:
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2013/jul/17/5d-superman-memory-crystal-heralds-unlimited-lifetime-data-storage
http://www.southampton.ac.uk/mediacentre/news/2013/jul/13_131.shtml

Re:Nothing ever comes of these "child geniuses"

[Zero__Kelvin]

"You can only store data in 3 dimensions in quartz like materials. "

Presumably you mean 4 dimensions. We store data in 3 dimensions all of the time.

Re:Nothing ever comes of these "child geniuses"

[jonfr]

Data stored on hard drives are just in the physical form of the universe they are in. While our environment is in 3-D that might not apply on quantum level. I am not sure yet, since I currently do not study in this field of science. I am just interested in it as is.

Re:Nothing ever comes of these "child geniuses"

[russotto]

Other things we don't ever see:
Practical flying cars
Huge (10x or more) advances in battery technology (charge time, power density, energy density)
Practical and scalable renewable energy
Practical fusion power
Decent low-power lighting (that's why they had to mandate it)
Diesels that don't smoke.
Novel cures for diseases, put into practice.

Technological progress is going slow. It's all been hidden by the semiconductor revolution, but everything else is grinding to a halt.

Re:Nothing ever comes of these "child geniuses"

[volmtech]

If you were "really" smart YOU would be the boss. Your boss must be fairly smart, he knew enough to hire you didn't he. I worked with a genius co-worker. He was banned from a DoD job maintaining ballistic missiles when he told his supervisor the next days entry code, and was right. We made a good team, We worked together for two different bosses who were self-made millionaires, they hated him because he wanted to do things his way and was always right. Someone who is always right is annoying as Hell.

Re:Nothing ever comes of these "child geniuses"

[Kage-Yojimbo]

We've got enough of those really tall guys working in my company to make a decent pickup basketball team. Those guys are working in marketing and engineering. I asked a couple of them about their basketball skills; one couldn't make the college team. The other played a few years with his school then realized he was not physically talented enough to advance. That's despite being seven feet tall. People don't realize that professional basketball players (or any kind of high level professionals) are the top tier of the top tier. Those 1% of the 1% are the people you hear about in the news.

Re:Nothing ever comes of these "child geniuses"

[GodGell]

This is completely off-topic, but try to re-read your post imagining you were reading someone else's. You are boiling over with frustration, and I'm not convinced it's all other people's fault like you say. People are inconceivably diverse not just genetically but behaviorally, emotionally, in the way they think about and perceive the world and other people in it, as well as in how they communicate. Since most people do not have any traits (like being a genius) that stand significantly out from the rest, they have an easier time finding and learning the efficient ways to get their thoughts across to others similar to them (ie., the majority), but they too have to put effort into actively trying to picture the other person's frame of reference in order to do that well.
People like you, me, and a large portion of the Slashdot/programmer crowd, often have a harder time with this, and if you know for certain that your intelligence is radically different (notice I did not say 'better', but 'different' - being "better" is irrelevant here) from that of the people in your environment, it's not hard to see it's going to make communication more difficult. Most geeks and true geniuses never find a way to deal with this well, ending up in more and more isolation as they go, ending up as depressed, frustrated jerks who belittle everyone else who they perceive to be less intelligent than them. (Despite the fact that anyone considered a "genius" would certainly know intelligence is not a simple one-dimensional continuum from dumb to smart.)
It seems to me like you are destined for the same fate, unless you can put in the effort to change how you relate to others. I'm basing this assumption on the fact that you seem to be convinced everything that is wrong about your work environment is the fault of those "stupid" other people, and that all your frustration with them is clearly a simple consequence of you being "too smart for your own good". I'm sure someone as smart as you can see what a load of bull that is! ;)

I try to avoid situations where my intelligence may peek out, as it ultimately results in frustration.

Yet, here you are writing a lengthy post basically amounting to how you are a certain genius and how much smarter you are than everyone around you, and how much your life sucks because of that. Well, think about it: if we consider increased intelligence to be an enabler, a trait that lets you perceive more detail, recognize patterns easier and seize more opportunities in life (which I believe it is), and that people with less intelligence than yourself are thus more generally restricted in their range of options, isn't it then your responsibility, with all your extra capabilities, to find where the bottleneck is, to figure out how to communicate your ideas better? (You can start with a specific person like your boss, but if you do figure it out it will be so much better you probably won't stop there;])
Or (failing that), simply to minimize friction between you and them? After all, you're saying you have "too much" intelligence and this is causing problems with the "stupid people", yet if a "stupid" person can integrate themselves just fine, shouldn't you be able to do the same thing and then some?

I think the primary reason many of us geeks are exhibiting the same antagonistic attitude towards others as you are, is that the vast majority of people - whose minds do not contain the oceans of wisdom, knowledge and insight we believe our minds do - simply get more practice interacting with people throughout their lives, as they do not have anywhere near as many options to occupy themselves as we do... Good social interaction (where you actually strive to understand each other) is a very rewarding experience (even - or especially - for an introvert), except you and I are additionally capable of finding or creating entirely new rewarding experiences for ourselves, even when all we have are the contents of our own skull. Imagine losing that abil

Suspicious

[Squiddie]

He hasn't read Harry Potter ("What will I learn from that?")

Confirmed for replicant.

Harry Potter?

[DNS-and-BIND]

Wow, it really says something about the mentality of the reporter..."you're young therefore you read Harry Potter." WTF? These are not universal values, they are just YOUR values from inside the bubble.

Hurrah for his response, by the way. Stick it to 'em.

ignorant and arrogant

[Anonymous Coward]

He hasn't read Harry Potter ("What will I learn from that?") this is both an ignorant and arrogant statement. an intelligent individual would read the books and then say there was nothing to learn from them, yet this kid assumes there is nothing to learn from it. the fact of the matter is that one can learn something from anything, it's merely dependent on perspective. he could learn things like loyalty, courage, conviction, friendship....many life lessons that he won't learn unless he pushes himself outside of his comfort zone of academic achievement. just like he needed help from others to make his reality a possibility.

"I want to make good things for humans."

how can he do good things for humans if he doesn't understand humans or have perspective? but the kid isn't smart enough to figure that out. some genius.

Re:ignorant and arrogant

[Anonymous Coward]

It's true. I read a Dan Brown book. I learned that Dan Brown should not be allowed to write books.

Re:ignorant and arrogant

[VAElynx]

One doesn't need to taste a shit to tell it isn't chocolate.

Re:ignorant and arrogant

[bytesex]

Harry Potter is crap, man. I don't know why you would defend that.

Re:ignorant and arrogant

[naasking]

He hasn't read Harry Potter ("What will I learn from that?") this is both an ignorant and arrogant statement. an intelligent individual would read the books and then say there was nothing to learn from them, yet this kid assumes there is nothing to learn from it.

Or maybe he reached his conclusion via a logical argument, instead of an assumption like you're assuming. For instance, the fact that non-fiction books collectively contain more knowledge than fiction books, leads to the inevitable conclusion that if one desires to optimize the acquisition of knowledge, one is better served by avoiding fiction in preference to non-fiction.

Re:ignorant and arrogant

[K. S. Kyosuke]

He hasn't read Harry Potter ("What will I learn from that?") this is both an ignorant and arrogant statement. an intelligent individual would read the books and then say there was nothing to learn from them, yet this kid assumes there is nothing to learn from it.

Uhm...what about English? Great stuff for the adolescent foreigner with a good dictionary.

Re:ignorant and arrogant

[Anonymous Coward]

I used to think this way too until I stumbled into literature in my 30s...people who think fiction is not important probably don't understand it and I say that as someone who used to say "why read a story some guy made up when I could read a history book of real stuff", boy i sure looked like an idiot saying that but I thought I was so smart at the time.

Re:ignorant and arrogant

[manu0601]

He could just observe that people around him wasted time reading that books and learnt nothing. You do not need first hand experience to judge books, their reputations helps you making choices.

Re:ignorant and arrogant

[AlphaWoIf_HK]

This sounds similar to, "You'll understand when you're older." Guess what? It's just as idiotic.

and no music?

[nten]

Not only has mathematical ability been correlated with music, people who don't enjoy music scare me a little. Someone once said that liking at least one song by Nina Simone was a prerequisite for humanity. Shakespeare regularly had his antagonists show an indifference to music. I think he might have been on to something.

Re:and no music?

[TeknoHog]

Not only has mathematical ability been correlated with music, people who don't enjoy music scare me a little. Someone once said that liking at least one song by Nina Simone was a prerequisite for humanity. Shakespeare regularly had his antagonists show an indifference to music. I think he might have been on to something.

I don't listen to music very much, and it always annoys me when people ask "what kind of music do you like", as if it were some basic human need like eating. People like different things, and I sometimes resist the urge to ask "what programming language you prefer" or "which is better, Xilinx or Altera?" in return. Now, I actually enjoy music a lot, but I enjoy a bazillion other things too, and I don't want to spend a considerable part of my time consuming some product someone else made.

Re:and no music?

[Nerdfest]

Perhaps he listens to music he creates himself in his head.

Re:and no music?

[Nerdfest]

Love your sig, by the way. I'd also add "buggy", in that it frequently doesn't behave as intended.

Re:and no music?

[Zero__Kelvin]

"I don't listen to music very much, and it always annoys me when people ask "what kind of music do you like", as if it were some basic human need like eating. "

No. They ask it because you are literally a freak if you don't like any kind of music. There are people who don't feel, but it is common to ask someone how they are feeling. The reason is - what for it - if they don't have any feelings then they are a freak.

I am of course excluding deaf people. I once heard someone ask a deaf person what kind of music she liked. I was appalled, but it didn't seem to bother her a bit.

Re:and no music?

[ruir]

I personally think Nina Simone is a terrible example ;)

Re:and no music?

[Cederic]

i know deaf people that like music. I'll ask them what sort they like.

Being deaf doesn't mean that you can't identify vibration, notice a beat or fail to see a performance.

Re:and no music?

[TeknoHog]

No. They ask it because you are literally a freak if you don't like any kind of music. There are people who don't feel, but it is common to ask someone how they are feeling. The reason is - what for it - if they don't have any feelings then they are a freak.

Hmm, actually, the really annoying question is "what kind of music do you listen to", as if everyone had a hobby of actively listening to music. Of course, most people are exposed to a lot of music, and they can form opinions without an active interest.

On another note, I think my relationship with music is rather complex, and I don't like giving a brief answer consisting of this or that popular genre.

Re:and no music?

[TrekkieGod]

I don't listen to music very much, and it always annoys me when people ask "what kind of music do you like", as if it were some basic human need like eating.

I don't listen to music very much either, and have trouble answering that question myself. When my entire office was exploding with the twerking news and asked me if what I thought about Miley Cyrus's performance my answer was, "back up. Who's Miley Cyrus, and what performance?"

That said, music is a basic human need like eating. If you've never listened to any song that emotionally moved you, even though you had no idea what song it was or who was playing it, you've missed out on a basic human experience. You should work to correct that, and go in search of interesting music. It doesn't mean it needs to become the most important thing in your life, it doesn't mean you need to know every popular artist and be able to enter into a conversation about music with other people. It most certainly doesn't mean you need to like the same music as other people. You just need to have that experience, at least once, of really identifying with a piece.

Think of it this way: your brain has awesome circuitry you haven't used. It's capable of a deep emotional connection with language and sounds. You're not curious what that's like?

Re:and no music?

[TheSeatOfMyPants]

You don't need to have it as a hobby. Most people listen by having enjoyable music playing while doing something else, just as friends might hang out bantering while having lunch together, aware of (and taking pleasure from) both how the food tastes *and* what their friends are saying/doing. A few minutes ago, for example, I was rewriting a comment while also enjoying a particular song off Songza and remembering how much fun I had seeing the band at a small benefit concert a few years ago.

Re:and no music?

[AlphaWoIf_HK]

No. They ask it because you are literally a freak if you don't like any kind of music.

I suppose it is probably unusual, but there's absolutely nothing objectively wrong with not liking any sort of music.

Re:and no music?

[AlphaWoIf_HK]

Life is less pleasant without music

That depends on the person.

Re:and no music?

[ShoulderOfOrion]

Xilinx.

Re:and no music?

[TeknoHog]

You don't need to have it as a hobby. Most people listen by having enjoyable music playing while doing something else

I guess at this point I should mention a lifelong interest in making music, which includes composing and producing new material. It might explain why listening to music is kind of a problem - if it's somewhere in the background, it's either too interesting or too annoying, either way it takes a lot of my attention. I also like to avoid too much listening simply to keep my own musical ideas as intact as possible. It's really a double-edged sword, I enjoy music on a lot of levels, but I also get easily annoyed and distracted by bad, unwanted music.

For example, I can't stand working in an office where background music is playing. It's a bit like the idea of having naked women at the workplace - yes, I do enjoy watching them, but they are not exactly helping with the work. But I guess I'm generally the kind of person that really likes to focus on one thing at a time.

Re:and no music?

[Zero__Kelvin]

There is nothing objectively wrong with being a sociopath either.

Re:and no music?

[AlphaWoIf_HK]

No, there isn't. I just don't see the point of calling people "freaks." Homosexuals may be "freaks" in that they're a minority, but just about everyone already knows that, so why bother using such wording?

Re:and no music?

[Zero__Kelvin]

Stop being afraid of words. They are just words. They have definitions. Your belief that I insulted someone is a direct consequence of your lack of understanding of the word. The word freak has a definition.

"Homosexuals may be "freaks" in that they're a minority"

That would be true if the word had anything to do with minorities, but it doesn't. The reason you shouldn't use the word to describe them is because it makes you sound under-educated, or to use another word that people don't understand, ignorant.

Re:and no music?

[Zero__Kelvin]

No. It doesn't. I mean, unless of course the someone is under-educated like you are. If you read my wording I said the person was literally a freak. That means that the word can only mean what it literally means in the context of my statement. It isn't open to your ignorant interpretation.

Re:my buddy's step-mother makes $83 an hour on the

[Laxori666]

This is truly amazing! I just happen to have $14 million locked in a bank account. Unfortunately all my savings are there, and I cannot afford the bank fee to release them, which happens to be $21,619! If you could please forward me the sum I will unlock the account and give you $1 million as compensation.

Re:He's a kid

[Zero__Kelvin]

That's weird. I got two hits.

Re:He's a kid

[K. S. Kyosuke]

He'll find the limits soon enough when he finally grows up. He'll still be playing with LEDs and wires at 40

...on board of a spacecraft to Mars... :)

Really bad choice of article quote

[wonkey_monkey]

From the article: 'Battushig, playing the role of the car

Huh? What car?

moved into the sensor's path to show me how it worked

How what worked?

"The use of the long wires is very inconvenient for my users,"

Well, obviously.

He realized that contractors would be reluctant to install the siren in other buildings

What siren?

TL;DR: Next time, pick a paragraph from the article that makes sense in isolation.

Re:Really bad choice of article quote

[elrous0]

I hear he's starting a company in his garage.

Stop linking to fucking NYT articles

[c5402dc53929211e1efb]

Really fucking informative. Die.

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Get the name right

[myowntrueself]

Ulan Bator is based on a misunderstanding. The correct spelling is Ulaanbaatar.

It means 'Red Hero' and, surprisingly, predates Communism despite its reference to the color red. The city is named for a historical character whose real name, deeds etc have been forgotten. All that it is remembered is that they were a woman.

Re:Get the name right

[myowntrueself]

its not exactly 'in English', its a transliteration and transliterations can be improved.

A Supergenius?

[Anarchduke]

I'll believe it when he build me a hoverboard. He has 2 years.

Re:my buddy's step-mother makes $83 an hour on the

[Anarchduke]

That is truly heartbreaking. I tell you what. My best friend is the minister of finance in texas. we could get you the 21000 easily, but we need first the money to purchase a fack identity card to get past the security protocols. For your security in this matter, just send me 500 dollars using a prepaid visa card and we will implement our plan. Then we can send you your money and we will all be rich.

How can one be proud of a lack of interest ?

[GuB-42]

IMHO, a true genius never dismiss things. Not reading Harry Potter is OK if the reason is "yeah, I may take a look later, but I have to finish this..." but saying "what will I learn from that ?" as a rhetorical question is a bit close minded.
After all, there *must* be something to learn from a book that made its author a billionaire, even if it is not evident at first.

Re:my buddy's step-mother makes $83 an hour on the

[Laxori666]

I would love to help you implement this plan, and I happen to have a $500 prepaid visa card already! Unfortunately I have not used it in months and there is a re-activation fee of $20 which I cannot currently afford. Kindly wire me $20, at which point I will unlock the card and send it to you. Then you can use the card to make the fake identity and send me $21,619, which I will then use to gain access to the $14 MILLION (USD), at which point I will send you $1 MILLION (USD) for your kindnesses.

Re:my buddy's step-mother makes $83 an hour on the

[Anarchduke]

I would be gladly to help with you this plan. But even as I have the $20(USD) for you, if you could PayPal me the $3(USD) fee I would send you teh moneys so we both will be rich. Just click the PayPal link here and we can get started www.paypal.alkdfjinadsf.ru