| Nope. Ed Witten (of M-Theory fame) famously did the entire undergrad physics syllabus in his own time one summer after completing a different degree. Then he applied as a postgrad, aced his interviews, and got in. The tragic thing about the 10k myth is that it makes people who aren't the best of the best underestimate just how good the really talented people are. Most people simply cannot do what Witten did. No amount of personal tutoring or practice time is going to give them that kind of cognitive ability. The reality is that you can take them a random selection of kids, hothouse them in any subject, and most of them will turn out to be good at best. Not brilliant, not geniuses - just good. There's certainly an argument to be made that a lot of talent is wasted, and education is much better at destroying ability than nurturing it. But that's a different point. The bottom line is some people just get it - whatever it is - and they're outstanding. I'd guess most people here get technology like that to an extent that most of the population can't imagine. I'm certainly not brilliant, but I'm much better at getting technology to work than my friends and neighbors. Take an aptitude like that, level up ten times or so, apply it to math or physics or music, and you get some idea what 'brilliant' might mean. |