[zackattack]

On a tangent, bragging about intelligence you can't apply is like bragging about a car you can't drive. So you see, can't overvalue innate intelligence. Although it may just be a sign that he has no reason to be in touch with today's trends.

[gjm11]

Huh? I don't think I've ever known him brag about his intelligence (note: I don't know him personally, but I do read his blog), and he has about as much intelligence to brag about as any person alive. And he applies it all the time; that's his job, and he is very very good at it.

Your comments look like they're meant as a criticism of Tao, but I don't see how to apply any of them to anything about him. Would you like to clarify?

(Note: the document linked from here does include the word "intelligent" -- in some such phrase as "I may be considered an intelligent child". It may be worth bearing in mind that at this point he was a 10-year-old who had been asked, on account of his prodigious mathematical skills, to talk to a bunch of very eminent adults. It may also be worth bearing in mind that he immediately goes on to say something like "but I still have a whole lot to learn before I have any hope of being as wise as any of you in this room".)

[zackattack]

They aren't a criticism of Tao. It was a tangent. I'm saying that intelligence that can only be applied to a few esoteric fields is overrated. I thought a thread about child prodigies would be a good opportunity to make that comment.

[lkozma]

He seems to be quite up-to-date otherwise: blogging about new results: http://terrytao.wordpress.com/