So there's video of him from TV in Taiwan, interviewers from that channel, they interview his mom in Chinese but he only does interviews in English, apparently.

Still, unlike the kids in most of these stories, he attends a normal well-known school (UCLA), at least recently (8 years old was community college).

He probably left grammar school because the other third-graders shunned him on the playground Even 8-year-olds dislike curve-wreckers, especially in East LA.

FTA: He's hoping it will show people there's no genius involved, just hard work

Yeah... no.

I'm sure he works damn hard, and I can see how having people attribute his successes to a fluke of genetics instead of that hard work would get to him, but you don't get into college at 8 without also being freakishly gifted.

"I was able to reach the stars, but others can reach the 'Milky Way," he tells readers.


Someone inform the genius that Earth is in the Milky Way. Then again, if he's trying to be demotivational, that's pretty impressive. Most people won't know he's saying "I can reach high, but don't worry big guy, you can still be a part of the galaxy..."

It would help that several distractions would not be there in college. Like women, drink, sex, and work.

/10 years for an A.A.

Runs_With_Scissors_: There's nothing cool about a child who is pushed in to college at such a young age. I know of what I speak
...
Cause kids don't need to play or stuff like that.

Some kids just think and learn faster than others. There's no use in trying to slow down a fast mind. I agree that play has a very important function for kids in general, and kids shouldn't be forced to move faster than they'd like on their own. But some people are just outside the range of normal. They get bored by that stuff.

The brain is a sponge, it seems some kids can just soak up the information faster and retain it longer. From what I remember from school, a majority of it was spent in repetition. Sing the ABC's song enough times and you start to remember the alphabet. If a kid could instead just sing it once and instantly recall it, I'd think that alone would increase mental growth speed exponentially.


My question is how long is such a growth speed maintained. Will his sponge lose its ability when he gets older/ goes through puberty? I know it has been said that things like languages are best learned in the early years, so at a certain stage of life he could just lose that ability to learn.

Of course this all could be moot- instead of curing cancer he could discover Weed and Video Games.

doglover: Considering I learned nothing from High School level courses, I can see an 8th grader being shipped up to college, or college level courses homeschooled. But being 8 at a college campus? Ugh!

Oh my word, I wish I had never attended high school. the biggest waste of time ever. 3 years, down the drain; youth wasted.

Not impressed:

Skr: The brain is a sponge, it seems some kids can just soak up the information faster and retain it longer. From what I remember from school, a majority of it was spent in repetition. Sing the ABC's song enough times and you start to remember the alphabet. If a kid could instead just sing it once and instantly recall it, I'd think that alone would increase mental growth speed exponentially.


My question is how long is such a growth speed maintained. Will his sponge lose its ability when he gets older/ goes through puberty? I know it has been said that things like languages are best learned in the early years, so at a certain stage of life he could just lose that ability to learn.

Of course this all could be moot- instead of curing cancer he could discover Weed and Video Games.

Even without distractions, nothing says that he has what it takes to make such inroads. He may be simply good at school--have superior recall, etc-- but lack the creativity required to think outside the box. as it were. Hard to say at this point.

In other words, an Associates in the Arts indicates someone with a prepubescent level of intelligence.

What? I've been up since 1pm and I spent the first 6 hours recovering from drinking the whole bottle.

Hawnkee: Not impressed:

[www.catsafterme.com image 300x208]

...beats me to it, like a javelin designed for a limp-wristed throwing style.

The kid will have a PhD by the time he can drive. Good for him, but I think its a horrible exsistance. Ready to go work when everyone remotely close to you in age is far far far from it. The kid may be brilliant, but he probably has the social skills of a rock. Enjoy all the $$ you're gonna make kid. There will be alot of it.

Runs_With_Scissors_: There's nothing cool about a child who is pushed in to college at such a young age. I know of what I speak

Yes, everytime a child prodigy appears in the media I'm reminded of the kid I saw on a show called 'Wogan' (UK evening talk TV show hosted by Terry Wogan). Kid, with bowtie, trying to talk in a very adult manner about antiques. This person in fact Lauren Harries (Wikipedia) (pops) Not, actually, a prodigy just heavily manipulated by the parents. But at the time nobody really knew that.

That and history is littered with actual child stars who could of, should of, would of, except for the fact that an 8 - 9 year old doesn't know to take their foot off the throttle, the parents often don't want this as it'll diminish the kids fame and goes directly to burn out as opposed to a long and distinguish career as whatever the hell they want.

I am ignoring the whole 8 year old in an environment designed for teenagers/young adults thing as well.

i didnt RTFA, but the kid's name is about what you'd expect from the combination slanty eye and joo that it would take to do such a thing.

In my twenties, I had a college friend who was 17 and finishing on his second PHD. He was completely well-adjusted, not entirely out of the ordinary, geeky guy who never talked about his accomplishments. He had perfectly normal outside interests in everything a normal guy would have. He claimed that he just took college classes during the summer when he began grade school. That led to him being able to get his GED before he was in sixth grade. He always claimed that anyone could do it by just focusing a few extra hours of their week towards school.

Years later, I found out he went on to become a good, but not extraordinary, surgeon who doesn't seem to be "special" in any other way than his educational background.

ElizaDoolittle: An AA isn't impressive. UCLA is. I'm with Runs_With_Scissors_: I had a Tiger mom - graduated high school at 16. Remember how much fun high school was? Try doing it when you're two years physically younger than the rest of the class. It's even less fun.

Try doing it at half the age of the class and with no understanding of the moral & ethical ambiguity of the adult world. The right thing for the wrong reasons and all that. No matter how smart this kid is they're still 8 years old and have to one degree or another an 8 year olds perception of the world.

Sounds rather hellish either way I admit.

These child prodigy stories never really end spectacularly in the modern age. Whenever you hear about genius level achievements, it's usually someone who went about their education the more traditional route. It's great that your kid is a genius at playing mozart and knowing doctorate level math or whatever it is that these chinese parents force their kids to do -- but it takes a college drop out to drop some acid and invent the concept for an apple computer to an iPhone. With all the work this kid did, it's just a prop to sell his stupid book as to how you can work really hard to and get degrees too. how trite.

playblu: Did his parents rent out his room to their plumber when he left?

/mmm, popcorn

Is that your real hair?

Wait, he got into college at age 8 and wasted his time getting AAs?

ArkAngel: /obscure?

William James Sidis. Who I was coming here to mention as a cautionary tale.

/also you're not surprise I got the reference

But does he have an obnoxious sidekick yet?

doglover: Considering I learned nothing from High School level courses, I can see an 8th grader being shipped up to college, or college level courses homeschooled. But being 8 at a college campus? Ugh!

HS really was a lesson in futility time waster. Students should be en route to a career path education after elementary school.

pkellmey: In my twenties, I had a college friend who was 17 and finishing on his second PHD. He was completely well-adjusted, not entirely out of the ordinary, geeky guy who never talked about his accomplishments. He had perfectly normal outside interests in everything a normal guy would have. He claimed that he just took college classes during the summer when he began grade school. That led to him being able to get his GED before he was in sixth grade. He always claimed that anyone could do it by just focusing a few extra hours of their week towards school.

Years later, I found out he went on to become a good, but not extraordinary, surgeon who doesn't seem to be "special" in any other way than his educational background.

No need to do all these mental gymnastics. The kid probably just loves the academic approach to learning, and has a superior brain.

What the hell is that movie called with the big, blue brainhead guy? I loved it! Oh, yeah, "Megamind":

Actually it seems the kid is really well grounded. Parents aren't on him all the time, he initiated his own advanced learning, not his parents. He likes being physically active. Yes this is a rarity but why is everyone coming down on the parents? He's doing this for himself. I would totally support my kid if he chose this path. I certainly wouldn't force it on him.

Child prodigies typically burn out quickly after they reach adulthood, that's the sad part -- rextalionis


This is true but it also might be the reason he has two Associates in Arts. The sciences can be mentally more rigorous and his parents are guiding him to create a balance and broad education. "The Arts" can be a broader scope, challenging his intellect without a narrow focus.

RexTalionis: Child prodigies typically burn out quickly after they reach adulthood, that's the sad part.

This.

I knew a girl (not woman, girl, it's 30 years later and she's still a girl) who graduated high school and received her masters degree on the same day. The poor girl could barely tie her own shoes. Zero common sense.

She was hired by a defense contractor who fired her 2 months later. She was fine with complex math but could barely add and subtract. That lack of common sense also caused her to struggle with putting her academic gift to practical use.

He's also just published an English edition of his first book, "We Can Do."

That's not English.
~sigh~ American education.

And I don't see the fuss:
two Associate of Arts degrees from East Los Angeles Community College

eskimobill: "I was able to reach the stars, but others can reach the 'Milky Way," he tells readers.


Someone inform the genius that Earth is in the Milky Way. Then again, if he's trying to be demotivational, that's pretty impressive. Most people won't know he's saying "I can reach high, but don't worry big guy, you can still be a part of the galaxy..."

Yeah, and his degrees were in the arts. He can't even foment a cogent metaphor!

Gunther: FTA: He's hoping it will show people there's no genius involved, just hard work

Yeah... no.

I'm sure he works damn hard, and I can see how having people attribute his successes to a fluke of genetics instead of that hard work would get to him, but you don't get into college at 8 without also being freakishly gifted.

Yup, looks like even genius kids can think some pretty dumb things

thelordofcheese: He's also just published an English edition of his first book, "We Can Do."

That's not English.
~sigh~ American education.

And I don't see the fuss:
two Associate of Arts degrees from East Los Angeles Community College

exactly

Runs_With_Scissors_: There's nothing cool about a child who is pushed in to college at such a young age. I know of what I speak

FTA:
Not that he lacks for recreational activities or feels that his parents pressured him into studying constantly. He writes in "We Can Do" of learning to scuba dive, and he loves soccer and martial arts. He used to participate in the latter sport when he was younger, winning trophies for his age group, until his UCLA studies and his writing made things a little too hectic.

Cause kids don't need to play or stuff like that.

Speaking as a boy genius whose parents took the opposite approach

FARK that. You will never be a peer to other children, and your level of "play" time will completely dry up when you reach the 4th grade. After that, it really doesn't matter whether you're around children of the same age or not. Plus, you'll have no work ethic, because it doesn't take any work to learn or accomplish anything.

/graduated at 18 from a school system that would not allow me to skip grades, despite testing better than everyone else in the school.
//It has been a really rough road trying to learn to make myself want to do anything. As a result, I still have a dead-end job that doesn't take advantage of my talents, 16 years later.

Gawdzila: Runs_With_Scissors_: There's nothing cool about a child who is pushed in to college at such a young age. I know of what I speak
...
Cause kids don't need to play or stuff like that.

Some kids just think and learn faster than others. There's no use in trying to slow down a fast mind. I agree that play has a very important function for kids people in general,.

FTFY

Gawdzila: Runs_With_Scissors_: There's nothing cool about a child who is pushed in to college at such a young age. I know of what I speak
...
Cause kids don't need to play or stuff like that.

Some kids just think and learn faster than others. There's no use in trying to slow down a fast mind. I agree that play has a very important function for kids in general, and kids shouldn't be forced to move faster than they'd like on their own. But some people are just outside the range of normal. They get bored by that stuff.

This is very, very true. My parents helped me petition for early entrance into the local state college when I was 14 after they saw how miserable I was in junior high. I started college classes, on campus, at 15. The studies were easy, but the socialization was hard. People were very nice until they found out how old I was. No it may not have been the ideal situation, but everyone needs a different path.

Ten years later, I still would have made the exact same decision.

/and yes, a lot of it really is just hard work and dedication

I'm not sure this kid is even all that bright. He's having a hard time setting priorities; not seeing that by giving up the things that add fulfillment to his own life he's just trying to fill his life. I think this troubles him, but lacking the experience to be able to communicate his feelings he writes a paper about how everyone can focus on engulfment. He wants someone he can respect to tell him to chill out and figure out his end game. He's almost too far gone to shift gears. Like, Michael Jordan was a baseball player that spend so many years being bored at basketball that he couldn't transition into what he was - people wouldn't let him be an average baseball player.

There are a lot of true geniuses hidden out there, and you probably know a few. They understand college is a place to learn how to grasp and learn, something they have a natural ability to do. Instead, they strive to do the things they enjoy, but have no ability at - which makes them normal. The guy that changes your light bulbs at work might drive an old truck, live in a small house and be the first to say, "yeah!", when the offer of beer comes up. Yet at home he might study things like RF theory and macro economics - totally get it and think, "that's cool". They don't have to be attention whores about it, they are intensely happy.

I mean, I could be the world's greatest crack whore, but I hide that fact so people won't expect me to pursue my talent.

Hey, a future burn out, how amazing.

I'm sure he will cure cancer, solve the worlds energy problems and make us all immortal with his 'awesome' intellect. Or just become a token high paid clown some where doing basically nothing, like the rest of the child prodigies.

vrax: Skr: The brain is a sponge, it seems some kids can just soak up the information faster and retain it longer. From what I remember from school, a majority of it was spent in repetition. Sing the ABC's song enough times and you start to remember the alphabet. If a kid could instead just sing it once and instantly recall it, I'd think that alone would increase mental growth speed exponentially.


My question is how long is such a growth speed maintained. Will his sponge lose its ability when he gets older/ goes through puberty? I know it has been said that things like languages are best learned in the early years, so at a certain stage of life he could just lose that ability to learn.

Of course this all could be moot- instead of curing cancer he could discover Weed and Video Games.

Even without distractions, nothing says that he has what it takes to make such inroads. He may be simply good at school--have superior recall, etc-- but lack the creativity required to think outside the box. as it were. Hard to say at this point.

My 7 year old child is gifted and can read at a phenomenal rate and all with perfect pronunciation with pretty much anything you can throw at him. The problems are that he already reads so fast, that his rate of improvement grade suffers. He also just reads, if you ask him what's going to happen next in the book he has a hard time imagining what will come next.

Public education moves at a ridiculously slow rate for smarter kids, and they have a habit of forcing them to progress at the average level instead of seeing where each kid could still go and realistically succeed based on individual intelligence. I took ten AP classes in high school, and all anyone ever did was tell me how insane I was, how I was going to have no life, and how I was going to fail due to overload. I ended up getting high scores on all of the tests, hardly ever had homework, and still had a social life in the process. Now I'm two years ahead of where I should be in college.

I could definitely see a parent forcing their kids ahead of where they should be just because of how slowly paced things are in public education. You spend the first five years of elementary school learning shiat that could be reasonably taught in two or three to smarter children, and there's not much vital information to take away from Junior High besides intermediate algebra, advanced English skills, and elementary scientific concepts. Everything else is just a waste of time.