Zooze the Horse roams around the pasture near Lamar State College. Zooze thinks about problems in academia. Zhe wants proffies to submit posts (blog posts, not fence posts).
Friday, January 18, 2019
11-year-old Louisiana prodigy heads to college [KTVE]
This news report was a waste of the studio's time. It says absolutely nothing about the kid except that "he's a genius." No background on how he was identified as exceptional or what his education has been like so far, no stats about how uncommon this is, not even why he chose this particular university. (Although I can probably answer that one myself: I bet it's close enough to where his family lives that he can live at home.) This could have been a very interesting story if anyone had done any actual reporting.
The problem is that it's likely there's no one in the studio who can ask interesting questions about this kid. That there are no stats quoted suggests these are people who, like most people, don't understand stats. And of course, they'd risk serious embarrassment if they tried to talk directly to him, and they very likely know it.
On the other hand, as a former child prodigy myself, it always amazed me what I could get away with in the name of being a "genius." As the only astronomer working in a physics department, I still play this card: I just can't go to 8 a.m. meetings, since it's an astronomy thing! (Never mind both telescopes are now almost completely automated.)
I nevertheless needed to learn that it was still a no-no to embarrass any teacher with what they didn't know, even when they were clearly incompetent. Yes, Saturn is the one with the rings. A serious problem arose when I developed a knack for doing this unintentionally.
This news report was a waste of the studio's time. It says absolutely nothing about the kid except that "he's a genius." No background on how he was identified as exceptional or what his education has been like so far, no stats about how uncommon this is, not even why he chose this particular university. (Although I can probably answer that one myself: I bet it's close enough to where his family lives that he can live at home.) This could have been a very interesting story if anyone had done any actual reporting.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that it's likely there's no one in the studio who can ask interesting questions about this kid. That there are no stats quoted suggests these are people who, like most people, don't understand stats. And of course, they'd risk serious embarrassment if they tried to talk directly to him, and they very likely know it.
DeleteOn the other hand, as a former child prodigy myself, it always amazed me what I could get away with in the name of being a "genius." As the only astronomer working in a physics department, I still play this card: I just can't go to 8 a.m. meetings, since it's an astronomy thing! (Never mind both telescopes are now almost completely automated.)
I nevertheless needed to learn that it was still a no-no to embarrass any teacher with what they didn't know, even when they were clearly incompetent. Yes, Saturn is the one with the rings. A serious problem arose when I developed a knack for doing this unintentionally.