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06.13.08, 09:32 AM New York City
19 replies
Flame away: I think really smart kids are those who can do math and physics/logic - not subjects that require rote memorization or lots of reading. No, my dc is not good at math (though strong reader). [ Reply | Watch | Flag ]
New York City 06.13.08, 09:32 AM Flag
 

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I think "smart" kids come in all shapes and sizes. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.13.08, 09:36 AM Flag
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What does "smart" mean anyway? I am really good at taking tests, and outscored many people in school who had higher IQ's than I did. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.13.08, 09:40 AM Flag
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School work is diff. They make you write down every single step of how you got to your answer (which awards slower thinkers) and that penalizes kids who can skip several steps to get to the answer. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.13.08, 09:42 AM Flag
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np - Not all schools at all levels of math do this. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.13.08, 09:44 AM Flag
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So you're talking about achievement tests like the SAT vs IQ score? How do you know your classmates' IQ? I don't even know mine. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.13.08, 09:43 AM Flag
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Why not anything that requires "lots of reading"? What about creativity? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.13.08, 09:42 AM Flag
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Creativity, yes, but a subject that just requires a lot of reading and research doesn't show how smart you are. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.13.08, 09:44 AM Flag
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Math and Logic is one niche of smartness. Giftedness comes in all forms and shapes and most math is memorization anyway. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.13.08, 09:45 AM Flag
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I can't reply to last OR (kicks me out), but after you learn math facts, higher level math is NOT about memorization. Good memory is a part of being smart but being able to memorize a bunch of things and being able to figure out using analysis are two diff things. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.13.08, 09:51 AM Flag
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I understand but a 5yo "genius" who knows his basic arithmetic is not really doing anything abstract. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.13.08, 09:56 AM Flag
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Of course not. That kid is not a genius at all - any kid who can memorize songs can memorize 4+6=10 without understanding why this is so. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.13.08, 09:59 AM Flag
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Was mozart smart? Newton? Jefferson? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.13.08, 09:52 AM Flag
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Mozart - music is highly correlated with math, so yes. Newton was a brilliant mathematician. Jefferson - I don't know much about him other than that he was a strong leader and an inventor (which prob'ly means he was creative). [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.13.08, 09:54 AM Flag
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I think music wasn't math to him, it was colors. His senses cross wired. Saw a segment on it on Dr. Know. Happens a lot to muscians. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.13.08, 09:59 AM Flag
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So review and analysis of anything not inherently logical, such as math, doesn't take intelligence? The historians trying to explain why certain events took place in the way they did aren't smart people? neither are medical doctors (which is as much an art as it is a science)? Being able to read, absorb and analyze words is just as complicated as being able to analyze numbers, if not more so. There are different kinds of intelligence, simply because you can look at a balance sheet and tell if a company is a good investment risk doesn't mean that you can actually go in and run that company - two totally different kinds of intelligence. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.13.08, 10:23 AM Flag
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Analysis is intelligence. BTW, I would not count accounting (it's really just simple math of addition and substraction) as high math. Linear Algebra and high level calculus and physics are. Once you learn to read, you don't analyze each word anymore to read. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.13.08, 10:28 AM Flag
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but you specifically excluded subjects that require "lots of reading", meaning subjects such as history. you didn't seem to consider that at truly advanced levels, almost anything, even a word-based subject like history, takes serious intelligence to understand it. the basics always look simple. The causes of the American Civil war can be summed up by a 4th grader in 3 sentences, but historians are going to be arguing over the subtleties of States Rights for the next hundred years. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.13.08, 10:44 AM Flag
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I don't know about historians. One can gather facts and do analysis but it's more subjective. Sure, physicists argue, too, but one's IQ doesn't have to be much higher to be a history professor than a physics professor at a given university. I do think high level philosophers are smart, bec philosophy is logic. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.13.08, 12:55 PM Flag
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smart has only one small bit to do with skills. i know a guy who never learned to read or write and yet has been able to run a successful boating business where no one else has. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 06.13.08, 10:29 AM Flag
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