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A comment on A Close Call: How a Near Failure Propelled Me to Succeed [pdf].

Re:A Close Call: How a Near Failure Propelled Me to Succeed ... by jeffreyrogers on Monday August 03, 2020 @03:48PM (#24042468)
Reminds me of a friend from high school who was one of the smartest people I've ever known. In multivariable calculus we weren't required to do the HW if we didn't want to. He never did homework and never studied outside of paying attention in class and still got 100s on all the quizes/exams. He went to MIT and failed most of his classes his first semester there. He'd never had to study before so he didn't know how. Like Terence Tao though he's doing fine now.
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Re:A Close Call: How a Near Failure Propelled Me to Succeed ... by ISL on Monday August 03, 2020 @03:52PM (#24042523)
If we live long enough, we all find our limits. Learning to work within those limits and succeed in spite of them seems like one of the great leveling-ups of life.
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Re:A Close Call: How a Near Failure Propelled Me to Succeed ... by MaxBarraclough on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @05:13AM (#24048130)
Strictly speaking, I don't think that's true if you're the smartest person in the world.

John von Neumann springs to mind, who did his mathematics PhD at the same time as his chemical engineering degree, with a friend of his commenting that Evidently a Ph.D. thesis and examination did not constitute an appreciable effort. [0]

To my knowledge he never really failed at any of his intellectual pursuits, but I could be mistaken.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann#University_st...

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Re:A Close Call: How a Near Failure Propelled Me to Succeed ... by gdoptimizer on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @03:15AM (#24047510)
Well said
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Re:A Close Call: How a Near Failure Propelled Me to Succeed ... by cyberdrunk on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @03:51AM (#24047684)
You had multivariable calculus in high school? Was it some kind of special programme?
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Re:A Close Call: How a Near Failure Propelled Me to Succeed ... by jeffreyrogers on Tuesday August 04, 2020 @11:17AM (#24050804)
It was an advanced class for kids who'd done single-variable calculus early.
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