If you're gifted/have qualities that will enable you for success, I struggle to see how not taking advanced calculus will be to your detriment, or affect your ability to be noticed.
Ramanujan read a bunch of textbooks. He certainly did not have the luxury of advanced calculus courses (which isn't even a good representation of research mathematics). He's one of the greatest mathematical geniuses of all time.
Re:Tani Adewumi is now a chess master
by kevinventullo on Saturday May 08, 2021 @09:00PM
(#27092234)
Do you honestly believe that two kids with the same raw talent, one growing up in the projects and one attending private school in upstate New York, have the same chances of being future Fields Medalists? The same principle applies at a smaller scale to the availability of advanced classes in high school or at any level.
Ramanujan is considered exceptional precisely because of his background. He absolutely would have had more prominence and pushed the field much farther with the right resources at a young age.
Fair point. I was specifically comparing "regular" stream calculus vs a special "gifted" class (in the elitist, "my parents have more money" sense) ; I see now you were thinking more of "a subsidized opportunity for people in disadvantaged situations to be exposed to higher level mathematics", in which case, I agree with you.
Re:Tani Adewumi is now a chess master
by rahimnathwani on Saturday May 08, 2021 @08:55PM
(#27092193)
Someone with 1-in-1000 aptitude might be considered gifted.
Ramanujan was more like 1 in a billion.
He is not homeless, search for 250,000 in this very article.
Re:Tani Adewumi is now a chess master
by CarelessExpert on Saturday May 08, 2021 @08:08PM
(#27091969)
The first sentence in the article is:
> Once upon a time a 7-year-old refugee living in a homeless shelter sat down at a chess board in school and learned how to play.
He may not be homeless now but he certainly was.
Re:Tani Adewumi is now a chess master
by throwaway81523 on Sunday May 09, 2021 @01:49AM
(#27093567)
He's not a teenager, he's 10yo.
This, and the fact that california is planning to eliminate or drastically reduce the gifted education program in calculus in the name of equity!, which essentially will deprive especially gifted poor kids of even the slightest chance to get noticed, makes me sad and incredibly angry at the same time.