I didn’t meant it in a way to diminish how clever he is. Just the bit about dropping out is overstated relative to what came straight after.

Yes, it was lucky that he was tutored my a Fields medalist. But he did the hard work to get himself tutored: sitting in an algebraic geometry class (that saw attendances dropping from 200 to 5 within a few weeks), reaching out to the professor, traveling with him for 2 years, etc. And then he still needed to do all the work himself for his PhD, and so forth.

He got paid

>I don’t think a field medalist would waste his time with an untalented youth.

Ugh. Do you think a Fields medalist would "waste" his time cleaning his bedroom? Folding his clothes?

1. The world is much more menial than you think it is.

2. Fields medalists are, unsurprisingly, human beings, and keep doing human stuff like making new friends just for fun.

3. Not everyone is living under the weird delusion/obsession where all outcomes have to be maximally favorable for "life to be worth it". Not all companies have to be billion dollar companies. Not all students have to go and win Fields medals.

4. The "untalented youth" is much more interesting than what you give them credit for.