To spend more time on it.

Spend more time on what, exactly? Writing poetry actively, all day, every day? That’s a lot of writing.

How often do people become very good at something without spending the vast majority of their time on it for a long time?

I do not think you are aware that most people's process of writing good poetry is quite involved. It's okay not to understand, but be cautious about implying that another person's artistic work could be done in a spare hour here or there between coursework. It is disrespectful to the hard work of the written word.

It can also involve a lot of reading and thinking, also stuff you need time for

That’s basically what Paul Erdos did for math. People who dedicate their lives to a skill are the ones that tend to push humanity forward bit by bit.

Joseph Brodsky dropped out of communism to become a poet, which did not amuse the authorities.

In case you’re asking the question not rhetorically - this is the kind of thing you can afford to do when you have an extremely strong/privileged support system.

It’s myth-making, and shouldn’t be confused with “dropping out to take care of your sick parent” or “dropping out and going to work at McDonald’s”.

> the kind of thing you can afford to do when you have an extremely strong/privileged support system.

Are you talking about his family specifically, or South Korea in general? What makes it extremely strong or privileged?

>What makes it extremely strong or privileged?

The fact that his parents were math and literature professors who entertained him dropping out of school to write poetry. If I had done that my parents would have offered me exactly three choices, get a job, go back to school, or pack your bags and pay your own rent which would have forced me to get a job, understandably so because as working class people they didn't have the resources to sponsor me for another decade while I go soul searching

He wasn’t born into a wealthy family. His parents may support his decision, or not, but it isn’t like money wasn’t a concern.

I would say that was a pretty brave decision, or perhaps he is special

Yes it is not a wealthy family, but in terms of education for children, having parents already in academia is just as good of a privilege as wealthy parents.

What does your definition of privilege mean? Bemoaning parents who supported their children in the combination of the parents interests does not seem like an egregious sin.

The person you're responding to didn't imply that privilege is a "sin". Not sure how you're interpreting that.

Sinply put, most working class parents simply don't have the financial respurces to support an older child's artistic pursuits. It is a privilege, i.e., an _advantage_, to have those means and werewithal to do so.

There are plenty of working class parents who support an older child who lives at home. The difference is the child is not pursuing anything, so most parents would not want that for their child and would want him to get a job or something.

My point being that it’s not about finances, it’s not that much more difficult for most working class families to support an extra mouth to feed, especially when it’s an adult. It’s more about the difference in perspective and future financial stability.

Exactly this!! US has a very lone-wolf culture. In India, it is perfectly normal for an adult to live with parents and I am assuming SK is similar. The money aspect is overblown a lot.

While typing it, I realized it is actually more expensive in US than just a mouth to feed. Medical insurance, car insurance, car payments (you need a car), all add up to much more.

The US Health Insurance system is specifically used to keep working class people (and most middle class) at work. You can't really go without a job here.

Well Medicaid is free and for a car, you can get and old one for $2000 and pay <$50 a month for car insurance. Food costs more than that monthly, so it’s not a huge burden even for working class people.

If you are staying with your parents, I do not think Medicaid covers you. I do not see where you get < $50 for car insurance when you are under 26. Assuming a family like June Huh, they are much more likely to live in urban areas which does not fit into your cost model.

If under 26, you can get your parents’ work insurance, usually not a big increase, otherwise, you can just get crappy insurance for cheap. If urban area, you don’t need a car.

I’m not familiar with the privileged support system in South Korea. Is it different than in the US or Europe?

I believe Einstein dropped out of high school and traveled a bit through Italy.

We definitely need a world where more young people can drop out for a few years.

The educational track in South Korea is extremely competitive, and everything hinges on how well you do on the Suneung (a kind of SAT on steroids). If you drop out, it is usually because you have intergenerational wealth, exceptional non-scholastic talents, or a route to study/work abroad.

Or you just don’t like studying. There are plenty of Koreans who drop out of high school because they don’t feel like studying is for them. Yes, parents are more likely to try to force them to stay in school compared to other countries. But South Koreans are people too.

It feels disengenuous if you're seriously stating you're not familiar with how people with stable families and familial wealth have a much larger level of freedom in their choices to pursue the arts compared the average person.

I am also not familiar with how it works in South Korea, do you have any insight?

Just curious, do you live in a capitalist country?

In your country, how easy is it for someone to professionally work on their _art_ - i.e. have a career not just art-adjacent, like doing creative work as a graphic designer or animator or tattoo artist, but actually their own art, such as original paintings, poetry, or novels - which pays the entirety of their bills (presuming their bills actually include rent, food, transportation)?

In your country, is their any pressure on an individual working in the arts to work another job?

Can they sustain a family?

Do artists typically live with their parents or receive familial support until they hit it big?

Do they live out the starving artist stereotype or are they given a less meager existence?

Of the people that grew up poor that you know, do you know how many of them wanted to be artists, but had to take care of family or their own survival ahead of pursuing their art?

Of people you don't consider wealthy growing up, how many of them could afford a year at a prestigious private school for a year ahead of high school? (Relevant to the author here)

If you can answer these, it may give you some insight on SK. I can give you more if that's not enough.

In my country, which is capitalist, artists of all kinds are basically very poor, yes.

I don't see how this relates to South Korea, maybe it's the same maybe it's not. What familiarity with South Korea do you have to be able to present an informed judgement on this issue and call someone else disingenuous for not sharing your view?

You didn't answer all of my questions, which were not rhetorical and isn't really answered by your single sentence, so I'm not even sure you're familiar enough with your own country or the lives of artists within to really make a meaningful comparison for you.

I don't have any answers to give, I'm not very well informed on this topic. I'm asking you what makes you familiar with South Korea that you can make such a strong judgement about someone else's character or motivations on this topic.

The answer to that question has nothing to do with my own ignorance on this topic, and the fact that you keep dodging this tells me a lot more about who in this conversation is the actual asshole.

>tells me a lot more about who in this conversation is the actual asshole.

So I lived in Korea for some years, friends with 3 artists there trying to make it in capital A art in Seoul. The answer is (obviously) there is no significantly different familial support system between artists living in Korea and other developed capitalist countries that would somehow change the lifestyle of the average artist, and the suggestion is some strange orientalism or severe ignorance of lives of artists in capitalist countries. Ask on the Korean subreddit if you want variations on this answer.

Anyways, this exchange gave me a chuckle at least, a hostile+willfully ignorant or orientalist person wanted to call someone an asshole but did so in questions rather than a statement, and got upset when they were called ignorant in questions rather than a statement.

From the article it sounds like he was able to do something like the GED and knew he would be attending college later in South Korea still.

Where's the myth making?

The exercise of how one drops out of the first year of high school to “become a poet”, gets a GED, and then proceeds to enter one of the top universities in Korea (notorious for its particularly cutthroat academic culture) right on time at 19 is left to the reader.

Isn’t college admission there based solely on a single standardized test? If so it makes sense that a super-genius could ace it despite dropping out of high school.

No there is also admission based on school grades, essays and achievements(수시). You still have to take the national test and get the minimum required grades though.

I bet this guy Fields Medal recipient did pretty good on the test and didn't need that alternate, is it even available for dropouts by looking at grades before they dropped out?

I just looked into it and it looks like he actually went to a private cram school for a year to study for the national exam then got into Seoul National University.

what is the GED you are referring to here ?

I just read between the lines in the article that he must have gotten something like that since he said in the article that when he dropped out to be a poet he knew he would not have to attend college in two years.

Looking into it, I think they actually translate their version of it as GED too:

https://www.ice.go.kr/en/cm/cntnts/cntntsView.do?mi=10019&cn...

I was thinking that this was my path, I was a Math major (well actually Math-English double major) and I dropped out to focus on English. Of course I never got a Field Medal (or much success as a poet for that matter).

Sounds great. You don't need a Fields Medal for life to be worthwhile, or it's hopeless for all of humanity.