Do you agree or disagree with the following phrase

[Dory]

"There is no such thing as a genius, it's all about dedication and hard work."

[Gawdzilla Sama]

"There is no such thing as a genius, it's all about dedication and hard work."

Disagree. I know a guy who was checking Einstein's math when he was in the 9th grade. He got scholarships through post-doc (got his Ph.D. while I was having fun in Italy.) The dude was extremely bright. And a total loser socially. I was probably his only friend in high school.

[DRSB]

I disagree too. There is also something like being on the right spot at the right time, as explained and exemplified by Malcolm Cladwell in "The Outliers".

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I disagree too. There is also something like being on the right spot at the right time, as explained and exemplified by Malcolm Cladwell in "The Outliers".

"I'd rather be lucky that good!" (Penicillin anyone?)

[Dory]

"There is no such thing as a genius, it's all about dedication and hard work."

Disagree. I know a guy who was checking Einstein's math when he was in the 9th grade. He got scholarships through post-doc (got his Ph.D. while I was having fun in Italy.) The dude was extremely bright. And a total loser socially. I was probably his only friend in high school.

Actually, whether he's socially a winner or a loser is irrelevant to what I, or the phrase rather, was trying to express.

I was trying to express intellectual/academic success, not social success. In other words, your "bright" friend wouldn't have gotten anywhere without really, really, REALLY hard work, however smart or "naturally a genius" he is.

Not that I disown the concept of brainpower-- not at all! But just trying to bring focus to the concept that hard work is the key issue, and what really matters to being academically successfully. We tend to think only people born with the ability to be smart and get PhD's. (I'll never forget that joke... "I got a PhD! A pretty huge d....")

[Trolldor]

There is a direct causal relationship betwene a high IQ and academic and professional success.
What is somebody's "hard work" is someone else's "light entertainment".

[Gawdzilla Sama]

"There is no such thing as a genius, it's all about dedication and hard work."

Disagree. I know a guy who was checking Einstein's math when he was in the 9th grade. He got scholarships through post-doc (got his Ph.D. while I was having fun in Italy.) The dude was extremely bright. And a total loser socially. I was probably his only friend in high school.

Actually, whether he's socially a winner or a loser is irrelevant to what I, or the phrase rather, was trying to express.

I was trying to express intellectual/academic success, not social success. In other words, your "bright" friend wouldn't have gotten anywhere without really, really, REALLY hard work, however smart or "naturally a genius" he is.

Not that I disown the concept of brainpower-- not at all! But just trying to bring focus to the concept that hard work is the key issue, and what really matters to being academically successfully. We tend to think only people born with the ability to be smart and get PhD's. (I'll never forget that joke... "I got a PhD! A pretty huge d....")

Dory, Richard was an exception, hard work will get one somewhere if you do the work and get one or two breaks. But hard work by itself is not a guarantee of success, as every lumberjack and dirt farmer knows.

And the social part was just my memory of Rich, not a comment on the OP. He was the first nerd I ever met, and you'll probably never hear his name unless you go into that freaky little corner of science he inhabits. (Funny story: I was at his house the day two profs from MIT came to Indiana to "prove that a 10th grader didn't write the paper we received." That was precious to watch despite only being able to understand one word in a hundred of their conversation.)

[Dory]

I think we may have to agree to disagree early on...it's just hard to get to the specific in such a phrase..and it's easy to misunderstand it. I like it, though, and it expresses my PoV perfectly...that leads out of my life experiences.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

"There is no such thing as a genius, it's all about dedication and hard work."

Kinda binary there.

[Feck]

Most things can be achieved by hard work .A Genius doesn't have to work hard to achieve most things and can achieve things impossible to others

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Most things can be achieved by hard work .A Genius doesn't have to work hard to achieve most things and can achieve things impossible to others

Genius's are rare, so they stand out more.

And if you think a genius doesn't have to work hard, ask Steven Hawking. I think they work as hard anybody else in most cases, they just work at a level I'll never understand. Lazy geniuses are called "failed geniuses."

[Pappa]

Most things can be achieved by hard work .A Genius doesn't have to work hard to achieve most things and can achieve things impossible to others

Also, geniuses have put in a huge amount of work to get where they are, but they did it because they enjoyed it. Getting really good at something is easy when you really enjoy it.

[Feck]

Most things can be achieved by hard work .A Genius doesn't have to work hard to achieve most things and can achieve things impossible to others

Genius's are rare, so they stand out more.

And if you think a genius doesn't have to work hard, ask Steven Hawking. I think they work as hard anybody else in most cases, they just work at a level I'll never understand. Lazy geniuses are called "failed geniuses."

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Most things can be achieved by hard work .A Genius doesn't have to work hard to achieve most things and can achieve things impossible to others

Genius's are rare, so they stand out more.

And if you think a genius doesn't have to work hard, ask Steven Hawking. I think they work as hard anybody else in most cases, they just work at a level I'll never understand. Lazy geniuses are called "failed geniuses."

[lsdetroit]

disagree.