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November 04, 2009 03:22 PM
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First, psychologists who measure such things say that once you go beyond about 2 sigma above the average (i.e. above 120 IQ) test results are not very meaningful beyond saying someone is high-grade genius. Leaving that aside, and proceeding to the more interesting part of the question, I'd say that major research universities are excellent places for super-smart students, as long as their social skills are sufficient.
Top universities have outstanding faculty members who are in the best position to mentor and guide super-smart students. The main limitation is that during under-graduate studies, many classes have well over 100 students, and as such may be far too slow to engage a super-smart student. If such a student had poor social skills, s/he'd soon do or say something to alienate the large body of more average students, and may be ostracized. Super-smart students may also have skipped one or more grades in K-12, and may be younger than the average student, leading to even more social challenges.
In the final analysis I'd have to say that a good university is the best place for most super-smart students intellectually. If their social skills are lacking, these students will need a good deal of parental support until they mature emotionally.
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Are Universities the wrong place for people with IQs above 160?
Do Universities miss the ball by falling the recognize the super smart and cater to their skills and abilities?
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| November 04, 2009 05:02 PM |
Top universities have outstanding faculty members who are in the best position to mentor and guide super-smart students. The main limitation is that during under-graduate studies, many classes have well over 100 students, and as such may be far too slow to engage a super-smart student. If such a student had poor social skills, s/he'd soon do or say something to alienate the large body of more average students, and may be ostracized. Super-smart students may also have skipped one or more grades in K-12, and may be younger than the average student, leading to even more social challenges.
In the final analysis I'd have to say that a good university is the best place for most super-smart students intellectually. If their social skills are lacking, these students will need a good deal of parental support until they mature emotionally.
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However, if you read the Chris Langan story the first University, he attend failed to recognize his talent despite the fact he missed one question on the SAT. I would say that SAT is in trouble for having a potential flawed question.
Langan says he has the skill to skip past all the wasted trivia that normal people consume their time with and get at the issues, fast. At school, Langan showed up for the test with very little in school preparation and aced all his test.
If you could meet Chris Langan, what single question would you ask him?
I say you give the guy $50 million dollars and the opportunity to build something that will change the world. For example, an electronic blue brain or new form of energy production system.
As for giving a super-genius a lot of money, that's what most research grant funding agencies try to do. Smart researchers come up with an idea of what they want to research, write a proposal, it gets peer-reviewed, and those proposals deemed worthy get funded, sometimes much more than $50 million. However, if you're talking about a no strings attached, no reporting required, go where you want kind of grant, that's very rare. Bell Labs did that for a long time and saw very little return, until one of their researchers accidentally discovered the transistor.