<p>First, I suspect we’re being a little hard on WashDad’s son – though presumably that was the point of the original post.</p>
<p>Before I get to that, though… JamesK – I’ve been fortunate to know some of the smartest people of our generation, and I have never met anyone who doesn’t “occasionally come across problems that [he or she gets] wrong.” That’s one useful aspect of coming to Caltech. You get to observe the best firsthand and learn that nobody is as otherworldly-smart as you dreamt some people were in your parochial high school slumber.</p>
<p>Of course, you may also learn (cue WashDad’s son) that you’re not quite as smart as you imagined in that slumber either. But you may learn that you are. I’ve never been a fan of the tuck-tail under-tummy-and-sit-still attitude of exaggerated humility that one is supposed to acquire at the mention of Caltech or MIT or a comparable place. G.H. Hardy said that “great work is not done by ‘humble’ men,” and there is something to that. Have the temerity to think sometimes that you may be extraordinary — the audacity of ambition is not such a bad thing.</p>
<p>I do agree that it’s kind of low-class to brag about how little you tried to bring into relief how impressive your raw abilities are. But it doesn’t necessarily bespeak a lack of passion (pace neapol1s) so much as a confusion about how to make the most of your talents. (Maybe studying is like steroids – dishonorable help for those who can’t hack it on their own. Then the truly honorable intellectual will want to show that he can do without it. Not so overwhelmingly plausible, but I’d buy it after a couple of beers.)</p>
<p>Maybe the truly useful lesson is this – and TMiike said something very much like it before. Your son actually has a decent shot at being near the top of the Caltech pool in raw physics talent. Maybe not, but there’s certainly a decent chance. Let’s suppose, for the sake of argument, he’s #1. But there’s also #2, and #3. They’re working hard. One of the main lessons you learn at this place is that natural ability gets you to the starting line and then you have to run pretty fast. The world is full of people who even got a mile head start due to truly exceptional abilities and are still standing there, wondering what that distant cheering is 25.2 miles ahead.</p>
<p>So I wouldn’t discourage your son’s faith in his abilities. I’d encourage him to do right by those abilities by developing a proper degree of passion and focus. Since he might just be one of the few people in the whole world with a chance of being truly exceptional at something, how sad would it be to waste it by not doing that? To quote my partner in motivational speaking, Eminem, what I wish for your son with respect to physics is this: “I hope you can’t sleep and you dream about it / And when you dream I hope you can’t sleep and you scream about it.” </p>
<p>If he comes to Caltech, we’ll help.</p>