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/sci/ - Science & Math

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10501815 No.10501815 [Reply] [Original]

>be the best in math in high school
>go to national competitions
>uni time
>realize there's hundreds of people who are better at math than me even in my own generation
>realize I'll literally never be on the level of people who make actual contributions to mathematics
>whole self-image shattered, barely motivated to pass classes
do stem they said

you're good at it they said

good enough to work for some shitty tech company. fuck my life, how do you cope with realizing that you're a brainlet with totally limited potential? surely there's others in my positions in many other fields. probably even more so because all stem fields these days are very likely dominated by extremely high-IQ people

>> No.10501841

>>10501815
just do CS

>> No.10501851

>>10501841
and achieve nothing there as well? how exciting

>> No.10501854

there's always a bigger fish

>> No.10501860

>>10501851
you can make some good money. live a nice life. get married have kids. a nice house.
bbqs on sunday etc etc..

>> No.10501870

>>10501815
And? What of it? You’re smart enough to do /something/ semi-significant if you apply yourself. Granted, this probably won’t be a new discovery in mathematics. The way I see it, if you really wanna have this deep impact maybe set your sights lower on another field. Maybe go into finance? You’d have the potential to proceed down the research route with a math background that will set you apart. Or you’ll have the ability to go work at a quant fund and make some good money before pursuing your own fund? Point is, there are other options. Employ yourself by jumping at a business idea you come up with or pursue research that will be easier for you (given you probably have a high IQ, just seemingly not high enough for math). One more thing, beware of the imposter effect. It’s likely you are intelligent enough after all. Just always keep in mind that it could be much worse. Imagine being a 90 IQ normie or something

>> No.10501871

>>10501860
I don't want any of that. I'm not socially well-adjusted either. I had a laser focus on what I was supposed to be and it was a lonely scientist

>> No.10501881

>>10501871
then do it. if you believe in your self you can do anything.

>> No.10501885

>>10501870
well thanks that's somewhat reassuring, I honestly didn't expect a wholesome reply

I don't wanna go into finance tho not really interested in that stuff

>> No.10501889
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10501889

>>10501815
>hurr durr, I'm not the smartest person in the fucking world, so that means I can't meaningfully contribute to it
Coward.
Surrounding yourself with people who are more intelligent than you should drive you to perfect yourself and increase your intelligence through hard work.
If seeing that you're not the biggest fish around drives you to depression, then maybe you're even less intelligent than you thought.

>> No.10501892
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10501892

>>10501815
Making truly novel, innovative discoveries in math and the natural science is not about raw intelligence after a certain point. It's much more about creativity and imagination.

Not everyone is a John von Neumann who is known as a genius from a young age. No one thought Einstein was gonna be shit.

>> No.10501897

>>10501889
>increase your intelligence through hard work
this is impossible, that's what's bothering me. I can do as much to increase my intelligence as I can to increase my maximum potential height: it's biologically impossible

>> No.10502068

You don't have to be a generation defining genius to be relevant in life man. You'll have strengths that others don't just keep improving and don't let yourself stagnate.

>>10501892

Neumann's greatest strength was being able to communicate complicated and abstract mathematical concepts in an understandable way. That was his gift, so many intelligent people can't externalise their understanding of things and in an academic field which is always to some extent cooperative that is the most important thing.

>>10501897

You're right you cannot increase your level of intelligence. People on this board still can't seem to differentiate between intelligence and level of knowledge. However, you can increase your level of knowledge and there's no reason to give up or despair because that is still the option. You can be a genius, but if you have no knowledge to work from you will offer nothing. And you can be of average academic intelligence but if you can absorb and work with a high level of knowledge then you will be relevant..