Homeschooling : Is Romanieo Golphin Jr really a child prodigy?

So I have seen videos and read articles about this kid who could potentially be "the next Einstein"

He is home schooled and his parents are really involved. They are giving him a great education.

The problem with their education is that they might set him up for huge disappointment if he later realizes that he is just "super smart" and not a genius.

I m not trying to devalue his achievements, he is really impressive. The approach his parents are taking is very original and courageous, they are really involved and he is probably much smarter and well educated than the average of his age group.

I m all for kids being taught to love science and believe in themselves. Where I have a problem is that his parents are setting the bar super high and might set the kid on a road for disappointment. The kid is smart for his age but from all the videos I have seen, you just see a short footage of him explaining some stuff that show that he is very smart for his age but it s still all fuzzy.

Why can't we find those hard numbers anywhere to give stronger arguments for calling him the "next Einstein" ?

-the age level of the Chemistry lessons he is able follow since that seems to be his forte

- his IQ

- the age level of the Math lessons he can follow

- how many languages he fluently speaks

My template for being called a genius is Von Neuman

- When he was six years old, he could divide two eight-digit numbers in his head and could converse in Ancient Greek.

- he entered secondary education when he was 8 and was already familiar with differential and integral calculus

- at 15 he was studying undergrad level Math

- at 19 he already published two Math papers

- the rest is history. He made huge advances in Mathematics (Ergodic theory, Operator theory, Measure theory, geometry, quantum logic, linear programming...) computer science, was essential in building the Nuclear weapon during the Manhattan project etc...

And no offense but chemistry is not hard science before undergrad, it s mostly memorization and simple mechanisms. I'd be seriously impressed for example if they showed him solving differential equations when he was 8 .

Maybe it s just me who is setting up the bar too high for being called a genius. For me to receive this title you have to be so smart that people wonder if you are really human.

Quotes from peers who worked with Von Neuman:

Nobel Laureate Hans Bethe said "I have sometimes wondered whether a brain like von Neumann's does not indicate a species superior to that of man"

Herman Goldstine wrote: One of his remarkable abilities was his power of absolute recall. As far as I could tell, von Neumann was able on once reading a book or article to quote it back verbatim;

Von Neumann was reportedly able to memorize the pages of telephone directories. He entertained friends by asking them to randomly call out page numbers; he then recited the names, addresses and numbers therein

I feel very sorry for the kid as his parents are preparing him for huge disappointment and trouble if he can't live up to their expectation and the expectations he has been setting for himself (building a star). Calling yourself the next Einstein is not something you do lightly, they'd better be sure the kid can handle it.

Submitted May 21, 2020 at 04:31AM by BillionaireFool https://ift.tt/2WNDdfy