"In college, there’s far less social pressure to maintain popularity, and you’re actually valued for your intelligence. [...] The major difference to me in high school vs. college is the work in college–for me at least–is actually challenging and intellectually interesting."<p>I think Andrew's view of college is overly shaped by the fact that he went to an elite college at age 12. Had he matriculated at 18 he probably would have been bored as fuck. Especially if he was at a real college, i.e. one where the education and social dynamics were actually representative of the experience of the vast majority of college students.<p>Also, does he have any actual knowledge of the research that's been done on education? If he does, this interview certainly doesn't hint at it. Not to be overly critical, but I'm really not sold based on this interview.
OK, this guy sounds very impressive, but his educational experiences were so <i>very</i> atypical that I'm concerned whether he'd have any real grasp of how normal people learn.<p>I get the feeling that going to his classes would be like getting swimming lessons from a mermaid.
Gaming has been addressed for years by others as it pertains to learning and the future. There are also others working in areas that are proving very useful.<p>(one of the best videos I've seen)<p><a href="http://www.phibetaiota.net/2010/09/video-visions-of-the-gamepocalypse-possible-futures-waking-up-thinking-and-creating-a-better-world/" rel="nofollow">http://www.phibetaiota.net/2010/09/video-visions-of-the-game...</a><p>"Serious games"<p><a href="http://web.cs.wpi.edu/~rich/courses/imgd404x-c11/playable.html" rel="nofollow">http://web.cs.wpi.edu/~rich/courses/imgd404x-c11/playable.ht...</a><p><a href="http://www.gamesforchange.org" rel="nofollow">http://www.gamesforchange.org</a><p>Child-driven education<p><a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_the_child_driven_education.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_the_child_driven_educa...</a><p><a href="http://www.hole-in-the-wall.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.hole-in-the-wall.com/</a><p>Music + hands-on creative work<p><a href="http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_543015.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_543015...</a><p>There's an incredible story (inspiring & practical) of a boy without healthy legs gaining access to salvaged computers and free software to apply his graphics skills to pull his way out of the slums....it's less than 3/4 of the way through this speech by Eben Moglen called "Before and After IP: Ownership of Ideas in the 21st Century"
<a href="http://moglen.law.columbia.edu/audio/DSG-CUNY-BeforeAndAfterIP.mp3" rel="nofollow">http://moglen.law.columbia.edu/audio/DSG-CUNY-BeforeAndAfter...</a><p>I've been collecting a ton of related links and posting them at <a href="http://re-configure.org/drupal/node/33" rel="nofollow">http://re-configure.org/drupal/node/33</a>
I worked in 'educational technology' for years trying to solve 'issues' in education, training, and general Human learning. We called the field advancing Human Potential.<p>During this time, we tried out all sorts of concepts, worked with world leaders and world class theorists and researchers. We built all sorts of systems, and products, simulators, interactive games, expert systems, individual tutors, and other things of blended nature. These products were built for governments, research institutes, and commercial companies. Some of the 'products' had empirical results that surprisingly showed that they were 'useful', too. However, there weren't ever any revolutions in education or learning or educational theory, while I was there.<p>I eventually dropped out from this field from burnout. Why? Because of the people. This area of interest seems to attract people with very similar personality traits. Reading this article and the subject reminds me of the type of people who want to 'solve' education. It is not at all unusual to work with people in this field who complete advance degrees while still in puberty. I worked with a guy who ended up the chair of mathematics at world-class university before he was 20. These are all 'geniuses', as they have been taught and trained to think. And, interestingly they all seem to clamor around this tall flag of solving education.<p>I believe the failure of this field is actually that most of these people running it are very 'left brain' analytical thinkers. They think that they can solve these very dynamic, chaotic educational systems by decomposition and reductionism. It's kind of funny actually. Smart people get addicted to being smart, and they want to encourage the use of the systems that gave them the personal 'high' to begin with.
This dude is my mentee as part of 20 under 20. He is super sweet, super humble, and super curious about the world in a way that is refreshing to see for someone so accomplished at his age. This "Zen mind is beginner's mind" mentality is a harbinger of success IMHO. <3
I think most people on HN could have completed high school academics by age 12 or 13 with sufficient discipline and focus. This is not all that remarkable intellectually, but it's rare that a child that age has the will (or opportunity) to make it happen.
I was wondering how he had 3 B.S.'s and was a drop out. And then I saw the next line. He dropped out of the <i>Ph.D. program</i>. At <i>19</i>.<p>...<p>Hats off.
What I wouldn't give for a TLDR. All I want to know is how his strategy for improving education diffs from Khan Academy, who I think is the frontrunner right now in that endeavor, without wading through the author's rant and a discussion on some kid's gaming habits.
On one hand, I admire the guy for tackling such a worthwhile problem and also having accomplished so much so young.<p>On the other hand, I wonder if this may be the case of being extremely book smart and not so streetwise.<p>Why not wait till you finish your PhD at the young age of 22? You will be more mature by then and know quite a bit more.<p>If you already had built a working prototype(doesn't even have to be MVP) and experienced some sort of positive feedback, sure drop out.<p>Otherwise, continue working on your ideas in your spare time. Bill, Larry and Sergey only dropped out when they had something happening.<p>For those already in the workplace example of patio11 is very admirable.<p>The interview mentions that they are just getting started and are at least 6 months from a prototype. Unless Andrew has some sort of edge from his studies, this venture doesn't have any inherent advantages.<p>Disclaimer: I dropped out at 19 partially because I heard the PhD guys I was writing software for complaining so much about their progress. It took me 15 years to get back into school.
I'm sure (if he hasn't already) he could definitely go to a few public schools (some of the rather worse ones, say in urban L.A. or something) to see how they work out. Might give him good ideas. It's a vital step to experience that stuff first hand.
- Labeled as a “genius” from IQ testing at 6 years old<p>"I think genetics play a small role. I’m naturally smart and I have the ability to absorb information pretty quickly just by reading. But that only counts for a small part." - Andrew Hsu<p>I guess all the brainpower in the world can't magically cure arrogance or grant humility. I don't doubt that he'll be very successful in <i>something</i>, but he's so comically out of touch with the reality of public education that I doubt he'll ever have an impact there.
Education is mostly about emotional communication. If you can communicate Emotional Space and Respect to someone and you can give them a compelling Emotional desire for why to learn something, and you consistently exemplify the skill, learning is very automatic. It happens in the animal kingdom all the time.