Most child prodigies peak in high school, spend their young adult years trying to fit in, then end up as middle aged midwit middle managers.

Corollary: the highest achieving high school students are much better than most PhDs at research.

Who here was an Intel STS or ISEF (semi)finalist? USAMO qualifier? Or winner of equivalent competitions in high school?

Reveal yourselves.

Do you think you'd be able to score as well or put in as much dedication now compared to when you were in high school?

I'm betting that most adult "thought leaders" can't even do well on the AMC10.

https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php/2020_AMC_10A_Problems

This is why post-rationalist twitter focus so much on fixing their emotional, body-awareness, and socialization problems.

This is also why others insist on proudly staying outcast autistic researchers to rebel against the forces that compelled others to become normies.

Most people are denying that the highest achieving high school students are much better than most PhDs at research.

Well, you tell me if the Ethereum white paper written when @VitalikButerin was 19 isn't better than the vast majority of PhD theses. https://twitter.com/MimeticValue/status/1247200231537565698

>aCsHuALLy vITaLik wAsn'T iN hIGh sChoOL at 19

Imagine thinking that what he was doing at age 16 wasn't still levels beyond most PhDs.

I've read a Harvard PhD thesis that was about bromances in the gym and cited Reddit as the primary sources...