Jacob Barnett: Forget What You Know
In searching for a Ted Talks video to present today I had two objectives; 1 – it had to be interesting and 2 – it had to be under 10 minutes. While I’ve clearly failed in the secondary objective, I think I’ve scored, big time, in the primary. So while I feel it reasonable to request 10 minutes of your time, I’ll make an exception and beg an additional 8 minutes, 11 seconds.
Jacob Barnett is an American mathematician. At 8 years of age, Jacob began sneaking into college lectures at IUPUI. At 9, Jacob built a series of mathematical models which expanded Einstein’s field of relativity. (Jacob’s work was reviewed at Princeton and confirmed to be groundbreaking.) At age 10, Jacob was accepted to the University full-time and went straight into a paid research position in the field of condensed matter physics. For his original work in this field Jacob became the world’s youngest astrophysics researcher.
As amazing as this all is, it’s made even more so by the fact that at age 2 Jacob was diagnosed with autism. What fascinates me most about Jacob, other than his brilliance, is that his story is not one of ‘overcoming’ a disability, it’s not even about ‘accepting’ it. Jacob’s story is about excelling in it, being passionate about it.
Jacob’s enthusiasm, excitement, and energy might, at times, make you feel uncomfortable…it did for me at first. Then I had to ask myself; is this because I lack that same excitement in things I should be this passionate about? Have I focused so deeply on learning that I’ve forgotten how to think and…how to feel true passion?
Jacob is also CEO and founder of Wheel LLC, and is writing a book to help end ‘math phobia’…something which is greatly needed. Jacob’s charity, Jacob’s Place, is a place where kids with autism are inspired every day to be their true authentic selves…just like Jacob.
This entry was posted on August 19, 2012 by Alex Autin. It was filed under Heroes, Opinions and Observations, People, Science, Science, Video and was tagged with ...things I LOVE, Alex Autin, Astrophysics, Autism, Einstein, Forget What You Know, Heroes, Jacob Barnett, Mathematics, Opinions And Observations, People, Science, TedxTeen, Video.
Alex,
Quite inspiring on a Sunday morning. I think the Catholic Church should trade their bibles for this video.
Le Clown
August 19, 2012 at 7:57 am
Very nicely put Le Clown, and I couldn’t agree more.
August 19, 2012 at 8:29 am
The academic world really should listen to Jacob, the focus does seem to be on learning (and remembering) rather than original thought.
Kudos also to his parents for letting him just be and follow his passion
August 19, 2012 at 8:56 am
Thanks Heather, and I think you’ve really hit upon what is key here. There is some debate as to whether Jacob is genuine or some elaborate hoax. With an IQ of 170 his intelligence is hardly in question. What I find most interesting is his out-of-the-box thinking, his passion, and his fixation on disproving his own theories.This shows an interest in truth, and as is common in science, disproving is every bit as exciting and groundbreaking as proving. Whether he’s in the class of Einstein or Newton remains to be seen. For me, what Jacob illustrates is that difference between, as you point out, learning and thinking. Sure, we can all learn about things which excites us, but how much time do we really spend independently thinking about it? Does it keep us awake at night? Do we go beyond the thinking, and accepted, work of others and dare to think ‘crazy’ thoughts about it, and then seek out to either prove or disprove these thoughts.
As for his parents, I sometimes cringe at so-called ‘child prodigies’. I think…why not just let these poor kids have a ‘normal’ childhood. But really, what is normal? Pushing a child, or anyone, into piano lessons or football practice never really works. But when the child simply can not stop playing the guitar, or drawing, or performing mathematical calculations, we often do the opposite …we try to force them to stop out of the idea that these obsessions are unhealthy. At this point …are we then training our children to accept that passion is undesirable?
August 19, 2012 at 10:23 am
Interesting post, Interesting video, interesting kid.
He may do well, he may crash and burn at an early age.
Whether he is a hoax or not, the learning/thinking idea is very valid. But that could just be because nowadays there seems to be a concentration on exam passing and less about preparing people for life in the great big world out there.
I suppose that has done me a favor, where would my blog be without it??? However, I’d rather have nothing to blog about if the trade off was a bit more common sense in the world, instead of less and less.
As for maths, the quality of teaching is woeful in most countries. It is made so dreadfully dull and uninteresting many people develop a lifelong phobia.
And yes, unfortunately there is a horrible trend developing where passion for an idea, a sport, a country, or whatever is presented as bad. It has reached the ridiculous stage where if you dare to take your own side in any kind of fight the BHLs and the media will decry you, dare I say it, with a passion!
Coincidentally two movies that I really enjoyed were ‘Little Man Tate’ and ‘Good Will Hunting’.
August 19, 2012 at 4:58 pm
I don’t think you’ve a thing to worry about, there’s no shortage of material for you.
I agree with you as to the trend that anyone completely passionate, completely excited, about the things they love is often branded as weird. Then again, is this really a trend, or is it something humankind has always been guilty of?
I’ve seen Good Will Hunting, and it may be time for another viewing. I haven’t seen Little Man Tate, I’ll check it out on your recommendation!
August 20, 2012 at 10:45 am
Alex, I just came in from work and I am brain-dead, but I watched the entire video. This child really thinks outside the box – I work with some kids who have autism – and I am no expert at all – the kids I encounter are super smart but they don’t seem to have social skills to relate/interact very well/or really even speak in front of some people, so with that said – bravo to Jacob for that. I thought it was funny he said they put him in special ed and it was special all right – there was nothing to learn! How many other kids are sitting in special ed with this kind of brain and just don’t know how to express it? Just simply, wow.
August 20, 2012 at 6:22 pm
I agree White Lady, if there’s anything sadder then lost potential, it’s squashed potential. Limits are usually entirely self-imposed and we train children to do this at an early age as opposed to allowing them to think all is possible. In the end life comes down to a series of experiences, in order for those experiences to be fantastic we have to chase the fantasies no matter how ‘unrealistic’ they may seem.
August 21, 2012 at 6:15 am