The Brain Triathalon

[Sarita]

http://www.spjain.org/bba/event_the_brain_triathlon.asp

Discuss? My main interest here is the fact that the only US student going is from my high school.

Is this sad that there's only one US student attending compared to the SEVERAL others from India and China? Not sure if I want this to get Counter-Pointy, but if it does, I'll just move it. :)

[Vulvokunvrii]

Well, nt entirely surprising because 9 this may sound stereotipical), but India and china solely focus on making their people "smart" so they dotn fall behind. We (the US) focus on differetn things all at once. This makes us somewhat sloppy, but we are still kind of ahead. I view this as an attempt to get above us and make us feel left in the dust as theyhave been (especially India) for the last several years. They have one side minded Governemtns that care nothing for their people, and want them to work all their loves until they die. WE work for a long time, realx in between and ahve fun, and then keep working. Also, we are more diverse than they are. That gives us an advantage over them. Thats just me.

[Sabre]

I have a typically negative view of these kinds of events being my schools maths guy. To this day I still remember thinking "What's the big deal?" and "Stop taking my work away, git" because my ability to write every possibly combination of numbers as fast as my hand could write, and my method of doing so was apparently amazing.

I don't remember if we won. While I was the star maths dude, I didn't really care about the competition. It wasn't so much I was calm under pressure, rather I felt no pressure at all.

I remember one of these type of maths events being on TV, and I remember thinking my 'peers' of maths star players were arrogant arse holes. Required character trait I guess. Instead of admiting they have great knowlesge ina specific feild, they are held up as masters of everything, much as I was. Look up the Halo effect on the internet.

For what it's worth, I roll my eyes whenever there is a child prodagy in the news for the reason above, and like most competitions, it is ultimately meaningless. Simply put, where are these geniuses now?

Edit- Another thing. It's interesting how those are usually are bullied are held up by the bullies as proof of how awesome the school is, but once the event is over, it's back to the same old. Tribal mentality at it's best. Although being kids, it can be excused somewhat.