
Harvard Thinks It's Found the Next Einstein – And She's 23 - hankewi
http://secondnexus.com/technology-and-innovation/23-year-old-einstein/
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JamilD
“I couldn’t believe it,” recalls Peggy Udden, an executive secretary at MIT.
“Not only because she was so young, but a girl.”

Hah, this comes across as _incredibly_ patronizing.

Seriously though, whenever someone in a position of authority makes a
prediction of "the next Uber", "the next Einstein", or "the next Silicon
Valley", I am instantly extremely skeptical.

~~~
zaroth
It might help to note that specific quote was in the following context;

Pasterski first attracted the attention of the scientific and academic
community after single-handedly building her own single-engine airplane in
2008, at age 14, and documenting the process on YouTube. [1]

At age 16, she piloted the aircraft herself over Lake Michigan, becoming the
youngest person ever to fly their own plane.

Then comes the quote.

If this quote was referencing 23-year old Sabrina I agree it would be
patronizing. In reference to a 14 year old building an airplane and then
flying it, I'd say it's pretty spot on.

Seriously, watch the video.

[1] -
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blVmHo_8bmA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blVmHo_8bmA)

~~~
r00t-
She's not a genius, she's rich. I'm sure a lot of people could build amazing
things but don't have the money or family support to do so.

~~~
anothercomment
Same with the "did nuclear fusion in their bedroom" crowd. Although both
(planes and fusion) demonstrate a certain level of capability. But the steps
to take are already known, doing it takes initiative, ability to understand
the steps and the money to pay for it.

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zeteo
At the age of 23 Einstein had just found a boring job, out of the public eye,
that left him plenty of time to dream and think big thoughts [1]. Untimely
attention from Harvard might well have ruined all gifts he was about to give
to physics.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annus_Mirabilis_papers#Backgro...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annus_Mirabilis_papers#Background)

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andy_ppp
"That’s nice, but what have you done lately?"

Awesome mantra! How about she's the first Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski instead?
These comparisons are super weird, I'd love to hear more about what she's
actually invented, rather than lazy Einstein comparisons.

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bawana
Hmmm. The marketing machine needs more fodder to cull the rich for money. Isnt
Harvard's endowment big enough that they are capitalizing on her? What better
use of young talent than to prostitute it?

Let her be. Look at her web site. Two pages of real science and the past two
years it looks like she is a pop music superstar or athlete. I get it that
they are trying to say "yeah for women!" and encourage the scores of
despondent, underachieving women who have been squashed by the white male
machine. But really, instead of having her talk everywhere, why not simply
have her tutor young women students to excellence.? I'd rather see her as a
consultant to the young women's center for STEM

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kar1181
My first reaction is to think - I hope my girls can take inspiration from
Sabrina.

But taking a second to think about it, she's an inspiration to _everyone_. She
just got on with it and built a plane. Starting something, finishing something
- and at that age - is impressive. Never mind all the talents she appears to
have.

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CSMastermind
I'll bet large sums of money their perdiction is wrong.

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xienze
The article is predictably light on details. Other than being young, building
a plane, and having a great GPA at MIT, what leads them to believe she's the
"Next Einstein"?

~~~
accountface
Builds plane at 14.

Graduates MIT in 3 years with the best possible GPA.

Internet commenter: "yeah but so what"

~~~
xienze
Other Internet commenter: "I completely missed the point."

They don't even mention what her PhD research is about or what has led them to
believe that said research is as revolutionary as Einstein's work.

~~~
accountface
It's a headline on the internet, not a thesis statement

~~~
dongslol
It's a stupid headline, optimized for page views, intended for an audience of
people who they think don't know better.

No one's saying she isn't a clever, energetic, talented person.

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russdpale
No pressure!

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anothercomment
For her to be next Einstein, she would have to revolutionize physics somehow.
Even then, it would be questionable, because she already seems to be
acknowledged by the physics world, whereas Einstein was relegated to working
in a patent office rather than academia when he made his discoveries.

She sounds super-cool and smart, but the Einstein comparison is just weird.
Also there are probably many other smart kids in physics, too.

~~~
Bahamut
The wider public tends to love the idea of comparing smart people to
Einstein...I wouldn't think much on the comparison except that it is a
statement that she is unusually smart.

~~~
xienze
> I wouldn't think much on the comparison except that it is a statement that
> she is unusually smart.

Well according to the article, it's Harvard University representatives making
that assertion. They would obviously know better than to make statements like
that casually.

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Spooky23
This is a ridiculous article.

Pasterski looks like a smart student who is good at personal branding, and is
ultimately being exploited to be some sort of PR coup for the university.

Regardless of her genitalia, it's better to actually do something before
seeking affiliation with luminary figures like Einstein. The "next Steve Jobs"
Elizabeth Holmes comes to mind when I read bullshit PR like this.

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root_axis
This headline is going to generate a lot of negativity because a comparison to
Einstein invokes an image of someone that fundamentally revolutionized bedrock
scientific theory for an entire discipline, not "just" off the charts
intellectual prowess.

~~~
xienze
Well I mean duh, she built a plane, went to MIT, and she's a woman. Of course
she's the next Einstein.

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unlikelymordant
she hasn't finished her phd yet, lets see what sort of research she can do
before we sing her accolades. She may go work in finance yet (and there is
nothing wrong with that).

~~~
Red_Tarsius
Honestly, it would be very disappointing if she wasted her talent in finance.
We need more brain power to focus on runaway climate change. It's the top
priority of our species, if we want to survive the next century.

~~~
xienze
> We need more brain power to focus on runaway climate change.

Doesn't sound like that's her field of study, so I guess she's wasting her
talents then.

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Red_Tarsius
Snappy remarks are not welcome here, especially if you misunderstand my
comment. If she's really gifted, I hope she pursues meaningful research.

~~~
ifoundthetao
"Meaningful research" is incredibly subjective.

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Jemmeh
Just a heads up, there's a page 2 to the article that mentions her research
papers. I missed it until I saw a comment. Guess my mind thought the continue
button was an ad.

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arkano
[http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2007/02/25/...](http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2007/02/25/the-
cult-of-genius/)

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edimaudo
Wishing her the best.

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stuaxo
Fantastic.

A shame about the comments on the article.

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gekkonier
I agree, it's barbaric.

