The smartest people on earth are those that spend their time as best as possible. People like Terrence Tao. Terrence Tao is a “math prodigy” that got 760 out of 800 on the math SAT… When he was 8 years old. By age 11 he was doing university level math. He then went on to Princeton and got a phd at 21! He’s a brilliant example of what one human being could do if they spend their time as best as they can. He’s won dozens of math awards since then, including the Fields Medal, which is basically the Nobel Peace Prize of Mathematics. Actually, even greater than the Nobel Piece Prize, and harder to obtain.
If you’ve ever been that kind of person that practiced 10 hours a day on a certain skill, I know I’ve been there and done that a few times, you know how rapidly you can improve that skill, and improve at a higher rate than most people you encounter. Each time I practiced a skill for that long, during the present moment of practice, I felt like I was concentrating fully and doing my best at the activity, for 10 hours. But now when I think about those intensive practices, I feet like those practice sessions were instantaneous. That they didn’t really happen. The feeling is just like how quickly elementary, middle, and high school seemed to pass by, instantly. But right when you lived at that moment in time, it seemed as if everything were normal.
In an essay by Paul Graham, he wrote about a lot of interesting ideas and concepts. How the 16 year old Shakespeare or Einstein might seem impressive, but they would not be unlike your other friends you currently have. Because they’re still normal people. The only difference is that, like Terrence Tao, also a normal person, they spent their time as best as they could. Perhaps they didn’t even realize they were spending their time as best as they could, maybe they just made all the right choices based on instinct. It’s best not to over complicate ideas.
In summary, the smartest people on earth are those that spend their time as best as possible.
December 5th, 2012 at 1:38 pm
I agree! Its important to really maximize the benefits of whatever work you put into something. Take my experience in archery, for example. I spent months practicing the traditional competition style way and stopped growing as an archer. Once I started mixing up my practice routine to really focus on the phrase “aim small, miss small” by doing different shooting drills, numbering my arrows to learn their distinct flight patterns, and focusing more on my form and release, I improved dramatically. By states, I was rocking the bow and arrow! Long story short, so many people end up getting stuck on following a set type of practice that may not reap the biggest benefit, but doing as this post says and really making the best use of your time will truly make a huge difference!