You know the kind. The kid who built a nuclear power plant in his parents' garage. The seventeen year old wunderkind who is flying an airplane she built herself across the continent. The teenager who is not yet old enough to vote, but who has successfully lobbied for a change in foreign policy and raised $300,000 to help enslaved kids in the third world. They used to make me kind of depressed and irritated that I had so much lower an accomplishment to lifespan ratio. But recently I started to look at them in a new way.
If a kid has accomplished so much in ten years, the first few of which he or she was mainly focused on learning to talk and control bodily elimination functions, then any of us can take the next ten years and do whatever we want without having a lifetime of that behind us. Whatever we know about the subject is going to be greater than what the kid started with. All the kid has on us is that he or she didn't know it couldn't be done.
I haven't decided what to do with my newfound inspiration, except maybe use it as a procrastination excuse, but I thought I'd share it.
5 comments:
Brilliant!
Hooray for new posts! :)
This made me chuckle...great perspective with just the right amount of illdoittomorrowism. Glad I stumbled upon your blog!
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Uh... I know it's there for rhetorical value, but the the Nuclear Boy Scout didn't accomplish anything but fines and jail time. Please don't encourage Darwin Award candidates.
I wasn't knowingly referring to actual people. That might just as well have said moon rocket. Yet audacious discovery has led to persecution and death throughout history, so I'll let it stand.
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