Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion If academia doesn't work out (career planning).

Or maybe it's just that the businessmen make the salary decisions.

That's a valid point, but there's another point. Some of those data crunchers are physicists who couldn't have got a job in physics because the jobs simply aren't there.

Then there are the erstwhile academics and the ones who didn't even bother trying because funding rates are so low. Why waste your time?

That's because jobs are poofed into existence by job creators.

Job creators currently dislike physicists for some reason.

However, they *love* teddy bear taxation issues.

Then those salary decisions are definitely rational.

It makes sense to give yourself a really high salary if you like really high salaries.

Hello. OP here.

Math, intentional training in versatility, and a web cam.

I would add "solid expository writing and presentation skills (and probably an Internet connection for the webcam).

Improv is a great universal skill.

But digging in a little further, as it has got me thinking about the deeper topic. I think if you are functionally monolithic, maybe what you need is to look to the core skill more as a lens rather than worrying about the skillset which will be self-addressing. That means say for math, maximizing the exposure of applications then your option is to shoe horn across to another field.

Or maybe you abstract math out to the "science of patterns" and emphasize using that patterning skillset to identify and think about patterns in any situation whether it is math-based or not.

Longer term, if you had to choose between going deep and learning intensely in a field or emphasizing flexibility and autodidactic flightiness, which has the bigger payoff?

I like expository writing, as that can be a leg up in traditional work or allows for blogging or other content generation if you develop a mile deep core skill.

All food for thought, more valuable perhaps if homeschooling. Also, don't ignore the implications of the maker movement and 3d printing, as design will become a much more valuable skill.

And must be late as my rambling also has me thinking: why in the heck am I letting public schools teach my child with their classically twenty year backwards post-sightedness?

Yeah. I got some great advice once; it was "Don't become an expert in a narrow technique. What will you do when the technique gets outdated? Instead, be a problem-solver and learn new techniques to solve problems."


I don't think this is an either-or proposition. I like people who teach themselves new skills. People who dig deep on their own show evidence of strong internal drive. Get those people working together on something here excited about and the results can be terrific.


Because they're "certified" (tm) and "accredited" (tm) and are Experts in (this space left intentionally blank). Don't you feel better now?

Just noticed this thread and I wanted to mention to 22B that your son sounds similar to my DS15. And my DS15 has always seemed similar to me to my own older brother. When my older brother & I when were were in early elementary we were the most advanced students in a public school that let us more at our own pace. This was the 70's when public schools were experimenting with innovative teaching styles and we were left to move through the curriculum as fast as we wanted. And then we moved.

Skipping over a lot of details by H.S. my brother was one of those unmotivated gifted kids. Grades went up & down, had better things to do in H.S. than study. He would start failing, my parents would sit on him and his grades would go up. Bright could do anything his made up his mind to do. I found out recently that he wanted to take a year or two off school before going to college but that wasn't encouraged at the time and my parents didn't "let" him. Ended up a large university in a big city with a so-so reputation. He never graduated from college, we lost communications with him for a few years, he seemed to drift and try a lot of different low paying jobs for a number of years.

But eventually he found his nitch. It's not the job anyone would have dreamed for him when he was 10. He now owns and runs a unusual retail businesses, one he started by working as a clerk and quickly working his way up to head manager. Eventually the owner offered to sell it to him. He clearly has a comfortable and successful life. Not one that my parents or he would have expected when he was younger.