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Are people freaking insane? Really. Does ANYONE know what it takes to make a clock "from scratch," whatever that means? What's he supposed to do, collect sand from the beach and melt it into silicon and fabricate his own chips?
Look, I don't know what the kid was thinking. I also don't think he is a genius or anything. He built a clock using a timer chip and a display. He probably found the plan online. But he is a bright kid with initiative. At an age when most kids are doing everything they can to set themselves up to be colossally mediocre in adulthood, he actually seems like he will end up as an engineer or scientist and actually do something useful for society.
I used to really admire Dawkins but he's turned into a tired and bitter old man. Senility, perhaps? He is the kind of guy who sees a bear riding a unicycle and playing the violin at the same time and instead of celebrating this, complains that the animal is not playing in tune.
I saw the tweet calling out Ahmed claining to have "invented" the clock. Really, guys? Kids do that all the time. These old farts, it's been so long since they were children and they have become so bitter in the meantime that they seem to have forgotten it. I don't expect a 14 year old to be thinking, "ok, I put this thing together, so is it an invention or a discovery or something else. Let me see exactly what word to use!" The kid is excited, he may claim it is an invention without really understanding what the world means precisely. And we are going to keelhaul him for that? It is really grotesque and churlish.
My son is 15, sophomore in HS. He is really interested in math and is studying integral calculus. He came up with some cool detail about how infinitesmals sum up, a really intuitive conclusion about calculus. He said that he "discovered" it and was really excited. Now, it is something that Leibniz figured out a long time ago. I didn't chew him out for claiming something that is not true. I praised him for "rediscovering" this fact, and showed him what Leibniz did a while ago.
The kid claimed something in his enthusiasm that was perhaps an exaggeration. Why do people have to be pricks about it? They'd rather have him spend all his time playing video games and hanging out at the mall? Sheesh!
Look, I don't know what the kid was thinking. I also don't think he is a genius or anything. He built a clock using a timer chip and a display. He probably found the plan online. But he is a bright kid with initiative. At an age when most kids are doing everything they can to set themselves up to be colossally mediocre in adulthood, he actually seems like he will end up as an engineer or scientist and actually do something useful for society.
I used to really admire Dawkins but he's turned into a tired and bitter old man. Senility, perhaps? He is the kind of guy who sees a bear riding a unicycle and playing the violin at the same time and instead of celebrating this, complains that the animal is not playing in tune.
I saw the tweet calling out Ahmed claining to have "invented" the clock. Really, guys? Kids do that all the time. These old farts, it's been so long since they were children and they have become so bitter in the meantime that they seem to have forgotten it. I don't expect a 14 year old to be thinking, "ok, I put this thing together, so is it an invention or a discovery or something else. Let me see exactly what word to use!" The kid is excited, he may claim it is an invention without really understanding what the world means precisely. And we are going to keelhaul him for that? It is really grotesque and churlish.
My son is 15, sophomore in HS. He is really interested in math and is studying integral calculus. He came up with some cool detail about how infinitesmals sum up, a really intuitive conclusion about calculus. He said that he "discovered" it and was really excited. Now, it is something that Leibniz figured out a long time ago. I didn't chew him out for claiming something that is not true. I praised him for "rediscovering" this fact, and showed him what Leibniz did a while ago.
The kid claimed something in his enthusiasm that was perhaps an exaggeration. Why do people have to be pricks about it? They'd rather have him spend all his time playing video games and hanging out at the mall? Sheesh!
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