The class that includes Edison and Jobs is the class that wins the recognition and respect of the general public, including my 80 year old aunt who has never used an Apple product. I guess of doesn't really matter though, if the luminaries and some of their fans choose not to care what the public thinks.
The nice thing about choosing your own definition of success is that we can congratulate both Jobs and Woz for their success even though they reached incredibly divergent outcomes and there is no way they could have ever both reached the same point.
Being dissatisfied isn't what was considered unreasonable. Thinking that changing the world is easier than changing your expectations is what is considered unreasonable. From a frequentist statistical point of view, that is true. But some people are outliers who are able to bend the world to their will.
You are unemployed and the victim of a crime. You are perfectly positioned to take some time to work with a lawyer to make the world a better place and make some money from your troubles.
RMS has never tried to stop anyone from being a more charming and eloquent and popular advocate for free software. No one has volunteered; everyone has chosen to let him lead.
Do note the difference between "giving someone less free stuff" and "punishing someone". Schools do not prevent students from seeking other educators.
Any mass-production or limited-resource system will be relatively more beneficial to someone than someone else, and there are many incompatible but defensible ways to measure benefit.
I don't understand. Remedial classes are exactly the solution to the problem you posed. The only difference is the number attached to the "grade level".
Is this a problem only for smart poor kids in regions with no magnet/exam schools?
My parents moved to one of the wealthier (per-household) cities in America (not the wealthiest neighborhood; they had a professional services small business on the high end of work-for-a-living income from paying customers, and a few assistants in their employ) and my seemingly ordinary high school was one of the best neighborhood schools in the country in terms of student performance, non-crime, etc.
One could certainly raise a family in that school zone on an engineer and teacher's salary if one would forgo a big house and new car lifestyle.
I am curious to know how he avoided using his college education and the attendant cultural support. Did he take on an affected "low" accent, alter his skin color, give himself a few scars indicative of an unhealthy upbringing or a tour of duty in Iraq, deprive himself of sleep to simulate average intelligence, and invite some folks to play hanger-on friends and family?
You are mostly right, and it interesting that the US has a well-funded open access program for instilling focus and discipline. But it puts median-intelligence people to work on violent acts and afflicts them with PTSD, instead of making them health and productive.
Are you sure about the amount of opportunity, though? Maybe ten other people tried what you did but never found the right part or book that made the plan come together.
Many ancient religious proscriptions have their basis in correlations to healthy living. There really are reasons to consider abstaining from pork and sex before marriage.
Anyway, everyone's life is half chance. Make the best of it and enjoy the ride.