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This week Dave and Steel are joined by their friend Spencer. Together the three of them catch up on old reading assignments, talk about child prodigies, debate whether various prominent public figures peaked early or late in their career, play youth-themed music by the Jackson 5, Hanson, Laura Marling, Big Star, Peter Tosh, and Cat Stevens and Dave shares some heartbreaking book wisdom from Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.
Links
Wunderkinder: Child Prodigies
- Wikipedia’s list of child prodigies
- The sad story of William Sidis
- Mental abacuses!
OTC Debate: Picasso or Cezanne
University of Chicago economist David Galenson wrote a book called Old Masters and Young Geniuses, in which he theorized that there are two types of creative minds: “Old Masters” and “Young Geniuses.” He argued that some people (like Picasso) hit their creative peak relatively quickly with an intense burst of production in their youth. Other geniuses (like Cezanne) peak later in life, after a lifetime of tinkering and amassing experience. We decided to debate whether various public figures were Picassos or Cezannes.
Unchained Melodies: In Praise of Youth Edition
Book Wisdom
This week Dave shared a passage from Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel The Road.
Featured image by Rosino 