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Word and Math

This post about a tweet is a great example of how once you establish yourself as a thought-leader or visionary, even a pedestrian observation in a sentence fragment can send the world into a bloviating tail-spin. There are people who are better with math-related things and others who are good with word-related things. The point of convergence is actually ideas and abstraction. One side will be able to describe it in words, the other might be able to make something with it that has digital or physical shape. There is no asymmetry and no pre-determined outcome at all. It just depends what the fight is about. But it does not even have to be this way.

My grandfather was a humble university professor, a victim of partition who raised a big family on his meagre means. When he died he did not even have a bank account, the kids took care of him to the end, he took pride in the fact that he was like a collect-call - the sign of a life well-lived, his children were vying for his time, he was not a burden to anyone. Yet for all that, he was an absolute nobody compared to Mr. Andreessen but his words of wisdom have served me and anyone else who heard them very well. My grandfather used to say - if you can be as good at math as you are at writing, you will go far. If you are extraordinary at both you will be unstoppable. He had this way of saying things that made a deep impression. 

All of us grandkids made an effort to be atleast equally good knowing that extraordinary would be out of reach. It is the wisdom we have passed on to the next generation and it has served all concerned reasonably well. The point is, any average kid can be taught to be a strong balance of both - there is no magic involved, just application of regular effort to achieve the outcome. The idea that you can only be one or the other is plainly misguided. 

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