Monday, September 17, 2012

Thiel Fellows - Attempting Breakthroughs

"[The Thiel Fellowship] rewards smart young people for not going to college and, instead, diving into the real world of science, technology and business."

"Since 2010, he has been bankrolling people under the age of 20 who want to find the next big thing — provided that they don’t look for it in a college classroom. His offer is this: $50,000 a year for two years, few questions asked. Just no college, unless a class is helpful for their Thiel projects."

"A cool hundred grand, no strings attached? You won’t be shocked to learn that it is harder to get a Thiel Fellowship than it is to get into Princeton."

I previously wrote about the Milner Prize here which challenges the ethos of the Nobel prize to some extent. Above is an example of the Thiel Fellowship that asks the creative and young to do what they love, if they qualify.  Read further here at New York Times.

Below is a counter point, do you agree?

"Anthony Carnevale, director of the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University, says that the fellowships themselves are nice, but that the message is destructive. “These very unusual and talented kids are in a very high-powered learning environment,” Mr. Carnevale says. “They’re enormously privileged people who’ve been allowed to develop all their horsepower with no constraints. I think it makes you an odd duck.”"

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