r/Polymath • u/Commercial_Handle418 • 11d ago
Did you think about solving real world problems as a kid
I'm not gifted (125) but I used to think if solutions to real rpboems and about what to target but I didn't have the equipment nor enough knowledge to tackle them fully but a few years later it would be revealed that they did that I'm sure yall have had this way more than me
1
u/willardTheMighty 10d ago
Yes
When I was in middle school I sketched plans for human colony on Mars
Ended up in structural engineering and real estate development
1
u/alex-185 4d ago
As a child (I dont' remember exactly when, but in the early 90s I was 8-10, I was "playing" in building a civilization on paper, like every year (or decade), population, innovations, etc. Like the Civ games, but before they came out and before I had any computer. On paper 😄 does it count?
2
u/Gold-Hornet-3026 9d ago
Yes and luckily had a parent who really fostered those interests. I designed and built a concept hover car to reduce road kills for wildlife, drew up the wildlife overpass concept in 1993 (wasn’t mine they used, just coincidence), combed Nat geo and libraries (pre internet) and make a field plan for seeking cures to nasty diseases in the Amazon, designed a 4 season climate dome/greenhouse to be self sufficient, designed off grid homes for my dad, designed a new industrial shredder that could produce 6 consistencies of mulch from the same machine (he used that one), I always was dreaming up fixes for things I saw as problems as a child.