The Trouble with Geniuses free essay sample

The Trouble with Geniuses Part One: Although both Chris Langen and Robert Oppenheimer were both geniuses, Oppenheimer had better life chances and more opportunities than did Chris Langan. Oppenheimer was born in a wealthy and well-known family and was in an upper social class. Therefore he had a richer cultural capital than Chris Langan because his parents taught him how to deal with adults and how to assert himself. They also encouraged him to take chances. For instance, when he has an opportunity to be a speaker at the New York Mineralogical Club, he was afraid and did not want to do it, but his father encouraged him to take the challenge. His parents encouraged and help Oppenheimer to prosper and grow and develop his genius. On the other hand, Chris Langan was born into a poor family, therefore in a lower social class than Oppenheimer, and was a college drop out. We will write a custom essay sample on The Trouble with Geniuses or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He had little life chances, only working in low-paying jobs such as construction and a bouncer and night clubs. He had the opportunity to go to Reed College. However, due to some circumstances, his scholarship was revoked and the school cut him off of any financial means for college. This caused him to drop out of Reed and he recieved all Fs on his transcript, even though he had straight As at the beginning of the term. When he attended Montant State University, he requested to move from an early class to an afternoon class, due to car problems. He was denied the request because of his poor grades at Reed College. Oppenheimer was also treated differently than Langan. When he tried to poison his tutor, Oppenheimer was left off with probation and had to see a psychiatrist. If Langan was to do the same, he would face much harsher punishments due to his different social class. Langan and his brothers had a very different cultural capital than Oppenheimer did. He and his brothers were taught to hate authority figure, therefore Chris Langan did not know how to interact with adults. He could not even have a conversation with his calculus intructor who did not realize his brilliance in calculus. Different social classes teach children different cultural capital. In turn, those cultural capitals affects the life chances that children encounter. Part Two: Parents influence their children in very many ways. Parents encourage desired behaviors and talents while discouraging those that are undesirable not necessarily to the children, but to the parents and adults in the real world. Desired behaviors are rewarded while undesirable traits and behaviors are met with punishment of some form. Our parents taught us how to be independent and to do things for ourselves. It was an advantage in that we dont need to depend on other people to get things done and we dont need to wait for an opportunity. This independence taught us to work hard for ourselves and to take charge of our own education and life. Part Three: Cutting music and art programs creates a large gap between opportunities for wealther children and lower class children. Children whose parents do not have the financial means to afford private art and music lessions have a greater disadvantage because they do not have the opportunities and resources to cultivate their talents. They could be the next Picasso, but because they did not have the means to express their genius and cultivate their talent, it never gets discovered. Only a very few lucky children will be able to prosper in their talents. Schools should provide another means of art and music classes. For instance, they could have clubs where children can pay a small fee to cover the costs of supplies and raise fundraisers as well, so the clubs are not totally funded by the schools. This story refutes the notion that a persons success/failure is solely a personal choice and effort because peoples success mainly relies on who and what they know, the opportunities that are handed to them and their financial means. A poor genius such as Chris Langan was never discovered because he did not have the credentials of going to school because of his financial situation whereas Robert Oppenheim was discovered because his parents were wealthy and put their son out there to be more known. A persons success also depends on his or her parents and how they are raised and the social/economic environment they were raised in.