Last month, Willow Smith was named an “ambassador” for Chanel. She also covered W Magazine’s issue devoted to the youngsters. And I realized, with those stories, that I have no hate for Willow. She is, at worst, rather daffy and harmless. At best, she’s a stylish and interesting young woman who is challenging fashion norms. Plus, while I roll my eyes throughout her interviews, it’s good to remember that she’s JUST 15 years old. I feel like we can give her a break and say that she’s still learning and figuring things out, and maybe people shouldn’t take a 15-year-old so seriously? Anyway, Willow covers the new issue of Teen Vogue and she’s, like, into hosting “underground teachings in quantum mechanics” and stuff.
Her relationship with her brother Jaden: “We’re like binary stars, like two parts of one thing. I know what he’s thinking at all times. And he knows what I’m thinking. We’re not identical twins, but it feels like that in a lot of ways.”
This really part of the interview: “The teen supernova perks up on topics like nanoscience, civil engineering, and microbiology. She is a self-proclaimed STEM freak, with her sights set squarely on deepening connections in the science community and maybe even attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) one day… Willow sews clothing, hosts underground teachings in quantum mechanics, and is studying how to produce songs from mathematical equations…”
She visited MIT: “It was nice to be able to talk to female students and professors about science and logic because that’s just such a man’s world.”
She is an artisan: “I see myself as a—hold on, let me ask Siri.” The teenager whips out her iPhone and speaks into it, drawing stares from tables nearby. “Siri, define artisan.” Everybody’s favorite robotic voice serves up a satisfying definition: Artisan is a worker in a skilled trade, especially one that involves making things by hand. “Ah, OK, yes!” Willow allows. “I call myself an artisan.”
When she felt less than empowered: “After ‘Whip My Hair’ and all the publicity, after going on tour in the U.K., after saying no to the Annie film, all of this crap was going on in my life, and I had to sit down and say, ‘Who are you? On a real note. Are you this or this?’ During that time of figuring it out, I was lost and super insecure. But then I stopped trying to find myself in these other inanimate objects, people, and ideas. I realized it isn’t about finding yourself—it’s about creating yourself.”
You can change your style without changing yourself: “I have some cool shoes on and I wear crazy eyeliner, but it’s really all about emulating the colors you feel inside. A lot of clothes are cute, but after you buy the Yeezy shoes, after you get your hair done with a weave, you’re still the same person. I feel like more and more kids are starting to realize this.”
Her new role as a Chanel ambassador: “Being a young African-American woman with dreads, it blows my mind that I’m a Chanel ambassador. Like, how am I a Chanel ambassador? It is so beautiful. I’m coming into a new part of my life that is completely unknown, and I’m jumping right in. All I can do from here is continue to shift paradigms and continue to push the envelope further and further. But I am doing it every day just by being myself.”
“We’re like binary stars, like two parts of one thing.” I had to look that up, so I now I learned something new – binary stars are really a thing and yes, that metaphor makes total sense in explaining her relationship to Jaden. As for “I know what he’s thinking at all times. And he knows what I’m thinking” – it’s cute that they think that. And yes, she’s an artisan… who wears Yeezys and is herself and cares about STEM and wants to go to MIT and host underground teachings in quantum mechanics. She is everything. She is 15.
Photos courtesy of Teen Vogue.
I was never like that when I was 15, nor were any of my friends. But then again, I am very pragmatic and was never an artisan dreamer or whatever she calls herself, and her upbringing is so far from mine that it’s not comparable.
On another note, she is stunning. Those eyes. Out of all the nepotism models, I get why she would be successful. Is she tall enough though?
I was reading about quantum mechanics at her age. I doubt she really knows what it’s about. My guess is that she’s reading fuzzy, hand-wavey stuff such as provided by L. Ron Hubbard rather than reading books by real scientists aimed at non-specialists (as I was). I wonder what the MIT folks thought of her.
I was very interested in science at her age, went to competitions even, but the hippy dippy way these kids live is so odd that I can’t even imagine what it’s like.
I was wondering if Scientology would allow her to go to MIT. They don’t seem to allow their followers to go to regular high schools, but I could be wrong (I’m just going based off of what I read about the Katie/Tom divorce).
Somehow I don’t think the admissions department at MIT would consider her $cientology “education” to be sufficient. I may be wrong, but for some reason I feel I read somewhere that they are not receiving any type of conventional education and resulting diploma. It is fantastic that she is science -curious, I just wonder if she really even has any idea of the breadth of science given her environment. I guess peeking in around the periphery is a way for her to begin to open her eyes. I hope the Co$ doesn’t restrict her- that would be a shame.
if you were reading quantum mechanics books at her age why would you 1. assume she doesnt understand and 2. assume shes not reading the same books you were? seems unnecessarily dismissive.
I can’t believe people here actually think that Willow “school is overrated” Smith has a chance at MIT. If the girl had read one chapter on Quantum, she would know in a heartbeat that all of Scientology is based on scientific quackery and that, no, prana energy in the stomach is not why babies are able to form ligaments.
Sorry, cranky mood this morning.
I read up on quantum mechanics too at that age but the thing is, unless you kind of start at the roots you can’t really understand anything properly. I’m sure she can regurgitate some concepts, but without having a solid understanding of the fundamentals to compare and contrast, well, I’m sure she’s pretty embarrassing to listen to for anyone with a real education. Or maybe she’s like Deepak Chopra and thinks “quantum” is a magical thing that explains anything you’re too ignorant to actually understand.
seriously? I didn’t even know what quantum mechanics was at her age. I think she’s amazing (and you all too, if you did). Also she’s stunning, so I agree on the model thing.
I worked my a$$ off for 6 years to get my PhD in Physics at USC, I worked so hard to keep my 4.0 GPA so I could have a full scholarship because I come from NO MONEY and now this turd talks about quantum physics and MIT please do us a favor SIT DOWN!!!!
@Jwoolman, who wrote: ‘I doubt she really knows what it’s about. My guess is that she’s reading fuzzy, hand-wavey stuff such as provided by L. Ron Hubbard rather than reading books by real scientists aimed at non-specialists (as I was). I wonder what the MIT folks thought of her.’
By her statements in this interview, she reads like a very intelligent young woman. Why would you automatically ‘doubt’ that “she really knows what it’s about?” How do you ‘know’ she’s not reading “books by real scientists?” How do you know Willow doesn’t have the ability to ken science?
Yep I read mechanics and thought L.Ron………
Luffy- she’s just saying words randomly. Her statements on the subject are simply not meaningful. She’s not reading about real quantum mechanics but some fuzzy wuzzy stuff that tosses around the words to sound scientific. She would be talking very differently otherwise. Hence my suspicion that the origin of what we hear from her and her brother is Scientology. I’ve known people like that in real life. They latch onto a few tech words and use them oddly. Their friends are impressed only because the friends don’t know anything about the subject either. It’s all right to be ignorant, but combined with arrogance (which we also are seeing in the Smith kids) — it’s very sad.
Her parents should never let her be interviewed, it’s exploitation of a very young and confused person. But her parents should also have provided her with a good education that would have allowed her to explore such things in an environment that would have guided and encouraged and challenged her. They could have afforded the best but they gave their children the worst.
Willow does sound intelligent in areas that she knows. But we don’t do people her age any favors by praising nonsensical statements. If she’s really interested in science and math, she needs to work hard at the basics and recognize her own ignorance and limitations, so she can overcome them. She asks Siri what artisan means when she’s using that as a self-identifier? Why couldn’t she just explain the word herself and then explain why she thinks it applies to her? She has a brain but needs a lot more help than people being awestruck that she knows the words quantum mechanics and MIT.
I remember when she was a few years younger, she specifically mentioned that she found math very difficult. I doubt that her parents got her the help in that area that she needs if she really wants to attend MIT. Her lack of education is really going to keep her down. Self-confidence is not enough.
Were u in school while u read on Q.M? Or was shooting videos,music albums n “modeling” sigh,lol. Bet u were in school and had a foundation to work on. She n her bro r a hot mess thanks to lax parents who don’t believe they need to raise them normal as in outside of CoS. And she is not reading about QM. She’s eye roll teaching it undergroung,lol,..I can’t, this is ridiculous.
Has Willow ever entered a science fair?
She’s listed at 5’7″, just tall enough to become a model.
She’s so young to be such annoying media presence… This just means we the public have several more decades of her crap… Unless she goes away from the limelight…
Exhausted all rready
I know what you are saying is insensitive (thank you PC Nazis) …but it is true. Let’s see if she does anything except be pretty and privileged in a politically correct manner. Fingers crossed for her, though.
She sounds just like L. Ron Hubbard. He claimed to attend schools he never went to, and to have degrees he never acquired. He called himself a doctor, an engineer, a physicist and a philosopher.
I sincerely doubt that Willow knows anything about Quantum Mechanics, as she’d have to be fluent in calculus to truly understand it, and I don’t think she’s ever received that kind of an education. Which is a shame, because underneath all of the usual teenage posturing inflated by extreme wealth and privilege and Scientology-influenced ego, she sounds like a really smart girl.
Help! I just rolled my eyes so hard one of them got stuck! Someone call a doctor.
OK dear, OK. *Pats her on the head* Yes you’re very smart and have it all figured out. Here’s a cookie, run along now.
A 15 year old saying she has everything figure out, what a shocker. So are they teaching the Jenners this “quantum mechanics”? I wonder if they also ask Siri what the hell is quantum mechanics. Or does Tommy Cruise comes out at the end giving Scientology pamphlets?
Will & Jada are going to regret not parenting her & Jaden because these kids need it badly. They keep throwing BIG words when they speak to look so smart, cool & edgy. Then looking them up with the help of Siri because they don’t really understand what they are talking about.
Oh, I don’t know. I used big words too before I quite knew what they meant. The only difference was I had to look them up in the dictionary. I can’t hate on her for that. At least she cares about the definition instead of making up her own. Now, I disagree with her over her application of the term to herself, but that’s a whole different matter.
I agree, Wren. At least she is trying to be smart, instead of trying to be a slutty douchebag.
Hell to the yes, Tris!
Idk based on her interviews they sound like they just put words together but have no idea what they mean, it’s not only her but her brother’s too. They’ve had no formal education aside from that sketchy Scientology school their parents made. Both of them have said before they teach each other things, I’m sorry but I have no faith in those two. They sound like clueless douchebags to me.
At least she checks the definition before it goes on record. Meryl the humanist never figured this one out and look how far she’s come…
Wren…she uses big words, but had to ask SIRI for the definition of ” artisan”.
She’s 15. Even taking the time to comment on what she says seems ridiculous. She doesn’t need to be criticized either for that very reason. Hello…she’s 15!
Sorry dude, I find her annoying as f**k. Not as bad as her brother, but still extremely annoying.
I find them both annoying. And no – their issues are not because they are young. Its because they were raised by batshit crazy parents.
THIS…THANK YOU!
ITA–exactly!!! Those special little snowflakes (aka Willow and Jaden) are only “A Thing” because of who their parents are. The nepotism is strong with these two. Without their parents they would just be a couple of average, unremarkable teens. Perhaps even a little above average, but there are many kids in that age group who are just as quirky and interested in science as the Smith kids are.
I find her super annoying too, also she reminds me of myself and my group of too-cool-for-society friends that I had in highschool..
Amen! They’re so annoying and trying so hard to look like smart kids….zzzzzzzzzzz
call me when the shuttle lands.
I kid, I kid…I know she’s only 15 so I won’t bash her too much. she does look beautiful on the cover.
Oh, my.
If only we judged the qualifications of people to speak on scientific subjects as much as we judged the contents of our food….
If she could actually get into MIT it would be the best thing for her – I genuinely believe she is intelligent enough. Unfortunately, her lack of formal schooling will likely keep in her in her world of fantasy – the one where she knows about quantum mechanics and can lecture on it.
Yes I wondered about that. Does she actually have the knowledge and training to study at MIT?
The answer is No. My husband has his masters in pure math from MIT. The Smith children aren’t even schooled in a program that is accredited. She may be bright but I think dropping MIT is just to let you know where she feels she fits. I’m smart everyone, I know about MIT
I think that to achieve that kind of preparation you need proper and consistent schooling since the very beginning. The brain works like a sponge and what you learn at a young age is priceless and vital for future learning and reference.
I think Jaden and Willow have missed that train a long time ago. It would be nearly impossible now for them to prepare for such a demanding university and let’s not forget that competition is brutal. They have no chances. All they can do is talk about the Mit as something they heard of but they will never experience it for real.
I don’t even think they go to school. Is that Scientology school of parent’s still open? Maybe the SAT will have tons of Xenu questions and her knowledge of aliens and levels of clear will propel her to MIT.
That school closed.
Besides the actual content taught in school, a formal education gives you lessons in discipline, listening and socialization that are exceptionally useful for college, particularly at a university with a high level of stress. There’s no way these kids could cut it in that environment. They’ve never had to be consistent or listen to anyone.
I’m pretty sure MIT requires that you graduate from high school. I’m not sure, but I would imagine her competition would be pretty stiff.
You’re right as usual GNAT. Not only would she have to be able to score extremely high on standardized tests, but the competition to get into MIT is in almost another stratosphere. The best and the brightest in the entire world are competing to get into MIT. It will be interesting to see if she gets into any university, really.
I don’t believe in crushing dreams, but she needs to take an actual SAT and then see if she believes she can get into MIT. The vocabulary alone is killer and Suri is not available. LOL
@Giddy
I don’t believe in dream crushing either. 🙂 You do have to graduate from high school & do very well on your SAT. My niece just graduated from college in biology and she had to work very hard to make it through. It was a tough course of study. I know people are saying “she’s just a kid leave her alone” but you know, it was at 15, my piano teacher showed me the qualifications for admission to Julliard. I realized at that point that there’s school & then there’s SCHOOL. It was that day I stopped complaining in my head about what my teacher was asking me to do because there were kids my age and younger who operated at I level I knew NOTHING about. That kind of perspective gives your respect for your peers and knowledge of where the ‘bar’ actually is. I personally hope she hangs out at MIT a little more. She might get herself a tutor to meet the admission requirements. It’s one thing to read up on and to show interest in a subject, but it’s another thing entirely to survive a science program at MIT.
Will went to MIT, didn’t he? Maybe she’s a legacy. Anyway, he’s very smart, she coujd be too. She might ace her SATs and let’s not kid ourselves that schools are really only interested in admitting intelligent, socially adjusted kids. Your parents’ background (and wealth) can play a huge part, as can a kid’s individuality and self confidence. She just might have ALL that it takes to get in, wrapped up in one endowment package.
–TheRealPinky
Will didn’t go to college (didn’t even apply). He was accepted into a pre-college program at MIT, but didn’t go. He has often said that he could have gotten into MIT since he had good grades and SAT scores, his mother knew an admissions person and MIT needed black students at the time. Over time, this morphed into “Will Smith attended MIT” or “Will Smith turned down a scholarship at MIT” in the press.
He didn’t, that was a rumor.
You need much more than strong standardized test scores to get into MIT anyhow. It’s unbelievably difficult to get into MIT.
Aha. An explanation for all the MIT talk.
LOL. No.
This is a very privileged young woman who has the luxury of spouting utter nonsense while being afforded any semblance of legitimacy. Why the Smith kids are now afforded such status is strange.
Is MIT struggling financially at all? Her parents have money. A few multi-million dollar donations might make up for her lack of formal schooling.
She’s a beautiful girl, though.
I agree. She sounds like she actually has a good brain and going to college would be really good for her. Alas, unless they want to admit her for the publicity I doubt she has the qualifications or will be able to take the necessary tests to apply.
Look, I’m not saying she’s a dumb kid or anything – but she literally had to ask Siri for the definition of a word she’s been calling herself.
So? At least she’s looking it up. I did the same but I had to use the dictionary. Using big words before you know exactly what they mean is how you learn them. I’d find words in books I sorta understood and use them anyway, even if I wasn’t using them right.
That’s the shame of what her parents have done by not educating them. They have the desire to learn and may even have decent intelligence but they have no background in the basics of math and science that you learn in middle and high school. They’ve never learned to study. It’s really a sin the way the (some) wealthy waste the opportunities their kids could be exposed to.
I don’t think she’s ever said or done anything that portrayed intelligence. Especially MIT level intelligence
It’s just an impression I have gotten. I could be off base though.
I think she has come off emotionally intelligent and curious in some tv interviews I’ve seen. I have no idea if she’s good at calculus or whatever else that’s counted as a STEM subject though. In all honesty, I probably made the assumption that she goes to a school that doesn’t study it based on rumours about her parents. My assumption of course could be wrong.
I love that she’s interested in STEM and looking towards other women in the field, but sadly I can’t imagine that she has a shot at any of it, thanks to her parents dropping the ball on their kids’ education. Willow and Jaden could have, and SHOULD have, had the best education.
MIT is incredibly competitive, and I would guess even the people who don’t get in have excelled at math and science all through school. Her parents sent her to a nonsense CO$ school for a long time, and now who knows if she even goes.
And being that she is an artisan, I am curious – what is her “skilled trade”???
I know she gets a pass from Kaiser for being young, and I have no issues with the young speaking about issues. I do, however, have a huge issues with uneducated twits speaking about stuff they are clueless about.
I follow Mighty Girl on FB and they feature some amazing young women and tweens, from a nine year old who has started an actual community newspaper in her small town where there was none. She actually does investigative reporting despite being told to go home and okay with dolls. I applaud her. Also, they had a profile of 15 and 17 year olds who are actually involved in scientific research, coming up with solutions to real world problems such as cleaning up the Great Lakes of the invasive algae. Amen to that. But praising /admiring Willow, whose only accomplishment is, as far as I can tell, getting a platform for her word salad because she is a result of two famous people procreating, is ridiculous. And shame on Teen Vogue for ignoring accomplished, intelligent young women in favour of yet another famous for her last name simpleton.
+1000
Composing songs using math equations? I kid. Obviously, she’s a shoe cobbler.
I heard about the 9 year old on a podcast. They were debating weather it is ok for a person that age to investigate murders. That girl has it together, I hope she sticks to it.
I hope so too! Basically her response was that no matter what her detractors would say, she would stick with it. Her parents are very supportive and some in the community obviously are too, because they would call her and speak to her. That is what makes me sad, all the media focusing on a few privileged, spoiled offspring of celebs are ignoring true accomplishments – I really wish they would feature these inspiring young women instead of “look at me, lip selfies” or “Siri, what am I”?
Well stayed Vauvert. And I:m going to check out that FB page.
I’m going to have to check out Mighty Girl. I love reading stories about kids like that, especially girls, because it gives hope for the future. There’s a girl here in NJ who when she was just 11 started a food pantry/ clothing donation charity that has gone on to do so much more too. There are awesome kids out there.
I think Willow seems like a sweet kid, and maybe she is very smart in her own way, who knows. I think she should be allowed time to figure all that out – in PRIVATE. Not in the world wide media.
Well said! Personally, I don’t think she or Jaiden had ever done anything which would be consider intelligent academically.
What I find sad is that both of them seem to be curious and interested in learning. Their parents could had sent them to the best schools and maybe the could had entered into the best Universities, but I think it might be too late for them, I don’t think she has the right and proper education to get into an Institute or University like the MIT.
100 times this. Honestly these two annoy me less than a lot of celebrity spawn. They both seem like bright, creative kids who just need some orientation in life. Their parents have the resources to give them a top-notch education, but they just seem left to their own devices. A pity.
YEAH! Major honks for Mighty Girl! One of my favourite FB pages.
Thank you for the heads up about Mighty Girl. I am passing this on to my daughter.
Good god.
My parents used to tell me when I was crossing the line and said something really stupid, in order to not make a fool of myself in front of other people.
‘She visited MIT: “It was nice to be able to talk to female students and professors about science and logic because that’s just such a man’s world.”
I bet she taught teachers and professors a thing or 2 too.
*insert sarcasm here*
I feel embarrasses for her and her parents.
Oh, brother.
How embarrassing. She is illiterate (she only reads her own books, remember?), spoiled, uber-entitled, and has no idea what “studying” or “work” is (everything is done for her). She’s not a binary star, she’s a black hole of ignorance and pretentiousness. The smartest people I know are humbled by how much they have yet to learn. Even at 15 this is just delusional!
As a kid, I read quite a few physics books from the library (written for non-scientists), subscribed to Things of Science, begged for a chemistry set, bought myself an electronics kit, collected rocks, hung moon maps on my wall, took things apart to see what was inside (much to my mother’s dismay, since I’m not so good at putting them back together). Although I clearly knew I wanted to be a physicist (also much to my mother’s dismay), I was also very aware when much younger than Willow that I knew very little. More questions were raised than answered in everything I read, I needed a guide but was stuck in schools that didn’t teach math and science well until college. I knew I needed to learn mathematics because that was the language of physics. Even with a Ph.D. from a physics department, I’m constantly reminded of how much more there is to learn and understand – not just for me personally, but also for all of us.
I’ve never known a real scientist or scientist-to-be who talked like Willow does, even when they were her age. I don’t actually know what she’s talking about, it seems like words pulled from the air with little meaning behind them. Her lack of awareness of how little she knows is a significant clue that she hasn’t a clue, but someone in her life is telling her that she’s actually saying amazing and meaningful things, that she’s a genius beyond all geniuses, and the magazine interviewer played along with it (probably out of ignorance but might have been making fun of the girl). When she crashes, it won’t be pretty. She so needed to go to a real school that would have taught her real math and science to give her a good foundation to spread her wings if she so chose, and let her meet people who weren’t such doofuses as she apparently hangs around with…. Her parents had the money to give her a splendid education that would have let her do anything she wanted, including going to MIT. I doubt she has a chance now, she’s working as s model and doesn’t feel the need to learn the hard stuff. MIT is not likely in her future unless she’s willing to suspend her various careers to spend a few years actually learning the basics before she can enroll.
I actually do know scientists and other people in the sciences who talk like her. It’s called weed, lots of it.
Ok, I kid a little but she reminds me of the kids I knew in Berkeley; full of just enough knowledge to be dangerous and steeped in the culture of the hippie scientists of the university. Lots of pseudo intellectual discussions and profound musings on the nature of life. It was fun, and ultimately harmless. You grow up and actually learn about things and realize how dumb you were. Thank goodness I never had to give interviews back then.
But the question is, is she really different from your AVERAGE American teen (not – obviously – someone like you) who thinks they know everything? Probably not.
I don’t know – I have no doubt that she has plenty of yes men and women in her life, and that is too bad, because really, the more you learn the more you realize how little you actually know, but that only dawns on you once you hit your 20’s IMO. Actually human brains don’t fully develop until our 20’s and 30’s, but I distinctly recall having that epiphany while I was in college.
My problem with Willow Smith isn’t with Willow. It’s with NY Fashion’s and Media’s obsession with celebrity offspring. They are famous without having earned a damn thing.
Right? Chanel has made a 15 year old girl their “ambassador”? How? Why?
shes amazing honestly…. and more aware than say her hipster weirdo bro…. she seems to know that she is tapping into an area of groups and topics and is totally ok with the visibility that she bring to thing esp for certain groups (black, alt/hipster, youth, natural hair wearing black/poc, women)
I just love this interview and she has charmed me…. i am a fan now…
please dont flub this willow…. lol
I liked what she said about clothes – that you can wear all the fancy stuff you want but you’re still you. I thought that was insightful for her age, but then I was a pretty useless twit at 15.
Willow does have insightful things to say about areas she actually has experienced and knows about. But then she goes off into areas she is less than knowledgeable about but thinks she understands, and sounds foolish and arrogant. I have to blame her parents for this. They’re the ones who have been allowing their children to be interviewed. Those kids seem as though nobody is really looking out for them.
I laughed when I read that part because if everyone realized that, the advertising industry would collapse. No matter what you buy or what you wear you’re still you and no external thing can change that.
I don’t think she’s stupid, and I really hope (wish?) she moves outside her bubble and does something with herself besides be photographed in interesting outfits.
Agreed. 100%
Ugh. It would probably help if she looked into getting a high school diploma first? Do the Smith children even have a formal education? At all? I think the oldest one does(Will’s firstborn), but not the other two. Just Scientology school. Which is why Jaden is borderline illiterate. I’m pretty sure MIT isn’t taking students just because their parents make movies. I mean God bless if she actually wants to get in the old fashioned way, by studying hard and working for it. But I fear that those kids are rather out of touch with reality.
Oh well, she seems sweet at least. Hopefully her talking about it in a magazine sparks more interest in young women going into STEM fields. That’s always a good thing.
Sheesh, she’s probably harmless but it’s funny to hear that these are her actual thoughts. She’s soooooo important!!!
I’m all for promoting STEM studies for women. Other than that, I wish someone (certainly not gonna be their parents) would help give these kids a bit of a reality check. They say some of the most batsh-t things I’ve ever heard and I fail to see the profundity of any of it. I do realize they’re young, but this is not the same kind of crap most of us were spouting at that age. And all the press they get for it just spurs them on with more psychobabble.
I still prefer her and her brother to the Kardashians and pretty much every other celebuspawn.
Yes some of what she says is laughable and ridiculous, but at least she cares about something outside of lip liner and selfies.
*shrugs*
I’m not sure. At least the Kardashians don’t try to lecture us on how important ‘thinking’ and ‘real science stuff’ is. All they care about is their bum, their nails and their makeup. And money of course.
Smith’s kids are generally ignorant and they show no sign of improvement. you would think that being in touch with ‘scientists’ might have moved something in them like, i don’t know, go to school to achieve that status..but no. They just pretend they know all that things because they’re born that way. Pffff
Willow and her brother don’t even go to school but they think they are MIT material.
Talk about delusion.
I didn’t take anything she said as a lecture. To me, it sounded like she was excited to talk about something that she’s interested in.
People seem more offended by the fact that these kids don’t go to school than anything else. To me, that’s between them and their parents…but then again, I’m child-free and don’t really give two sh*ts about how rich people raise their kids, as long as they aren’t harming anyone.
So yeah…still a big *shrug* from me. Can’t muster up the outrage.
“People seem more offended by the fact that these kids don’t go to school than anything else.”
I think it might be the Scientology stuff that affects my perception. I think she shows some potential of smartness, at least in an emotionally intelligent way, (and I think she says some wise things in this interview, unlike her brother Jaden), but I wonder how she’ll achieve her dreams of going to MIT if Scientology limits her from accessing other educational materials besides what they offer. I really wish her parents hadn’t gotten into Scientology, because I think this kid really could achieve her dreams in science and even attend MIT (she seems like she does have a desire to apply herself) if her parents hadn’t joined that organization.
I suspect people are more offended by the parents or Scientology than Willow. If she weren’t in Scientology, I’d probably be willing to believe that she would go to MIT (if not for her brains, but because she has the money to pay for tuition).
Kitten, in my case my problem with their word vomiting might come from the context of my country. I’m from a third world country, where lots of kids in rural areas have to walk for hours just to to get to school. Some of those schools are not nice buildings but rather improvised tents. These kids (the ones who don’t leave school for finding work to support their families, or are forced to work for the Narcos, etc.) study in the worst conditions most of their lives just to get a minimal education.
So it really irks me when these kids who have it all to access the best schools in the world, to learn, to travel, to do things for other etc. are so detached from reality and yet have the nerve to lecture on “science stuff” and “art”.
Agree. I didn’t find her all that out there. She seems to be thinking a little deeper than lip liner, which is a good thing.
They’re harmless, you know? Plus she’s FIFTEEN. I just get so uncomfortable with people criticizing children just because they happen to have famous parents.
When I was 15, I thought adults were so stupid because they couldn’t see that if we would just hug each other there would be no war. And I’m pretty sure I expressed that out loud. To people.
And yes, she’s still a child. She can’t help who her parents are.
See overall – harmless. But if the family is buying into all the $cio shit, then not so much.
I give her credit for at least expressing interest in other things – but I lose some of that faith when she wasn’t sure about the definition of the word she was already using to describe herself. And beyond that – I’m still not sure what would actually classify her as an artisan.
I don’t know. I think I’ve just finally hit the age where teens drive me insane. Using buzzwords and brief talking points does not make someone intelligent. It comes off, to me at least, as someone who’s just as fake as the Kardashian’s – just with different talking points.
GNAT, I had similar notions and I’m pretty sure I also informed people of my brilliant solutions to the worlds problems. I’m uncomfortable criticizing her because she really is still a child, it’s not her fault that adults inexplicably want her opinions on things. I’m certain my parents went through the same “I’m happy you’re thinking about things but omg you are so dumb” struggle I get when I listen to her.
Wasn’t it just yesterday the youngest Kardashian was stating she invented wearing wigs so now everyone is doing it? Yeah, I’ll cut this one slack for using Siri to define artisan. I’ll take her over the Kardashian interviews any day.
Side note: Willow is stunning. So beautiful. I hope she and her brother escape from the Scientology. Fingers crossed.
That is my thought too. She is curious and actually thinks about issues beyond shallow things. Besides being stunning she is interesting at 15.
She is an interesting person. I think she seems smart, how do people know her homeschooling isn’t thorough? Perhaps she has what it takes to get to MIT, we won’t really know until (and if) it happens.
Precisely. I CANNOT stand one more Kylie Jenner/Kardashian interview about nails and contouring and waist training etc. I find it very refreshing that a youth of this generation is interested in other things besides selfies, you know?
I find her brother more annoying, but I will agree they are light years better than the Kardashians. Though that is a low bar.
It’s great that she wants to go to MIT. Hopefully she knows what it takes to get accepted to MIT.
I liked her comment about her contract with Chanel and how it is good for diversity. But.. that’s about it. Now sorry, i have to go create myself…
I don’t know, Kaiser. Yes, she’s just 15, and therefore we should perhaps take her rambling with a grain of salt.
However, no 15 year old I have ever known could say that they were hosting underground teachings in quantum mechanics with a straight face, even those who had their sights set firmly on engineering. And then fail to see the irony in having to ask Siri to confirm the meaning of a word that they believe defines them. (Source: I used to teach high school English/Lit and Music.)
I’m guessing that the music from mathematical equations is computer generated and she’s not actually using advanced calculus or anything like that to compose her own songs.
And what is the fixation that both the Smith children have with MIT? They sound like they are parroting what they’ve heard with no concept of the level you have to be at to get in.
Both of them seem to be suffering a serious case of solipsism – just because they believe that something is so, it does not make it real. If they ever break out of the bubble that surrounds them, they’re in for a rude shock. It’s great to have high aspirations, but you have to be able to back it up.
I do have to say though, as a geologist (career change from teaching), it saddens me to hear someone of her generation still associate science and logic mainly with men. What is that about? 1600 years after Hypatia and we’re still having to fight this rubbish. SMH.
This girl is bright. Too bad she got stuck with scientology and loopy parents. Never had a chance. But then she’s only 15 and she’s far less insufferable than I was at that age. Here’s to hoping, hm?
Yeah, I think she does display intelligence and even self-awareness (the stuff about still being the same person even after getting brand name clothes struck me as a wise thing to say for her age). But the Scientology stuff lingers over everything she says.
We need a “like” button on this site. I agreed with so many of you and what your wrote
She is so pretentious it’s hurts.
I was gonna say precocious AND pretentious! Lolz
Does anyone else think that Willow looks different? LIke she has had some facial work done? She looks so different to me…
She does a bit but I think that’s just the fact that she is growing up and her face is starting to lose the baby chub.
When she gets her High School diploma, gets into MIT and graduates with a science degree then, and only then will I be impressed.
I am beginning to think these children think they know something MIT doesn’t. Unfortunately, all they’ve learned is that bat crazy science fiction promoted as intelligence by their parents’ religion.
…and I’m sure they’ve been told they can do anything they set their minds to. Without any idea what it really takes to get there. *eyeroll*
My god where is all this crazy talk coming from?! I know they’re scientologists but Will and Jada come off in public as fairly normal people. How did their kids end up this far out there?
Well, I think this would have really appealed to me when I was 15. I wasn’t really interested in any of the cliques that formed in high school, and I read about all sorts of things that bore people at parties (and still do). She’s enthusiastic about something interesting. If this was Graham Norton, it would be time to say ‘She can walk’!
Yes, she’s only 15. She also has a HUGE platform to spread around her ignorance. I really hope she is planning on studying STEM. That would be wonderful. I have to say from what I’ve seen of these two kids though, it’s REALLY unlikely.
I don’t care, I think it’s brilliant that a black teenage girl is openly advocating for women in STEM fields. I was very into science and philosophy at her age and probably sounded quite similar. She sounds like a typical intelligent but unworldly teen. It’s quite probable that she is reading decent STEM books. I’m sure her discussion groups would make any adult in STEM roll their eyes but I’m sure they’re aimed at other kids her own age. If she was doing the kind of stuff teen celebs are ‘supposed’ to be doing (shopping, clubbing, and trying to become the new Paris Hilton) no one would criticize her half as much.
” I was very into science and philosophy at her age and probably sounded quite similar.” But the difference is that you were likely educated in the foundation subjects. You had studied basic and advanced math, philosophy and science courses in middle and high school. You were literate and had years of learning how to study. With her, I fear she knows the sound bites without knowing or understanding the depth of any subject. She has the desire to learn but I doubt she could get there from where she is now based on no real formal education. Her parents have failed her miserably because she is not unintelligent but she is uneducated.
FWIW I dropped out of high school in my sophomore year and still went on to get a PhD. Got my GED when I was 24 and progressed from there.
Meg D, that’s awesome. Seriously. 🙂
ETA I’m not trying to be patronizing. I was raised in a household where higher education wasn’t encouraged. I got my GED and just worked full time from 16 until I stopped to start a family when I was 34. I wish I had gone to college. I made a good living but I never liked my job.
That’s fantastic. I hope Willow does the same.
If Willow loves science she should go to school.
Both famous Smith children seem to be incredibly curious about the world around them. Their parents did them an incredible disservice in not providing an adequate education. Such a shame.
Why does people that are into pseudoscience always have to mention quantum physics? What did physicists ever do to deserve such an association??? I truly pity them. As I biologist (a real one ya know; I actually studied biology, went to grad school and all) I can’t stop from shaking my head whenever someone mentions silly theories related to my field, but it seems like most people citing quantum anything are complete lunatics; it must really hurt!
Also, why are the Smith kids so obsessed with MIT?! They keep name-dropping it in every interview, don’t they know that it won’t get them admitted?
It’s sad reall because I’m sure they are smart kids and they grew up in such a privileged position that if they had had a proper upbringing, they probably could have done great things and get into good universities! But no, they had to be raised in that stupid cult that thinks that having science in its name means you have the knowledge… Their parents did them a great disservice.
See comment 6 re MIT. Supposedly Will aspired to go or something. Explains the obsession, if true.
I’m just glad that at least she thinking about thinking. Some of what the Smith kids say and do is ridiculous, but they do seem to be aware of the wider world. I can’t help but contrast them with the K/Jenner Klan. If any of them even had two thoughts to rub together, they might set their plastics faces and air-filled brains on fire. I’m sure if you asked any of them about MIT, they would say it was a piece of baseball gear.
Aww, she’s an ambitious, maybe a little disillusioned, sweet young lady. She sounds far more capable than other famous, because-of-my-family, celebrity starlets. She’s 15, she’s young and impressionable, let’s cut the girl some slack. I’m sure she probably IS interested in those things to some degree. #teamSmith
She is a beautiful girl … and she is only a kid…
Slay Willow
Of course she’s naive, privileged, and all of that but I think she’s a really cool kid. I’d really like to see her go to MIT.
The UMBRAGE people take at these kids being kooky and extra out of the norm is Just Enough for me to wish NOTHING ELSE FOR THEM BUT TO STAY KOOKY AND CAREFREE AND WEIRD!, I see people always caping to validate every off the wall thing Shailene Woodley says without much fuss, so i’m gonna let the Smith kids cook
That’s what I’m saying. I was a straight-up freak in high school and I’m having flashbacks of the cheerleaders teasing me for wearing my dad’s old flared velveteens from the ’70s and skateboarding shoes.
The non-conformist in me feels protective of these kids. Let them do their thing, man. They’re not hurting anyone.
+1000 to you both
Agree. you’re trying to figure out who you are then, and you try on different things for size. I tried being tough, failed miserably, then tried hippie, was largely insufferable and so know it all, then became super preppy to end all preppies, then found love and was into music and art because boyfriend was. Now, a mere 45 years later, I am the wonderful specimen you see today. Ok, bad example. They will figure it out.
LOL! You grew up to be an amazing combination of things, Gnatty.
I was a teenage stoner who grew up to be an adult stoner.
Yay me!
The amount if animosity directed at the Smith kids has always been VERY telling to me. They’re just kids who sometimes sound like pretentious morons and sometimes have provocative and interesting things to say. LIKE EVERY OTHER TEENAGER EVER. So what they have the privilege of a larger platform – so do plenty of older, white celebrities who have far less excuse for their ignorance.
I don’t think Willow sounds pretentious, or even inarticulate. I do think Jaden sounds a little funny sometimes though.
Well they are BLACK children therefore them being rich, confident, carefree teenagers is offending many. The same way Beyonce is usually judged very harshly on here too. Look at the language used, cocky, arrogant, pretentious etc… it is very telling
Oh FFS… it’s because they’re OBNOXIOUS, NOT black! Why does everyone insist on shoving in the race card into every situation?? Is that your ONLY fallback?? Sheesh!
Because it reads that way. That is why. I’m not always quick to see it but I do here. It’s over the top and insulting her intelligence over and over. I’ve watched these threads as a lurker and now as a participant and the tone is very different.
The difference is, this child has an international platform where you likely did not.
I am consistently surprised in the Willow comment section. I like her. I like kooky non conformist 15 year old girls. If ever there were a time to be foolish it’s when you are 15.
It seems harsh to me.
I was reading this while eating and I read that as ‘biryani stars.’
I’ll see myself out.
“Biryani stars” sound quite delicious tbh
Now I’m craving Chicken Biryani 😩 Thanks guys 😑
I quit reading comments half way through because I can’t bring myself to finish. If she wants to dream of going to MIT – let her. Why can’t she? Because someone decided she’s not smart enough? That’s crazy. If I were fifteen I’d rather read an interview of someone my age talking about academics and searching for knowledge than listening to someone else famous that age talk about how to get famous or how to plump lips or get rid of cellulite. Maybe she hasn’t studied in an acamedmic setting like a “normal” highschool, but let’s be real. Not everyone that graduates from a “normal” highschool is exceptionally intelligent or adjusts well to real life after they’ve left or even excels in college once they choose to go. Shes searching for information and she’s NOT afraid to be herself. I admire those qualities and I hope she never loses them. She doesn’t have to fit a standard idea of what makes someone else comfortable because they don’t understand or have the ability to understand her life.
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 to everything you said.
ITA with all that you said.
co-signing all this.
Thank you.
Nobody is saying she’s stupid. But she definitely lacks the basic academic skills to hope for MIT, no matter how innately intelligent she is. Some people are gifted enough to be self-taught in such areas, but they are very rare. I tried myself and didn’t succeed to any significant degree, even with intense interest in math and science from a very early age. I got much further than Willow, probably because I spent a lot more time on it than she does. But I needed real teachers, even mediocre ones could help. Willow obviously cannot teach herself sufficiently and needs real guidance to get the grounding in math and science that she needs if she’s seriously interested. She at least needs the right starting point, but she doesn’t have it and shows no signs of realizing that and taking steps to remedy the situation. The ones really to blame are her parents, but she is old enough to know she needs help if she wants to go beyond casual dabbling without much understanding.
I taught at a college that was good but not MIT level. It’s not uncommon for first-year students to be shocked by the new expectations – they often were stars of their high school classes, but now they were just one of many, including many who were brighter and better prepared. The workload was far heavier than they ever had before and they were getting serious critiques of their work by their teachers for the first time. Just the reading and writing requirements for one required first-year course were way beyond anything they had faced before. A good effort was no longer enough to impress. In discussions they were being challenged by other students as well, instead of being considered brilliant whenever they opened their mouth. Some never recovered from the shock.
I had the unhappy task of telling some students that they were struggling because they lacked the basic mathematical skills they needed just to get through my introductory physics class. Their problem wasn’t lack of intelligence, just lack of required preparation. Trying to get the basic skills while also trying to get through a course that required those skills was just too much for anybody. It would be like trying to do a course in literature before you even know the language in which the literature is written. They needed remedial work first (which was available on campus) to get up to speed before they could deal with the first level of physics. In the calculus-level physics course, I managed to pull people through who hadn’t had calculus yet or were taking it concurrently by talking about adding up little bits (integral calculus) and dividing into little bits (differential calculus). Calculus was designed for just such problems anyway and it was relevant to remind them of the real meaning of the procedures they would learn in calculus classes. Plus they didn’t have to do any heavy-duty solving of equations in the Intro physics class. But I couldn’t help someone who really didn’t understand very elementary algebra and arithmetic (such as how fractions worked). Their prior schooling had failed them and they needed to learn those basics first. I didn’t have the training or time to help them learn what they should have learned long before reaching college.
Willow will be eaten alive if she ever does enroll in any decent college unless she finds a way to get some real education, especially in math and science. Even a mediocre high school would give her more of a chance than she has now. Her problem isn’t lack of intelligence, just acute lack of preparation. And that lack of basic skills will keep her from doing what she might want to do.
It’s a vague ambition she has for some point in the future, even she uses the word MAYBE.
She isn’t even old enough to take SATs yet, damn let the girl live.
I’m simply amazed at how critical some of you are of a FIFTEEN YEAR OLD.
We’re sick of vapid, shallow teenagers but the second we’re presented with one who is confident, is actually thinking about more than makeup and clothes, is not afraid to speak their mind and is different from the rest we talk bad about them as well.
Willow can’t help how she was raised and the fact that her parents don’t value education as much. And who’s to say she won’t go to school in the future? Again, she’s 15. She still has dreams and wants to make a difference. She’s excited about life and she has a vivid imagination. Give the kid a break.
One hundred plus comments from adults, most of them openly mocking a teenager for daring to dream that she could go to MIT, pretty much calling her stupid because she used Siri to look up a word, and calling her a Scio freak even though she never said one word about Scientology in the interview (has she ever even talked about Scio BTW?) all because of who her parents are.
It seems a bit OTT to me, you know?
Kitten, it’s pretty awful. A bunch of adults mean-girling a teenager. Weird and disappointing and definitely OTT.
Kitten – it’s disgusting to me how adults can fawn all over someone like Tavi Gevinson but the minute we’re faced with another 15 year old who displays some confidence and is quite apparently curious about the world around her…… screw the fact that she actually aspires to a top education, let’s tear her a new one for it! Because she’s not ~good enough~ or something.
I would have thought a community that frequently criticises Kardashian Klan members for not valuing education, would be rather more understanding of a teenager who’s all but saying she does, and that she wants to go to a prestigious college.
I think some of Jaden’s comments imply a connection to Scientology (I figured that’s what made the Will Smith-might-really-really-be-a-Scientologist rumours fly). Something about the ideas he drops sounds similar to what Scientologists say (or, well, the way Tom Cruise talks in those videos about Scientology). I don’t think Willow is a freak, but IF there is a connection I would naturally wonder, just as a point of curiosity and general inquisitiveness, if the connection might limit her (as evidenced but what we heard during Tom and Katie’s divorce about Suri’s education and the stuff other Scientologists have said about their educations), because I think she has the brains to succeed otherwise. I saw her in an interview once with her mom, and she seemed more curious and less shallow (and very polite) than the Hollywood-ized version way of parenting her mother seems to like. But maybe Will and Jada have broken off from the Scientology stuff. I could have sworn there was an article some time back that said something about a break or maybe even the fact that he might never have been one, despite donating money to some of their causes. His connection to the organization has always seemed a little mysterious, although I have no idea why he’d want to give any part of his money to them.
She used Siri to look up a word BECAUSE that is a Scientology teaching. “Study Tech” was devised by L. Ron Hubbard as a way of learning that revolves around reading something and stopping every time you hit a word you don’t 100% know the definition of to look it up in the dictionary. So she’s living out that teaching in her real life. It’s not sad that she looked up a word using Siri, it’s sad because it means she is still stuck in that cult.
“reading something and stopping every time you hit a word you don’t 100% know the definition of to look it up in the dictionary”
welp, I guess that makes me a Scientologist then, doing something like looking up words I don’t know the meaning of as I read.
I don’t like it at all. Scientology or not. She’s a child and didn’t choose her upbringing. I reserve my vitriol for shallow, lazy, incurious, plastic, materialistic adults. Except for a certain teen who is from ‘that’ family.
I think this young girl sounds extremely intelligent. So much smarter than the other young stars around her age (I’m looking at you Kylie Jenner). I hope she graduates from MIT and kicks some ass. Good for her. There is nothing to hate in this interview.
She is intelligent. She is part of our new burgeoning Hollywood aristocracy. That is not her fault. If you are born in a bubble, you know nothing of the outside world. My greatest hope for her is that she embarrasses her misguided fool of a father and becomes a person of substance. God bless her
Maybe she’s just having a little joke at the expense of journalists who are taking her a little too seriously?
When I was 15, I would have been too-clever-by-half enough to to say something like this. I’m sure I knew the term “quantum mechanics,” I’m sure I knew it signified something very, very smart, and I’m sure I had no idea what it meant, because I still don’t.
Maybe I’m projecting, but I don’t think she actually intends for anyone to believe she hosts salons devoted to the discussion of quantum physics. Or … maybe she actually does.
Reading this young generation of starlet’s interviews inspires me and gives me ideas for my future parental skills so I hope they keep providing us with these pearls of “young wisdom”.
This interview really makes me want her to go to school and see what it’s like to pursue a STEM field for real. Maybe it’s for her, who knows?
….. is this Opposite Day on CB or something?
a 15-year-old girl says she maybe wants to go to MIT one day, and we adults, who rightfully criticise the crap out of other teen and older celebrities who don’t value their educations, tear said 15-year-old a new one for even daring to dream of going there because apparently her current education is not up to MIT’s hallowed standards?
She didn’t steal your place at MIT by just saying she was interested in science and wanted to go, but you won’t know that from some of the comments.
I think most people all critical of her parents for not formally educating her so that she had a real chance to actually get into MIT.
Those of us actually in sciences requiring mathematics know that if you’re as far behind as she is in the basics by the age of 15, your chances of going further are virtually non-existent. She will need to do a lot of catch-up work and that will take years. She seems pretty busy doing other things, so when would she even have the time? Some fields are more amenable than others to self-study. Quantum mechanics is generally in the “not very amenable” category except for the unusually mathematically gifted (I doubt that she is for a variety of reasons, but neither am I). Her future in such areas looks rather dim for such practical reasons, even if she has the native ability (which she probably does).
are you her teacher?
The girl just expressed a wish to MAYBE (note: MAYBE) attend MIT, since when was an aspiration something to be so down on?
I’m cool with the Smith kids. They’re weird and somewhat spoiled, sure, but I dig Willow’s confidence here. I like that she’s a 15 year old black girl who is happy with who she is and not afraid to say so. And nobody’s being hurt by a young black woman having higher education ambitions. This is the kind of privilege I can deal with if it has to show up on a magazine.
This whole family is batsh&t. Sorry to say that about the kids, but it’s not their fault that their parents are off the charts.
Seriously side eyeing this one
Oh puh-lease. Child of wealth and privilege drops the name MIT and everyone’s supposed to be impressed? I just dropped into the offices of Microsoft because I’m thinking of buying out Bill Gates, and it sure felt good to talk to those smart people who are my intellectual equals because, you know, computers are so totally a guy thing..,
I just can’t with these brats with everything handed to them in life for free.
I want to see her succeed. I just don’t know what her parents are doing to help her get her where she wants to be – besides having the money. The oldest Smith kid has studied and appears to be doing fine in life, but I don’t know how much that has to do with the Will’s first wife guiding him.
It’s refreshing to hear a teenage celebrity whose black talking about science. I like her and think she’s much more interesting than at least half of Hollywood. Yes she isn’t at the intellectual level as most adults because she is a child and a very inquisitive one. I hope she is really successful because she doesn’t do the sexy child porn everyone else does. I like her style, not over sexualised at all.
I think we should embrace being different and the love of science, but there is something so off here and about the Smiths in general. I think the combined inflated egos places them all in their own planet. Maybe when she’s older she’ll look back on her interviews and roll her eyes. She should however follow her love of science. We could use more of that today.
So torn.
I want to encourage girls to go into science, because science is awesome and there are too few women. There are even fewer black women in science in the US.
But I’m also busting my eyes rolling them about her underground quantum physics lectures. How about you GO to them instead of giving them and use all the opportunities you have to get a real education that will allow you to go to MIT without any nepotism in play?
I can’t take her ‘I love to science’ thing seriously if she has the opportunity to pursue an excellent education and would rather just educate herself and think that’s sufficient for MIT. Sure, she’s enthusiastic about science and that’s great, but don’t talk about MIT unless you want a real education. I guess you don’t need to consider those things when your dad is Will Smith?
No. She is absolutely NOT hosting underground teachings in quantum mechanics. She’s full of it. Her grammar is poor; she uses the wrong words. I also don’t think she is an artisan. She may be a creative and an artist, but I challenge her to show some of her handiwork before stating that she is an artisan. Being creative with eyeliner does NOT make a person an artisan. *rolls eyes*
Ok, I’m just gonna say this. She wants to go to MIT? gotta have a high school diploma for that. They don’t go to school do they?
I LOATHE the word artisan. It’s a pretentious, self-absorbed word. Phew, feel better now.
JWoolman gave the best response I read so far. Thank you Woolman, I experienced exactly what you wrote about when I entered as a freshman at SMU, an excellent private university in Dallas, Texas. I went to public school, was a straight A honor student (except geometry), I have a 130 IQ and I still struggled to get through freshman year. I had to take remedial writing for the first year to learn properly how to write college papers (as did 40 percent of the freshman class!). Public school education in our country is abominable. I also lived right around the corner from Scientology headquarters in Clearwater, Florida for fourteen years. Scientology is a dangerous cult. Scientology pampers it’s “celebrities”, but a few days research into the organization reveals its nefarious underbelly. Members of Scientology are kept isolated from the real world and real people and real science. I suggest that Ms. Smith do her own research on the sly to see what really goes on in Scientology. I consider the parents of this young lady to be negligent parents for raising her in a cult and without a “real” education. She has been brainwashed. Her lack of humility is astounding. I do not care about the color of her skin, I care about her mind and her access to truth and facts. She might try looking up the definition of narcissist as well and see if she can wake up and avoid becoming one.
I think the problem is a bunch of grown women who are feeling personally offended by some imaginary parallel of experience. Y’all aren’t the same.
Her underground lectures could be like a book club for all we know; pick a chapter and discuss. Her parents are so well connected MAYBE they have actual scientists explaining this to her. We don’t know.
The world needs spirits that don’t let a bunch of negative Nancy’s drag them down.
She *could* get into MIT as a homeschooled (or in her case, unschooled) student. But she would have to demonstrate that she received a comparable high school education by submitting a transcript, portfolio, or GED and she’d still have to take a standardized test like the SAT or ACT. And she’d have to have references from people who taught her, and write an essay or two. Her application process would be the same as any other applicant. I homeschooled my kids til 6th grade. I have many friends who homeschooled their teens and those teens were accepted into very good colleges. But they were in on-line courses, homeschooling co-ops, community college courses…you know, *learning* stuff.
I think these guys could be really interesting people… if they went off the grid for a while. stopped giving interviews and learned real things about the world besides just smoking weed and coming up with things in their backyard. Maybe move to nyc and live with some real artists (not hipster-instagram artists). people like laurie anderson or somesuch.