Professor Mitchell Miller won the Nobel Prize in Physics (2050), and in his acceptance speech, he openly admitted that he isn’t particularly smart. Here’s an excerpt of what he said:
“I have great regard for the honour of the Swedish Academic Society, and I do not wish to contradict their choices. But I have been meaning to find the right time in my life to say this: I am a complete idiot. I hope that inspires people like me to pursue their passion, regardless of the labels they are given.”
Professor Mitchell has supervised many successful students over his career in addition to being a brilliant scientist. His remark has sparked controversy on social media. Many are accusing him of misleading the youth about ambition and competence. We went to talk with him about the speech, and here’s what he said:
“Throughout my life, I was praised for being clever, brilliant, and sincere. But these were just labels to me — they didn’t do anything specific for my growth or learning. I used to remind myself of my shortcomings and what I needed to improve. But I couldn’t openly express those thoughts in front of people.
When I was a graduate student, I had to struggle through immense competition to pursue my passion. Admitting weaknesses wasn’t an option then. As I progressed in my career, I noticed that people valued authority, and I felt I needed it just to have my voice heard. But as I grew older and more secure, I began to realise that I could afford to be true — not just to myself, but to others too.
I felt a deep dissonance when people praised me. For once, I wanted to communicate what I actually felt about myself and what has helped me keep learning physics. And when I found out I had received the Nobel Prize, I thought: perhaps now is the right moment to tell the truth.”
Many users have commented that being labelled smart, stupid, arrogant, or humble is deeply reductive to the complexity of human experience. These traits can shift and co-exist at different stages of life.
One user wrote on the platform Y:
“Some may argue he was arrogant to fake smartness all this time — but to those people I ask, what is smartness? And for that matter, what is arrogance?”
While the speech has sparked debate over how we define brilliance, incompetence, and arrogance in academia, many outside academia found it surprising — and oddly refreshing.
What are your views? Let us know at our handle — @ThisisNotRealNews.
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