Neuroscientists debunk idea Colorado suspect was supersmart [View all]

snip--

James Holmes seemed well on his way to a career as a scientist.

A video from a science camp he attended after high school shows him making a presentation about temporal illusions, misfirings in brain cells that lead to misreading the passage of time — the feeling that time stands still. In the video, Holmes refers to "an illusion that allows you to change the past."

He was one of six students admitted to the University of Colorado's graduate program in neuroscience last year. He received a $26,000 federal stipend.

But neuroscientist David Eagleman says Holmes' credentials were no better than those of an average student. The suspected mass killer is no elite neuroscientist, says Eagleman, of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

"He was just a second-year grad student," he says. "He didn't know anything."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-07-24/john-holmes-smart-academics/56467518/1

47 replies, 3130 views

Thread info Bookmark this thread Trash this thread

Reply to this thread

Always highlight: 10 newest replies | Replies posted after I mark a forum

Replies to this discussion thread

47 replies	Author	Time	Post
Neuroscientists debunk idea Colorado suspect was supersmart [View all]	flamingdem	Jul 2012	OP
Sounds like something Sheldon would say	Gman	Jul 2012	#1
He wasn't even a second year grad student. He quit at the end of first year.	LisaL	Jul 2012	#13
Seems like maybe he had come to the end of his intellectual ability	Lex	Jul 2012	#2
I think they'll be tightlipped about any incidents where he hit a wall at school	flamingdem	Jul 2012	#5
Sounds like he tanked his prelims, but it might not have been for intellectual reasons.	gkhouston	Jul 2012	#8
These were some the pre-grad school things that caught my eye	Lex	Jul 2012	#11
It was pre- undergrad school.	LisaL	Jul 2012	#12
If it was pre-undergrad, then it was pre-grad too	Lex	Jul 2012	#14
The point is, he was still in high school.	LisaL	Jul 2012	#15
Without knowing what the other kids at the summer program were like, it's hard to	gkhouston	Jul 2012	#16
If THIS GUY was "one of six students admitted to the University of Colorado's graduate program"...	Zalatix	Jul 2012	#3
That's a pretty strange thing to say, considering one guy knew Holmes when Holmes was	LisaL	Jul 2012	#21
What do you think an employer will say if one of six neuroscience grad students	Zalatix	Jul 2012	#28
Maybe you should re-read the darn article.	LisaL	Jul 2012	#30
Maybe YOU need to re-read the article. Perhaps you missed this part?	Zalatix	Jul 2012	#31
He was accepted into program not based on his high school record (whatever it was)	LisaL	Jul 2012	#33
If he graduated with honors then why did he have so much trouble handling his first year grad exam?	Zalatix	Jul 2012	#38
Probably because that's not what he's been thinking about for months.	gkhouston	Jul 2012	#39
U. Calif. has structure.	Igel	Jul 2012	#41
His up-coming exams were probably the last thing	Surya Gayatri	Jul 2012	#43
That "actual professor" is a competitor at Baylor with his own self-serving agenda.	pnwmom	Jul 2012	#47
Hardly. He had graduated with highest honors from U.Cal/Riverside.	pnwmom	Jul 2012	#46
"He was just a second-year grad student," he says. "He didn't know anything."	alcibiades_mystery	Jul 2012	#4
Sounds like the sort of faculty we used to call walruses.	gkhouston	Jul 2012	#10
ROFL! I've never heard that, but now I'm picturing half my colleagues with big	petronius	Jul 2012	#20
I hope it will provide a useful degree of detachment	gkhouston	Jul 2012	#22
That's good.	Igel	Jul 2012	#42
In academia, yes. In the wild, I don't know. n/t	gkhouston	Jul 2012	#44
When I read Holmes had said that, I	frogmarch	Jul 2012	#6
Scientists tend to be super-competitive. Maybe Holmes was a dolt or maybe	pnwmom	Jul 2012	#7
Grad students in most programs can be pretty hostile to one another	Posteritatis	Jul 2012	#36
Let's put it this way	jberryhill	Jul 2012	#9
Agreed, but let me add...	gkhouston	Jul 2012	#17
Oh, absolutely	jberryhill	Jul 2012	#18
Oh, yes. I'm kind of surprised the target was a movie theater, and	gkhouston	Jul 2012	#19
What was that Malcolm McLaren movie where he shot up the college?	flamingdem	Jul 2012	#25
Do you mean Malcom MacDowell and "If..." ?	gkhouston	Jul 2012	#27
That's probably the main adjustment with graduate studies	Posteritatis	Jul 2012	#37
I'd say that depends on what your undergrad experience was like, and also what	gkhouston	Jul 2012	#40
Classic doctoral professor remark. Mine told me not to show up for my masters hooding...	aikoaiko	Jul 2012	#23
I'm beginning to think the program contributed to pushing carrot top over the edge	flamingdem	Jul 2012	#24
Oh give me a break already.	LisaL	Jul 2012	#26
A rough grad program can certainly push an unstable person over the edge.	aikoaiko	Jul 2012	#32
A lot of things can push an unstable person over the edge.	LisaL	Jul 2012	#34
Of course.	aikoaiko	Jul 2012	#35
Snorf. That is so typical. n/t	gkhouston	Jul 2012	#29
He graduated with "highest honors" from University of California/Riverside.	pnwmom	Jul 2012	#45