this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2024
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He must have a memory which is phenomenal. Meaning, a phenomenon. It's so rare that he should be given anything he needs to perform any research he wants to perform. Give him anything, everything, so that he can advance us in that field.
He has chosen the field of Scrabble.
Memory and comprehension are two different beats though. How could his amazing memory advance any area?
He knows every Spanish word but doesn't speak it, same for French.
It's an I missing something?
He not only knows the words, he's able to search his memory for and play them near-optimally in a Scrabble game. Honestly I think that's more impressive.
My brother is involved with tournament Scrabble and knows Nigel well. I don't compete myself but have watched games among top players. There is a lot of strategy beyond simply memorizing word lists.
The best play is often not the highest-scoring one. You need to examine the board and determine what it might expose to your opponent. You also need to keep track of what tiles have been played already to get an idea of what may be lying on your opponent's tray at the moment. You may also take the calculated risk of playing a word you know is not real. If it is not challenged, it stands. Depending on tournament rules, a challenge may cost you if it fails (i.e. the word is legit), so there is a poker-like bluffing element.
Good point, that's a more transferable skill I haven't thought of!
Yes.
I don't know, memorization and thinking are two different things. He can memorize all the science books he wants but can he understand them? Can he make new discoveries?
He's a pretty humble guy and doesn't like getting a lot of attention, so I think the research he'd want to perform would be nothing.
What if he just wants to play scrabble, though?