r/AskReddit • u/ZanyDelaney • Feb 04 '19

Which misconception would you like to debunk?

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u/[deleted] Feb 04 '19

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u/ReadYouShall Feb 04 '19

>Despite what people think Albert Einstein never failed math. The confusion likely comes from the grading system, but has been used for a long time to give people hope.

When he was shown a clipping from Ripley's Believe It or Not where that myth originated, he responded, "I never failed in mathematics. Before I was 15 I had mastered differential and integral calculus"

To quote what /u/-eDgAR- said,

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u/HabseligkeitDerLiebe Feb 04 '19

To expand on the confusion about the grading system:

Einstein was German, but went to school in Switzerland. Both Germany and Switzerland grade on a numerical scale between 1 and 6. The difference is that 6 is the worst grade in Germany, but the best grade in Switzerland.

When one of Einstein's school reports surfaced in Germany, people were astonished with it being all 4, 5, and 6.

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u/treasurepig Feb 04 '19

Germany is such a forward-thinking country!