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Astrophotographer snaps skydiver falling in front of the sun

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471 points doener | 1 comments | 16 Nov 25 11:02 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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GMoromisato ◴[17 Nov 25 19:39 UTC] No.45957336[source]▶
This is a classic example of a simple idea that no one had ever done before. The execution was complex, of course, and Andrew McCarthy is one of the most skilled astrophotographers. But once you get the idea, a number of people could have done it--but no one ever did.

Makes you wonder what other similar ideas are out there! You can bet McCarthy is already thinking some.

p.s.: My brush with celebrity is that I saw an Andrew McCarthy post on Quora when he was first getting started with astrophotography and gave him a few tips. Always important to remember that everyone was a beginner at one point: https://www.quora.com/Are-there-any-pro-tips-for-astrophotog...

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ChrisMarshallNY ◴[18 Nov 25 01:52 UTC] No.45960512[source]▶
> a number of people could have done it--but no one ever did

My personal definition of "genius," is someone who sees things from a different angle, and can express it in terms we can implement.

It's not doing well on IQ tests; It's that ability to think "outside the box," and, crucially, to express that vision in terms that us normies can use.

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jeswin ◴[18 Nov 25 03:46 UTC] No.45961168[source]▶
There are all types of geniuses. By confining its definition to selected variants of "outside the box", you've defined a new box in a different coordinate system.
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1. fy20 ◴[18 Nov 25 04:43 UTC] No.45961478[source]▶
I somewhat agree that this isn't the only definition of genius, but this is a pretty important one. If you look back at the most successful scientists, they were not just mad scientists with grand ideas, they were also able to explain their ideas in ways that other people could understand and believe it's correct science.

Turning that back to HN. You may have an amazing startup idea, but you can't do it alone. You need to convince people to join your team, investors to give you funding and customers to buy your product. Yes, even scientists need to be good in sales.