Genius Born or Made?

Episode 5: Nobel Physicist John Martinis on Raising Curious Kids, Learning with AI, and Why You Shouldn't Chase a Nobel

Nobel laureate John Martinis says there's no single answer — 'many, many things' shaped him. He believes genetics matters and that he was born with a mind suited to physics; he also has a poor memory, which pushed him to understand physics by deriving concepts rather than memorizing. And he credits his environment heavily: parents who, at the dinner table, asked whether he'd asked any questions that day, and a father who explained everything from first principles in the garage. He walks Himanshu Gupta through how curiosity is trained, how persistence builds mastery, why you should never aim for a Nobel Prize (he didn't), how students should — and shouldn't — use AI chatbots, and what quantum computing is actually for, from new materials to magnets that rely on less-rare materials.