At ITS, we see many parents who are trying to get their gifted children into university early so it was with great interest we read this article about how child prodigies perform later in life.
The overall findings are best summed up by Ellen Winner, a professor of psychology at Boston College. "Most prodigies do not make the leap in early adulthood from mastery to major creative discoveries," Prof Winner said. "Some do, most do not. Instead most become experts in their areas of giftedness - professors of math; performers in an orchestra, and so on."
The difference between an adult genius and a child prodigy is an important distinction, Prof Winner said. A prodigy is a child who is very precocious in a certain field, mastering a domain that has already been invented, she says. A genius, she believes, is someone who revolutionises a field of knowledge.
What do you think? Does it pay to get a very young child into university early?
Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.