Child prodigies evoke awe, wonder and sometimes jealousy: how can
such young children display the kinds of musical or mathematical talents
that most adults will never master, even with years of dedicated
practice? Lucky for these despairing types, the prevailing wisdom
suggests that such comparisons are unfair — prodigies are born, not made
(mostly). Practice alone isn’t going to turn out the next 6-year-old
Mozart.
So finds a recent study of eight young prodigies, which sought to
shed some light on the roots of their talent. The prodigies included in
the study
[PDF] are all famous (but remain unidentified in the paper), having
achieved acclaim and professional status in their fields by the ripe age
of 10. Most are musical prodigies; one is an artist and another a math
whiz, who developed a new discipline in mathematics and, by age 13, had
had a paper accepted for publication in a mathematics journal. Two of
the youngsters showed extraordinary skill in two separate fields: one
child in music and art (his work now hangs in prestigious galleries the
world over), and the other in music and molecular gastronomy (the
science behind food preparation — why mayonnaise becomes firm or why a
soufflé swells, for example). He became interested in food at age 10
and, by 11, had carried out his first catering event.
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I start to wonder how these child prodigies are formed? What are the causes that makes them prodigy? I guess I will need further research about this. Thanks for additional information anyway.
ReplyDeleteGood question. Thanks for raising it.
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