https://padlet.com/mkendall0404/prodigy How do child prodigies fit into societies? en-us 2017-02-15 19:42:02 UTC 2025-12-04 15:40:56 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Prizecup.png mkendall0404 https://padlet.com/mkendall0404/prodigy/wish/154157568 2017-02-15 20:24:33 UTC https://padlet.com/mkendall0404/prodigy/wish/154157568 mkendall0404 https://padlet.com/mkendall0404/prodigy/wish/154157896 I can relate the experience of child geniuses in relation to peers to my own, but to a much different extent. I am slightly ahead academically than most of my peers, as I will be getting my associate degree the same month most my contemporaries will be graduating high school. I am not a genius or anything, but academics were a central focus of my childhood and still are to this day. I was at a party with teens my age late last year and as I tried to keep conversation with them I found it very difficult. I tend to talk about ideas, theories, existence, and try to push the envelope of whatever topic is being explored in the conversation. They looked at me like I had three heads. They talked about movies and celebrities, and while I don't mind talking about movies, it just became dull to me after a while, and I felt like an outsider.
Again, I am not a genius. I was just a little different than these other teens. And still I felt secluded, though we likely had more similarities than differences. I can imagine real child prodigies, real geniuses, probably experience something similar, but to a much, much greater extent. ]]> 2017-02-15 20:25:43 UTC https://padlet.com/mkendall0404/prodigy/wish/154157896 mkendall0404 https://padlet.com/mkendall0404/prodigy/wish/154160807 2017-02-15 20:35:14 UTC https://padlet.com/mkendall0404/prodigy/wish/154160807 mkendall0404 https://padlet.com/mkendall0404/prodigy/wish/154160967 I think sometimes parents cannot relate to their genius child, feel their child is somehow beyond them and no longer in need of their guidance, or simply feel overwhelming pride for their child. Some parents were prodigies themselves, and/or pushed their children to develop their intelligence or talent. Which leads into my next point, Nature vs. Nurture.]]> 2017-02-15 20:35:43 UTC https://padlet.com/mkendall0404/prodigy/wish/154160967 mkendall0404 https://padlet.com/mkendall0404/prodigy/wish/154163279 Though I try to avoid the wedgie of fence-sitting, child prodigies really could be nature, nurture, or both. Imagine a seven-year-old ice-skater whose mother was an Olympic ice-skater who taught her child everything she knows. The child might have inherited the proclivity toward the sport, but she might not have achieved so much had she not been raised to achieve it.
There is also an example of a twelve-year-old girl who could speak five languages, but her parents only spoke English. She learned the other ones as a hobby because she loves learning new languages. She might have been genetically pre-disposed to have an affinity for language, or perhaps it is purely a result of her own passions. ]]> 2017-02-15 20:44:18 UTC https://padlet.com/mkendall0404/prodigy/wish/154163279