He believed prodigies should become the leaders of America’s future. He promoted the idea of testing the IQ of all American schoolchildren, so the precocious few could be discovered and properly nurtured. His findings prompted many people to label him undemocratic. In his conclusions, he wrote that child prodigies not only didn’t develop into sickly, lonely losers, but generally grew into well-adjusted, healthy, highly successful adults. Lewis Terman released his 30-year study of 1,500 child prodigies. The myth was still very much alive in the 1950s, when Dr. So a myth began that prodigies were doomed to lives of obscurity and ill health. Believing all men were born equal and enjoyed equal opportunities in life, Americans were uncomfortable with the fact that some children were born with far greater intelligence than most. They believed that child prodigies grew into sickly, awkward adults who usually failed in their careers.Īccording to the authors of “So That’s What Happens to Child Prodigies,” reprinted below, this myth of the handicapped prodigy was born in the 1700s when the idea of universal equality was born. It wasn’t very long ago, however, that parents worried whether their child was too smart. Parents eagerly look for signs of brilliance in their offspring because they believe that high intelligence, exhibited at an early age, means a promising future for their child.
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