I have no idea if this is in the correct section, however:

Child prodigies are fascinating and I was googling about and came up with the Link at the end of this posting, a few examples in this link are the following:

William James Sidis: Corrected E. V. Huntington's mathematics text galleys at age of eight and entered Harvard at 11 where he gave his self-conceived lecture on four dimensional geometry.[15]
Truman Henry Safford: At ten years old he could square 18 digit numbers, later in life he was an astronomer.[21]
Daniel Tammet: a British autistic mental calculator who can[22] explain his abilities, recounted pi to its 22,514th digit from memory.
Kim Ung-Yong: Attended university physics courses at age 4, Ph.D in physics before age 15.[24]
Maximiliano Arellano: Spoke at a medical university at age 7.
Akrit Jaswal: India's youngest university student. He carried out an operation aged 7.[30][31][32]
Akiane Kramarik: 12 year old Christian artist who has been featured on television and in museums since age 10.[57]
Pablo Picasso: His Picador is from age eight, see List of Picasso artworks 1889-1900.
Michael Kearney: Several degrees with the first being earned at age 10. He is currently noted as a "17 year old professor."[67][68]
Gregory R. Smith: He entered college at age 10 and was first nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize at age 12.[69][70]

There are loads more names and the areas they dealt in, I found it very curious.

Child Prodigies

No doubt, children can be smart and do their homework when they want to hahaha.

I wonder why.. :|

"Kim Ung-Yong: Attended university physics courses at age 4, Ph.D in physics before age 15.[24] "

That... is... insane!!!

I know, weird isn't it

This one got me too: Akrit Jaswal: India's youngest university student. He carried out an operation aged 7.

At first I went , then I went and then I went

It's almost frightening.

bugger I feel very inferior all of a sudden...

I'd get a bit worried if a 7 year old operated on me

I also feel a bit sorry for them they never had a 'normal' childhood where they could just play be kids, they probably always had their noses buried in a book...

Pablo Picasso? Personally I think all his drawings looked like those of a 4 year old but anyway...

I think kids like this there is something else there it's not just normal something paranormal or extraterrestrial maybe? I don't know.

P.S. don't forget Professor Charles Epps (jk lol off the TV show Numb3rs)

Children can do these things as:
They are more accepting to knowledge (they will not poke, or find holes in facts), they are less cynical towards things, and are easily fascinated (relatively), and hence will pay more attention. The only reason all kids aren't like this is they are dumbed down, taught how to use blocks in kindergarten, and it is okay that cannot read by the age of nine. Kids are smart
- we won't let them be.

Actually, Picasso's earliest works were realistic. It wasn't until he was older that he began putting noses on the sides of people's faces, etc. lol The early paintings are actually quite breathtaking.

I think like The-the said, that all normal children have this ability, but it's all a matter of whether it's nurtured or not. I was told by my high school french teacher that it's easier to teach children at young ages because they are more receptive and more capable of picking up more information during their formative years. I began teaching my niece everything I learned in french class and she was able to speak french fluently. This is why you see so many bilingual children. I think this applies to all learning, not just languages. If you don't set limits to a child's learning, they will know no limitations and absorb anything you are willing to teach them.

A lot of them see the world differently. Where you see numbers, they see shapes. Where you hear music, they see colours etc.

Amazing. Absolutely amazing...


"William James Sidis: Corrected E. V. Huntington's mathematics text galleys at age of eight and entered Harvard at 11 where he gave his self-conceived lecture on four dimensional geometry."

Somehow, I wonder why these things aren't brodcasted more...

No, not all chidren can do such things. I don't know how true this is, but apparently, Mozart could play the violin at 2, that's a tall order for even smart kids.

Shirley Temple could memorise lines for films at 3, again, that is not a normal thing for the average kiddie and as for Kim Ung-Yong: Attended university physics courses at age 4 - that one speaks for itself.

Makes you wonder who these kids parents were.

I'd be proud if I gave birth to a child prodigy!

Superfast edit:
I can tell right now my children WILL learn to read at a very early age. I was reading full length novels by 3rd grade, and chapter books in kindergarten. I could actually understand the words my peers couldn't when I was that young. So could my boyfriend, and he was accused of not being able too since he was ahead of his classmates. (Lol, if her ever get married and reproduce, what will happen? )

did you guys look at those list? did you notice that each and every one of those kids was exceptional at one thing.
I makes me wonder about the worlds education system. It seems that these kids focus on one thing and they excel in it.

What if in school you were placed in a certain study that you excelled at and stuck with that only, how good do you think you would get.

I mean tell me that there isn't things that you guys are completely comfortable with and just understand alot easier than other things. I know I do. there is many things i just don't get at all and then there is some things that I can pick up in about a second. I for one have an amazing memory, kinda a weird photographic one where I can remember anything about a person or a place or what was going on, even minute details like who was around the wall colors what was in the room, but for the love of god I have the worst time picturing peoples faces.

I'm a great artist but if I gotta draw a persons face i'm screwed it sucks.

Look at ancient times where everyone that had a special ability in something was apprenticed in that, what ahppend there. I mean look at all the greats and they were pulled under another greats wings and explained and taught to be great only to surpass there teachers. whats happenign to the world.

[I'm not trying to be cocky, but it's relevant I gues]

People used to call me a child prodigy at chess... I got into it when I was 11 years old and played quite alot for a year or so.. Won a couple thousand dollars, a couple titles and some tall trophies; but maybe it wasn't for me after all, I lost my real interest once I got to the level when games were always indecisive and bland because neither player made many mistakes.


I think one of the more interesting types of prodigies are linguistic prodigies.. Being in the middle of learning a language myself to understand how hard it can be, it amazes me how people can become nearly fluent in a week or two of learning an alien language (One without the same root language).

Yes, I admire that too, some people can speak numerous languages, it amazes me how the hell they remember it all

We used to have a couple living next door to us, she was English, he was French. Anyway, she got pregnant and she said that when the baby was born, they were going to use both English and French, so that the baby learned both languages and became fluent at a young age. I asked if the baby would be able to differentiate between English and French and her answer was that the baby would take longer to learn to speak, but when s/he did they would be fluent in both. Quite amazing really!

Now to me it was all explained in a book called Indigo children.Something was posted about them on the forum not long ago.I cant remember who the autor of the book was.But if we all think about it,the kids are our future and they have to become smarter than we were and are!Who else is gonna save the world, if we can save it?It would have to be someone very clever to come up with some new idears!?!

Well I have a great deal of trouble accepting the idea of Indigo children, in my mind it is just an excuse for some kids to go around doing what they wish, to whom they wish, hating authority and not being afraid of anyone - I think it is a poor excuse for ignorant and arrogant behaviour.

However, this is only my opinion, but the whole idea of puffing up someone's ego under the guise of "Indigo Children" is not doing them any good and can make them deluded.

Novels in third grade? I was bustin' out Harry Potter in first! The only reason I didn't start sooner was that I was afraid of the "big kid" books. But finally, curiosity killed the caution. I wonder what I would be reading if I hadn't Harry Potter then...

And KBA, mind me asking what language you're studying?

-edited to ask KBA -

You'll find with many child prodigies environment played a very large role. Many of the modern ones were pushed in the direction they excelled in by near fanatical parents. This, though, is not the case for all. Linguistics studies have shown children display great plasticity in language up until 5-8 years old so in the right environment this is not all that incredible. Mathematical prodigies usually only excel at direct, though astounding, calculations but seem inable to push theoretical boundries. Most of the time these abilities also come with significant deficiencies in other areas of normal brain function that don't allow for normal social interactions. Recent testing of child prodigies points to what's called a flattening of affect. Where much of what we normally learn about social interaction comes from a sense of empathy these kids (an now adult prodigies) seem to either fake it by watching other people's reactions or make little effort in even trying. I'll try to find the article. It was quite interesting. It vaguely reminded me of the tests administered in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep to find synthetics. Obviously not to that degree but, you know what I mean.

Hmm. The only book I can remember reading in the first grade was the Peter Pan novel.

Well.. I would also read the Bible in church... *Shudders*.



Japanese.. The spoken half isn't so bad, however unlike English it may be. I just do about 10-20 words when I have the time on most days and reinforce them throughout the day.
But the written half is pretty difficult. I've so far learned two written alphabets, Hiragana and Katakana, those weren't so bad, but the third one.. Kanji is very tough and is going to take a while.

I agree with the environment statement. I used to be incredibly good at English, then, aged 6, I had one slack teacher, who sat around, played the Guitar, and lit a candle and asked us to appreciate our friends...

The way your brain processes information is incredible. I sat on the bus today thinking about the different words I could make out of the word Sandwhich, whilst my work colleague sat and talked about her lastest broadband bill. Relax your mind; learn one thing a day; and if you don't know something, look it up. It'll spend longer time in the old grey matter if you have to work to find the answer. =)

It seems today all people seem to think about are the problems they face, while the rest is left to ignore. The problems have always been around and will continue to exist, so why not think about everything else??

I am scared that one day I will inevitably fall into that thinking pattern, but I try my hardest not to. It's much more fun to live in the imaginary once and a while

I started school when I was 3 years old and I did kindergarden until I was old enough to graduate even though I skipped Preschool... then in First grade I was put in third grade. I should be somewhere in my College years if it weren't for the damn laws.

I speak nearly three foreign languages besides english. I know bits and pieces of each... I haven't had time this week to finish them. - Yet I am no prodigy, but I guess I could be in a way? The thought kinda scares me because I accept that in a way.

lol I'm an Indigo, Netty. I understand where 'prodigies' come from.

Lotus, you can critisize and believe what you would like, but the real Indigos are not like that. We know we can't do whatever we want, and we don't. Our aim is NOT to be arrogant and ignorant. Most of us are pretty modest, and the kids that go around screaming about it and hating things and making trouble are the real trouble kids, with ADD or ADHD and their parents want to label them with a label more accepted than ADD or ADHD.

Back on subject... well I think learning environment has a lot to do with it.... whether you are motivated and eager and passionate or not...


Here's a question or two...





QUESTION 1: If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had 8 kids already, three who were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally r******ed, and she had syphilis, would you recommend that she have an abortion? Read the next question before
Scrolling down to the answer of this one.

QUESTION 2: It is time to elect a new world leader, and your vote
Counts. Here are the facts about the three leading candidates:

CANDIDATE A: Associates with crooked politicians, and consults
With astrologist. He's had two mistresses. He also chain smokes
And drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.

CANDIDATE B: He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of whisky every
evening.

CANDIDATE C: He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian,
doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and hasn't had any
extramarital affairs.

Which of these candidates would be your choice?
Decide first, no looking, then scroll down for the answer.
































Answer 1:
And by the way - if you answered yes to the abortion question, you just killed Beethoven (all time great German music composer)

Answer 2:
CANDIDATE A is Franklin D. Roosevelt
CANDIDATE B is Winston Churchill
CANDIDATE C is Adolph Hitler

Pretty interesting isn't it? Makes a person think before judging someone.....

obviously I would agree that Hitler was beyond horrible and the atrocities he committed are unspeakable BUT Roosevelt and Churchill are no angels. Both are responsible for thousands, if not millions of death - England's imperial pursuits in the Middle East, Africa, and India alone caused massive upheavel and death, Pearl Harbor did not just happen for no reason, the Japanese did not just decide to bomb us because they just felt like it, Roosevelt had been provoking them for years in hopes of retaliation so he could enter WWII with full support of the American public. He placed massive embargo's on Japan, had hundreds of war ships in the South Pacific, periodically and randomly bombed them until finally they retaliated. THAT I learned in my high school history class, believe it or not, and have since read lots more about it as an adult. Then of course there are the US's imperial pursuits especially in S. America that have resulted in needless deaths of civilans but this is all expected from 1st world countries - that is why they are 1st world countries; Imperialism. I am not trying to piss anyone off or start a political debate I just think it is important to keep things in perspective. There are no good guys. Period. And that includes third world, developing countries. We and they have been responsible for horrible things in the pursuit of wealth, resources, land, power, etc. Of course the countries that have more power and money can inflict more damage.....
And the abortion question and turned out to be Beethoven - That same thing can be said for anyone - Mother Theresa, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Shakespeare, Socrates, Mozart, etc. That arguement can also be turned around to look at the people who weren't aborted? Hitler, Mussolini, that child molester who lives down the street, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, the piece-of-crap father who beats his wife and rapes his children everynight, Osama Bin Laden, Charles Manson, etc.

Sorry I deviated so far off the point here. I, obviously, am not expert on child prodigies I also find them rather fascinating and have always kinda 'kept up' with the topic and my ideas have been formulated through articles I have read, things seen on tv, magazines,etc. As far as prodigies no one has mentioned that a lot of child prodigy's are autistic and studies have shown that autistic children are often very gifted in one particular area. They believe this is the case because firstly they have a great ability to really focus on something and tune everything else which allows them to become really good at that one thing. They also think(from what I have read) that perhaps they have one part of their brain that is more developed than the other resulting in an imbalance of abilities.
Also in the Wiki article a lot of these children's IQ's were listed and most of them were off the charts. I don't think this is a coincidence. I also don't think that every child is capable of the things prodigies are with just some guidance and motivation from their parents. It is true that children are much more open to learning and retaining information that is why most of our important development takes place when we are children, that is why our education system is built around children-teenager. Try teaching math to an adult who never went to school or teach an adult how to read, it can be done but much harder.
I believe these children are prodigies because of their capacity to absorb, process and retain information far superior than the normal person which explains their high IQ's. IQ doesn't specify how smart someone is, it specifies a person's ability to learn. I know we all want to think our children are the best, the smartest, the prettiest, etc and of course all children are special and unique but the truth is true child prodigies are remarkable, special children who possess abilities that should be revered and respected and not made less of by making claims like children who were raised in a bi-lingual household speak two languages by age 5 - that's normal I think someone mentioned earlier something about reading novels in the 3rd grade(?) that is not a child prodigy. I was reading novels by the first grade, by third grade I was writing a 'book' and reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy and I by no means, in any way, qualify as a child prodigy or even "gifted" - I was just a kid who had an aptitude for reading but man did I suck in math.

Blimey, I bet he did "group hugs" too

I do that with words too lol, the only problem is, I sometimes lose count, I then have to start again




I am not judging the so-called "indigo" thing, I just do not believe in it. To stick people in a certain band is putting them in little boxes, and the potential danger is making that same person believe they are something they are not.

I have had many, many unusual experiences in my life, I have seen things before they happen, heard information that appears to come from nowhere. Things have happened that have seriously made me think, on occasions that I am going mad. There has also been stuff happen that I would never put down on paper lest people WOULD indeed think me crazy and have me put in an institution. I could read music at 5, but was never taught it - how? I taught myself.

What I am saying is that I am no prodigy and neither am I a genius, but most of all, I am not an indigo, I am just a person to whom peculiar things have happened as they have to millions of others.

On a related note regarding indigos, it is said that part of their aura can appear black - it may be worth investigating black auras, it isn't always what you think and as I have stated before, auras never remain one static colour, they change with the emotional state of the person concerned and what they are up to.

The best thing to do is to forget being special or different from others, everyone is different and everyone has talents, the trick is to find out what those talents are.

I totally agree. This is the type of thing you should be hearing on tv, influencing the future generations, not some droned out reality fake shows and all the other junk that plays now-a-days. It's sad where the future can possibly lead, but I wouldn't say all is lost.

At times I do envy these child prodigies, but they must live a tough life. With so much responsibility, their childhood is completly taken away. Where our childhoods are simple and joyful, they see the complex structure behind what makes us giddy and obnoxious at such a young age. Even though what majority of them do can be learned through a book, I still give them a huge amount of credit. I still say the most credit should go out to those of the world who invent the wheel, not recite it. (of course it can include child prodigies.. silly ;p)

"Blimey, I bet he did "group hugs" too" LOL! I,ve got stuck plenty of time's and alway's welcome the logic of a child.

I don't qualify myself as a child prodigy, nor anyone who knows me. But it's kinda true, it seems that when you're kid, all information flows into your head like water and it stayed there like stain. I live in Indonesia, not an English speaking country. However, I loved to watch TV, and back then in my country, due to the lacking of funds, the TV company didn't subs or dubs the imported children programs. And I learned english like mad. I remember when I'm 8 years old, I've had my first conversation with an American. I remember, when I'm like 6 years old, I ask my parents to buy me a copy of NKOTB's first album (yeah, 'twas the 80s), where most kids in my country prefers local kid songs. However, I remember that somewhere between 12-14 years old I started to find a link between Indonesian languages and English, especially some loan words, which makes me think that if in Indonesian there's loan words, I bet in other languages, you'll find loan words from another languages as well! Which is, now I realized it's true. Thus, my love for languages grows more and more as days passed. However, it was not until I'm 15 years old that I started to learn another language than English and right now, I'm fluent in Indonesian, Javanese, Dutch, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Japanese and currently learning Chinese. I'm not lying, you can test me if you meet me personally so you know I won't cheat. I've also received scholarship to Europe and right now I'm back in my country again.

And yes, it's very amazing what these child prodigies have done. I wonder if there's some sort of a "accumulated knowledge" hidden in gene strains that awakens in a certain individual after long kept. You know, like a vault of information kept in genes or microcellular strains, not just in brain as a developed knowledge through experience.

"And yes, it's very amazing what these child prodigies have done. I wonder if there's some sort of a "accumulated knowledge" hidden in gene strains that awakens in a certain individual after long kept. You know, like a vault of information kept in genes or microcellular strains, not just in brain as a developed knowledge through experience".This is thinking/logic, I learned to basically spell,write,add and mathamatics,tell the time and a basic grasp on reality from my Father, before I was 5! Guess wOt when I left school I knew no more(except about sex,LOL)! I,m sure that sum's up the education system, if not the subject matter!?...

お前が漢字もしてるか？漢字の事は難しいだな

I'm sort of becoming a language enthusiast too.. up until a couple weeks ago I had been going very slowly with Japanese but I'm speeding it up now because there's still about 5 other languages I want to get to..

I'm still trying to find that "power method" or whatever you want to call it, right now I can only manage about 30-40 words a day at best if I want full remembrance... and that takes a lot of time from the day too..

I don't doubt your language abilities one bit. My Japanese professor knows at least 10 languages I beleive. It's amazing how he does it, all the while how interested he is about them. I think it's amazing to be able to communicate between many different peoples. A lot of culture is driven by language, and it's great to be a part of it

Prodigies,well the ones I know, Never study, never read ,or even try to do homework.
They born with all knowledge.
When in class this kid sleeps while we take notes, his average B or Higher.( He is stupid in the common sense part though)


P.S. do not say goo go ga ga to a baby , it makes them stupid.

That's not true.. they are NOT born with the knowledge, it just seems like that because they remember it the first time they hear it. And getting B or higher without studying is not very hard in the modern school system.. when I was in school I can't recall ever studying for a test and I never had any problems, and there are plenty of other people who do that.

It makes me very jealous

I was watching the ellen show or something ( hey nothing else was on ) and she had this kid probably around 6 years old playing a piano like an absolute pro. I was like

I wish we had like those things in the matrix where we can download skills into our brain lol

Akaine

Oi, who you calling a child?



Fantastic, incredible work, the first time I ever saw her artwork, I was absolutely amazed!