The old idea that child prodigies" burn themselves out " or " overtax their brains " in the early years and ,therefore are prey to failure and mental illness is just so much myth.As a matter of fact, the outstanding thing that happens to bright kids is that they are very likely to grow into bright adults. To find this out, 1,5000 gifted persons were followed up to their thirty-fifth year with these results:
On adult intelligence tests ,they scored as high as they had as children, they were, as a group, in good health, physically and mentally. Eighty-four precent of their group were married and seemed content with their lives.
About 70 percent had graduated from college, though only 30 percent had graduated with honors. A few had even dropped out ,but nealy half of these had returned to graduate.
Of the men ,80 percent were in one of the professions or in business-executive or esmiprofessional jobs. The women who had remained single had office, business, or professional occupations.
The group had published 90 books and 1,500 articles in scientific, scholarly, and literary magazines and had collected more than 100 patents. In a material way they didn't do badly either. Average income was considerably higher among the gifted people especially the men, than for the country as a whole , despite their comparative youth when last surveyed. In fact, far from being strange , maladjusted people locked in an ivoty tower, most of the gifted were turning their early promise into practical reality. |
