4 ms·

Child prodigies are rare by definition though. Whether or not you've heard of them, I think, is more a function of what media chooses to shine a spotlight on. O

by eachro 9y ago

Child prodigies are rare by definition though. Whether or not you've heard of them, I think, is more a function of what media chooses to shine a spotlight on. On the top of my head I'd probably say Chistopher Paolini(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Paolini https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Paolini) qualifies as a child prodigy author - his first book, Eragon, was published when he was 19. Granted, it was his parent publishing company, but it still became a best seller. But your broader point: "These fields tend to draw upon a whole life's worth of experience -- something that children obviously lack and can't make up for through "winning the genetic lottery"." Yea, I'd agree with that.

pmoriarty 9y ago
Bestseller lists are an even less reliable way of measuring talent than the Nobel Prize. There have been numerous articles about how flawed and subject to manipulation the NYT Bestseller List is, for instance.[1][2][3][4] Calling a 19-year-old a "child" is really stretching the definition of a "child", in my view. Compare that to chess and music prodigies, for instance, who are already performing at levels above those of most adults even before their teens.[5][6] [1] - https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/27/16208294/handbook-for-mortals-nyt-bestseller-list-accusations https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/27/16208294/handbook-for-mor... [2] - http://gary-lindberg.com/do-you-trust-the-nyt-bestseller-list/ http://gary-lindberg.com/do-you-trust-the-nyt-bestseller-lis... [3] - http://www.hughhowey.com/the-nyt-and-wsj-best-seller-lists-must-die/ http://www.hughhowey.com/the-nyt-and-wsj-best-seller-lists-m... [4] - http://www.politicususa.com/2010/12/02/palin-bestseller-fraud.html http://www.politicususa.com/2010/12/02/palin-bestseller-frau... [5] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_prodigy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_prodigy [6] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_prodigy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_prodigy
- eachro 9y ago
  You bring up a good point about talent. With chess, math, music, there are objective measures in how "talented" the person is. You can say person X is performing above their grade level, or person X is in the top Zth percentile of all competitors in their arena. But what is talent in something more subjective like writing or art? What does it mean to "perform at levels above most adults"? Perhaps the reason you do not see "child prodigies" in these areas is because it is hard to come to any consensus on how to gauge talent here. On your point that he was 19 at the time of publication. Sure you can say he was not a kid when he wrote it, but the act of writing it was not something that just happened over night(and certainly not with a piece of work as long as Eragon). I would still argue that he is a prodigy in the sense that he found success as a writer much earlier than most writers usually do. And perhaps this had little to do with his writing talent. Maybe, maybe not.

by eachro 9y ago

pmoriarty 9y ago

Bestseller lists are an even less reliable way of measuring talent than the Nobel Prize. There have been numerous articles about how flawed and subject to manipulation the NYT Bestseller List is, for instance.[1][2][3][4] Calling a 19-year-old a "child" is really stretching the definition of a "child", in my view. Compare that to chess and music prodigies, for instance, who are already performing at levels above those of most adults even before their teens.[5][6] [1] - https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/27/16208294/handbook-for-mortals-nyt-bestseller-list-accusations https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/27/16208294/handbook-for-mor... [2] - http://gary-lindberg.com/do-you-trust-the-nyt-bestseller-list/ http://gary-lindberg.com/do-you-trust-the-nyt-bestseller-lis... [3] - http://www.hughhowey.com/the-nyt-and-wsj-best-seller-lists-must-die/ http://www.hughhowey.com/the-nyt-and-wsj-best-seller-lists-m... [4] - http://www.politicususa.com/2010/12/02/palin-bestseller-fraud.html http://www.politicususa.com/2010/12/02/palin-bestseller-frau... [5] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_prodigy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_prodigy [6] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_prodigy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_prodigy

eachro 9y ago
You bring up a good point about talent. With chess, math, music, there are objective measures in how "talented" the person is. You can say person X is performing above their grade level, or person X is in the top Zth percentile of all competitors in their arena. But what is talent in something more subjective like writing or art? What does it mean to "perform at levels above most adults"? Perhaps the reason you do not see "child prodigies" in these areas is because it is hard to come to any consensus on how to gauge talent here. On your point that he was 19 at the time of publication. Sure you can say he was not a kid when he wrote it, but the act of writing it was not something that just happened over night(and certainly not with a piece of work as long as Eragon). I would still argue that he is a prodigy in the sense that he found success as a writer much earlier than most writers usually do. And perhaps this had little to do with his writing talent. Maybe, maybe not.