4 ms·

Another requirement is the emotional capacity at 8 years old to focus, feel confident, and feel safe. I think that is the main obstacle to most people doing hi

by mmooss 8mo ago

Another requirement is the emotional capacity at 8 years old to focus, feel confident, and feel safe. I think that is the main obstacle to most people doing highly effective work and putting in long hours. You hear some call people who don't 'work hard' lazy, but my impression is that it's emotional capacity, and a lot of that comes from family. I wonder if there is a correlation between prodigies and emotionally stable, healthy, present parents. It's hard to imagine children under a lot of stress - e.g., from abusive parents, highly unreliable parents (e.g., overwhelmed by addictions to drugs), emotionally unstable parents (e.g., narcissists), highly neglectful parents (e.g., who abandon their kids) ... - it's hard to imagine those kids doing what Tao did, regardless of their talent.

jama211 8mo ago
Very true! Lots of things had to go right for Terrance.
confidantlake 8mo ago
Yes the correlation is there but it doesn't really matter. There are hundreds of millions of kids growing up with stable healthy parents and a handful of prodigies.
- mmooss 8mo ago
  There are a only handful of prodigies regardless of what we're talking about, but I think that is a misguided way to look at the situation: If my GP comment is true to some significant degree, it matters for people who are prodigies. It matters for the world, which benefits from the prodigies. But I don't want to underemphasize the first or overemphasize the second. These are human beings, which is the overwhelming issue. They have the same needs and same importance as everyone else. That means we don't want to disregard their needs either because they are unusual and therefore more expensive to nurture, or because the world benefits from them and and doesn't care about their individual needs or thinks their needs can be sacrificed. And on a similar basis, it has strong implications for all the other kids in the world, who need stable, loving, nurturing family.

by mmooss 8mo ago

jama211 8mo ago

Very true! Lots of things had to go right for Terrance.

confidantlake 8mo ago

Yes the correlation is there but it doesn't really matter. There are hundreds of millions of kids growing up with stable healthy parents and a handful of prodigies.

mmooss 8mo ago
There are a only handful of prodigies regardless of what we're talking about, but I think that is a misguided way to look at the situation: If my GP comment is true to some significant degree, it matters for people who are prodigies. It matters for the world, which benefits from the prodigies. But I don't want to underemphasize the first or overemphasize the second. These are human beings, which is the overwhelming issue. They have the same needs and same importance as everyone else. That means we don't want to disregard their needs either because they are unusual and therefore more expensive to nurture, or because the world benefits from them and and doesn't care about their individual needs or thinks their needs can be sacrificed. And on a similar basis, it has strong implications for all the other kids in the world, who need stable, loving, nurturing family.