Evening star., 1928-06-03
Being a Cenius-Its Perils

eQuallty Oh educaLlOnaI opportunity pro-
vided for its children of every class and
station an impartially selected gifted
group should draw so heavily from the
higher occupational levels and 50
lightly from the lower throws heavy
burden on the environment hypothesis
In spite OF our efforts to equalize edu-
cational opportunity, the 10-year-old
child of the California labOrer COM
petes for high !. @. rank no more sue
cessfully than the laborer's son COM
peted for genius rank in Europe 100
years ago"
Yet history Is full of examples Of
men and women of humble or unknown
origins who have demonstrated excep-
tional genius. as Is shown by case
study Of 300 leaders Of the past made
by Catherine Morris Cox In connection
with the same project.
Superiority Shown Early.
I'm a ma iority Of cases" says Prof.
Terman. "the superiority OF the gifted
child Is evidenced at a very early age.
| Among the most commonly mentioned
| indications are intellectual curiosity,
wealth of miscellaneous information
| and desire TO learn 10 read.
! THE matter Of interests was deemed
of sufficient importance to warrant in
vestigation from several angles. AS
would be expected, the interests OF
gifted children reflect In many ways
their intellectual superiority The
school subjects which they like best are
| for the most part the subjects which
the unsolicited children find the most
| diff1cult. The reading of gifted children
| surpasses that Of unsolicited children
| both in quantity and quality. The
typical gifted child Of years reads
more books than the unsolicited child
reads at any age up to Is years. Gifted
| children have more than the usual in
! terest in books Of science, history bi-
| ography. travel and International fic-
| ton and less in books OF adventure
mystery and emotional fiction.
| phe common opinion that inteilecttl-
| ally superior children are characterized
| by a deficiency Of play interests has
been shown TO be wholly unfounded.
/ The typical gifted child of 9 years has
a larger body Of definite knowledge
| about plays and games than the average
child OF IL years. If ne devotes some
| what fewer hours per week to play ac-
/ tivities 1t is because his play interests
must compete with wealth OF other
interests which are no less compel 'lin2. -
Gifted Children Mere Honest.
The investigation has shown some
correlation between intelligence and
| character. The gifted children have
been found more honest and more
/ trustworthy.
'One can say" says Prof. Terman,
| that the gifted child Of or 10 years
has reached a stage Of moral develop
ment which is not attained by the aver
| age child until 13 or L. The gifted. -
I ha continues soro fran frov.,
and at least one out OF five has more
Of them than the average child Of the
/ general population. Perhaps / OF 20
| presents more or less serious problem. :"
| In respect to emotional stability the
] research shows that about IS per cent
/ OF the gifted children are above the
| average. although this is trait which
| the public is inclined to associate with
! genius Genius Is akin to ma Iness" is
! an Ole quotation. The facts seem to
| disprove this. SO far as children are
concerned. Developments in latter life
may change the situation, subjecting
! the mind Of the genius to greater
! stresses, But the germs Of madness"
are not there in the beginning To any
notable extent. Besides, the general
population. seeking compensation for
its own inferiority complexeS. Is prone
to characterize original behavior as
madness The person who does some
thing out of the ordinary. something in
advance of his time, not infrequently
| is declared crazy"
It is one thing 10 locate the gen
fuses" and quite another thing to decide
what it is best to do with them.
About the culture Of genius" Prof
Terman says, next 10 nothing is
known. Traditional methods have ig-
nored the problem. Their influence is
negative rather than positive. The
best that can be hoped for them is that
| they may not be as bad as they seem.
The present neglect Of superior talent
| is sufficiently indicated by the inability
| Of teachers to recognize it. One of the
| most astonishing facts brought out In
/ this investigation Is that ones best
chance Of identifying the brightest
| child in q schoolroom is 70 examine the
/ birth records and select the youngest
| rather than take the one rated as
| brightest by the teacher.
Prediction Is ProfitIess.
prediction as to the probable future
| Of these children would be profitlesS,
| We can only wait and watch. 1t should
| be pointed out. however. that 70 expect
| all, or even a majority, Of the subjects
| TO attain any considerable degree Of
| eminence is unwarranted optimism. In
| the first place. emtnence Is poor
measure OF success. In the second
place. success, even in the best sense, Is
| largely product OF fortunate chance
combinations of personal merits and
/ environmental circumstances. Only
about one man in a thousand in the
generality finds his way into Who's
Who. Twenty per cent Of our boys
rank as high in /, @. as the first in .
| thousand taken at random, but We
should hardly expect so large a pro-
portion to attain to Who's Who dis
tinction. Perhaps nobody would con-
tend that this or any similar type OF
eminence Is more than moderately cor
related with general intelligence. In
city Of $4,000 there are. say. 5000 males
above the age of 80 years. 1t Is With
the most distinguished IS to so OF such
a group that our gifted boys could be
more fairly compared a few years
hence"
It is hoped. he continues, that later
studies will add something to knowledge
of the origin of exceptional talent, the
methods OF culture needed to bring out
It's fullest development, and the social
and governmental policies that VIII
conserve and utilize 1t.
These" he says, ARE the great prob
lens of genius They are outranked In
importance by few, If any. OF the issues
that r0yNFrCslt mankind