Letters to the Editor: The Prodigy Puzzle

Letters to the NY Times Magazine regarding "The Prodigy Puzzle":

It is easier to be a genius when you don't have to pay the rent. We live in a world that values dependability over brilliance and where jobs that reward curiosity may not support a family. The time to explore and take bold risks is a luxury few of us, genius or not, can afford once we leave school. Measuring programs for gifted children by the success of their adult graduates overlooks the significant hurdles that lie just after graduation.

Kate Wing
San Francisco

I have found that there is often an inverse relationship between what I perceive to be a genuinely innovative thinker in my third-grade classroom and the attitude of the parents. The most intellectually curious and imaginative problem solvers have parents who are supportive of rather than ambitious for their child. And each year I am struck by how some of the most perceptive children come from families whose parents have no time to advocate for them and no "gifted" agenda to pursue.

Barbara Yost Williams
Madison, Wis.

Much more.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at December 4, 2005 10:53 AM
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