Who are the children geeks briefly. We are geeks! Let's get acquainted. They made history

Greetings, dear readers!

Have you met any particularly gifted children? Or maybe a child who stands out for his knowledge and skills lives with you in the same apartment? In general, who are geeks? Can any kid who can read at five or draw at three be considered unusual and fit into the ranks of geeks? Or is it a special caste that nature has chosen for itself and has given it a little more than everyone else?

Actually, I don't know about you, but I have a lot of questions. It is clear that we, parents, do not even mind that our children stand out among their peers. But how are these supernatural abilities given? Are they happy with the child? Is he comfortable with this, unusual? And what happens to geeks next - do they find their purpose in life or bury their talent "before it begins"?!

Lesson plan:

What does it mean to be a child prodigy?

In general, the word itself does not carry anything supernatural and unusual. Translated from German language"Wunderkind" means "Wonderful Child". Every one, not only the second one, every first one is a wonderful child, right? But geeks are usually called those children who naturally have special abilities. They are recognized as gifted due to the fact that they significantly exceed the boundaries of the intellectual development of their peers.

Children who showed talents early are realized in different areas. It does not mean at all that a little better drawing or singing is already a child prodigy. But a child who knows how to solve mathematical problems at kindergarten age, which is beyond the power of a school graduate, and who composes sonatas like a great musician, a child may well qualify for this title.

As a rule, even before adolescence, child prodigies receive an external secondary education, enter institutes and defend candidate and doctoral dissertations.

Early, the ability to catch everything and do several things at the same time - all this distinguishes small nuggets.

What are the talents?

Outstanding child prodigies are divided into three types.

• Gifted children. Such people are clearly a bright spot among those around them due to their higher mental development.
• Geniuses. They are born with natural talents. Without their gift, they not only cannot live, they do not take a step. An example of such a talented person can be the world-famous Mozart, who at the age of eight was already composing sonatas.
• Savants. A special phenomenon that is under the close attention of scientists. A rare form of natural gift, which is accompanied by limited communication. Therefore, often against the background of others, they look like mentally retarded. "Island of genius" most often refers to mathematics or art. Such unique individuals are the owners of something in an acute form. They can acutely sense time gaps or smells, remember information phenomenally.

Geeks and indigo: is there a difference?

Very often, a parallel is drawn between child prodigies and indigo children. Although by their very nature they are different phenomena. The concept of "indigo children" was introduced into our lives by psychic Nancy Tapp, who in such gifted kids saw a special dark blue shell, called an aura by magicians. Children with this "clothes" of indigo color are different from ordinary children with an aura of other colors. high intelligence, they feel in a special way and have extrasensory perception.

Maybe, of course, for educators and scientists who see differently, this seems just an ordinary mysticism and fantasy of those who can “see through walls”. In any case, there are those among us who suddenly begin to speak in foreign languages ​​​​that were not taught at all, or read a hundred pages of poems, flipping through them in only five minutes.

However, with talented child prodigies, indigo children with paranormal abilities are both similar and different.

• Both are unique and chosen by nature from millions.
• Both of them can shine in more than one area, reveal talents in different areas.

Where are geeks made?

For decades, scientists have been trying to find that natural workshop that produces the chosen ones. And it's all in vain. Even in the century modern technologies no one can be one hundred percent sure that two brilliant parents will have unusual child prodigy. On the contrary, there is a saying: "Nature rests on the children of geniuses."

Many geneticists argue that giftedness is still a deviation from the norm in the structure of the brain. Such an addition of the contents of the cranium is given only to one in a thousand, continues to develop in one in a million, and only one in ten million reaches the final, acquiring the stamp of a genius.

Special abilities cannot be cultivated from scratch, even if "study, study and study again." They are transmitted at the genetic level and provided by nature.

The level of giftedness is measured using intellectual tests, which a special child is assigned to one of the following levels:

• an enlightened baby - he has an IQ of 115 units, there are about 17% of such children, or he is 1 unique in 6 ordinary ones,
• moderately gifted child prodigy - IQ over 130, only 2% of them, or 1 in 50,
• highly gifted with an IQ of 145 is only 0.1%, that is, this happens 1 in 1000,
• exceptionally gifted, with an IQ of more than 160, can be found 1 in 30,000, they are 0.003%,
• Extraordinarily gifted child prodigies are few, their IQ is 175 or more, and the total number of such children is 0.00003%, only 1 in 3 million of their peers comes across.

This is interesting! As practice shows, geeks are most obtained among first-born children. Gifted children by the age of four master up to 50% of their abilities, by six - up to 70%, and by eight - up to 90% of their intelligence. Paradoxically, only 10% use the natural gift, the remaining 90% become ordinary people.

Fly in the ointment in sweet honey

No matter how attractive the career of a child prodigy is, this championship medal has a downside. Do you think it is easy to tread a path among those around you who are not ready to part and give way? What is the price of genius?

Were there geeks in the USSR? Certainly they were! I found a most interesting documentary about Soviet gifted children who were known throughout the country. I advise you to look.

Here it is, the price of talent. "To be or not to be?" - a rhetorical question, which only the child prodigy himself can solve. So if your child is not ready for a moment of glory, probably not.

Psychologists recommend using the most favorable option - normal giftedness. For specialists, this is the high standard in which nature gives the chosen one everything he needs: the ability to learn, and the ability to adapt, and the ability to communicate, and physical health. You throw one like that into the water and it comes up with a fish in its mouth. Why not a lucky break?

And with that I say goodbye to you. I would like to hear your opinion, is it necessary to strive for exorbitant heights?

See you soon!

Always yours, Evgenia Klimkovich)

At the age when normal children are sitting in the sandbox, the most gifted manage to create symphonies, perform complex surgeries and even receive a Nobel Prize nomination!

8 Akrit Jaswal

This Indian boy became the youngest doctor in the world. At the age of five, he was already well versed in anatomy and read Shakespeare, and at the age of seven he performed his first surgical operation! It was like this: the doctors at the local hospital noticed that the child was actively interested in medicine, and allowed him to observe the operations. Akrit read everything he could about the subject and convinced the professionals with his comments that he really understood surgery. When he was seven poor family asked him to operate on their daughter because they couldn't pay a real doctor. Everything went well.

He has the highest IQ among compatriots (146 points). Currently teenager Akrit is the youngest student at the medical university, is looking for a cure for cancer.

7 Pablo Picasso

Pablo began to draw before he learned to speak. According to the legend, he himself asked his father with gestures to put a brush in his hand and teach him the basics of drawing.

Although other school subjects were given to him with difficulty, he did not seem to have mastered the counting system until the end of his long life. By the age of 12, he reproduced nature on canvas so skillfully and realistically that he was already considered a mature artist with his own unique handwriting, at the same time reading in syllables and making numerous spelling mistakes when writing. But the teenager passed the exams at the School of Arts brilliantly in one day, although it usually took a whole month for novice artists. At the age of 16 he had his first exhibition, and at 20 he was world famous.

6. Howard Phillips Lovecraft

The forefather of all mystical literature, the creator of the story of Cthulhu, Lovecraft mastered reading at the age of two, and at six he was already writing complex, serious poetic works. A gloomy and sickly boy from childhood was carried away by creating his own frightening universe with terrible creatures inhabiting it.

He transferred the horrors to paper from his childhood dreams: yes, these are the boy's nightmares. In many ways, this was facilitated by the home environment.

His father was locked up in an insane asylum with a diagnosis of "irreversible mental changes caused by syphilis" when Howard was three years old. Mother, eternally depressed, frail and white as death woman, also ended her days in a mental hospital. Young Lovecraft was ill with everyone possible diseases and stayed in bed for a long time, listening to terrible tales from the lips of his eccentric grandfather Whipple, the owner of the largest library in town. Howard from childhood was an amazingly enthusiastic person, interested not only in literature, but also in astronomy, history, and chemistry.

5. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Wolfgang Theophilus Mozart)

Mozart is not only one of the greatest composers of all time, but also perhaps the most famous child prodigy in all of world history.

At the age of four he already played the piano virtuoso, and at five he wrote his first small pieces of music. At the age of eight, when ordinary children do not distinguish double bass from cello - if they even understand what these words mean - Mozart finished writing his first symphony.

4. Okita Soji

This Japanese prodigy is from a slightly different field than the above. He lived in the middle of the 19th century and did not have outstanding intellectual abilities. But no one could defeat him.

At the age of nine, when many children are not yet allowed to use table knives so as not to be cut, he perfectly mastered combat sabers and swords (boken, katana, shinai). At the age of 12, he easily defeated the famous swordsman. He officially became a recognized martial artist at the age of 18. Okita was one of the organizers of the famous Shinsengumi military police, the legends of which are popular in Japan to this day, embodied in comics, films and video games.

3. Kim Ung-yong

According to the Guinness Book of Records, Korean Kim Ung Yong is still considered the smartest living person and has the highest IQ - 210 points! Kim entered the physics department of the university when he was only three years old and graduated brilliantly at six. Later, being already a "mature" seven-year-old, he was invited to the USA to work at NASA. (Maybe NASA suspected that he was an alien and wanted to investigate him?) However, at 15, he already had a Ph.D. and incredible prospects.

True, having matured, Kim decided to return to his homeland in Korea and teach at the usual higher education. educational institution provincial town.

2. Gregory Smyth

Gregory Smith was born in 1990 in the USA and at the age of 2 he already knew how to read, and at 10 he began his first year at the university. It is clear that against the background of such phenomena as the Korean Kim Ung Yong, the achievements of the teenager Gregory look pale and can hardly surprise anyone.

So what is so special about the boy Gregory Smith that gives him the right to take pride of place in the list of outstanding geeks?

The fact is that, as studies show, most gifted kids are, to put it mildly, weird. They are either nerds or sociopaths or both. And Greg Smith is not like that! The boy realized that the niche of young politicians is still free, and founded a children's public movement "to achieve understanding between the children of the whole world." As the head of this worthy movement, the gifted fellow managed to have an audience with Mikhail Gorbachev and Bill Clinton, and then made an incendiary speech from the UN rostrum. On the crest of popularity, he was nominated four times for the Nobel Peace Prize.

1. William James Sidis

Some consider William Sidis to be the smartest man to ever live on Earth. His IQ level, according to the most conservative estimates, fluctuated between 250-300 points. For comparison: if your IQ is 136 points, you can safely classify yourself as a genius. Intelligence ordinary person with average abilities ranges from 85 to 115 points.

Born in the USA in 1898, the son of emigrants from Russia, Sidis learned to read at the age of one and a half, and by eight he had already written four books and spoke seven foreign languages: Latin, Greek, Russian, Hebrew, French, German. And the seventh - Vendergood - the boy came up with himself on the basis of Greek, Latin and modern languages Romano-Germanic group. At the age of seven, he passed the Harvard Medical School exam in anatomy, and was not accepted to the university only because of his age. At age 11, his father secured admission to Harvard. William became a professor before he was 20 years old. Despite his amazing work in mathematics and cosmology, even his parents began to doubt his adequacy after he declared at the age of puberty that he consciously accepted celibacy, that is, he refused relationships with the opposite sex. William Sidis never died a virgin.

He led a reclusive life, moving from city to city and changing jobs to hide his genius from others.

Willie Mosconi - professional pool player at age 6

The father soon noticed that his son was showing signs of success, and began to arrange exhibition tournaments in which his son had to stand on a stool to see what was happening on the table. At the same time, he almost always won against older players.

In 1919, an exhibition competition was held between six-year-old Willy and reigning champion peace, Ralph Greenleaf. Ralph won, but Willy's brilliant game opened the way for him to professional billiards. Since 1924, at the age of 11, William has been regularly putting on shows showing off his dainty trickshots.

Later, between 1941 and 1957, he held the BCA World Championship 15 times in a row. The number of various records related to billiards and set by William Mosconi should be listed for a long time, I can only say that the record for continuous clogging of balls (consecutive balls) in his performance is 526! That is, he continuously and without errors pocketed 526 balls into the pockets ...

The smartest person in the world is prodigy Kim Ung-Yong. University at 4 years old

At the age of 4, the boy could read Japanese, Korean, German and English. When he was 5 years old, Kim decided complex system probabilistic differential equations(I don’t remember what it is after university..).

After that, he was invited to a show on Japanese television, where he demonstrated his knowledge of Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog (Filipino), German, English and Korean. From the age of 3 to 6, Kim was a student at Hanyang University, at the age of 7 he received an invitation to work at NASA. There, at the age of 15, he received his Ph.D. in physics from Colorado State University and worked in the United States until 1978.

After that, Kim returned to Korea with the intention of pursuing civil engineering and construction. To do this, he defended his doctoral dissertation on this subject, after which he was invited to the most famous Korean university, which he refused, preferring to work in a provincial university. Since 2007, he has also worked as an assistant at Chungbuk National University. Kim Ung-Yong is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most clever man in the world, his IQ=210

Gregory Smith - Nobel Prize at 12

The gifted boy was honored with a conversation with Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev, and also delivered a speech from the rostrum at one of the UN meetings.

For his work, he was nominated four times for the Nobel Prize, however, he never received it. Of the latest achievements, it can be called obtaining a driver's license

Akrit Jaswal - 7 year old surgeon

Akrit attracted public attention in 2000, when he accidentally performed his first "surgical" operation. He was seven years old, his patient - a girl next door - eight. Due to the burn, the girl could not unclench her fist, and Akrit, having no special medical skills, was able to carry out the necessary actions and returned mobility to the fingers of his eight-year-old patient.

After this incident, the boy went to study for a doctor at Chandigarh College and is now the youngest student among all in Indian universities.

Cleopatra Stratan is the youngest pop star on the planet. Takes 1000 euros for the performance

In its more than young age she has the experience of two-hour performances in front of a large audience in a concert hall, receives money for this, received an MTV award as the youngest performer.

Aelita Andre - 2 year old artist

One day, the director of the Brunswick Street Gallery in Melbourne, Mark Jemison, at a meeting with one of the photographers, saw pictures of works by an unknown author, and agreed to include them in the program of the annual exhibition. Booklets were printed, advertisements were given in specialized magazines.

When the car was started, he learned that the author of the pictures was the daughter of the photographer, two-year-old Aelita. The director was, of course, in shock, but it was decided not to change the program of the exhibition, and the paintings of the young talent saw the light.

A student who taught at Harvard - child prodigy Saul Aaron Kripke

In elementary school, Saul managed to study a full course of algebra, geometry and philosophy. His life is a series of unexpected insights and discoveries.

In the fourth grade of the school, he took a course in algebra, and by the end of the lower grades he had completed the study of geometry and philosophy. During his teenage years, Saul wrote a series of papers that changed the teaching of modal (formal) logic, which led to the fact that the gifted teenager received a job offer from Harvard. As an obedient Jewish boy, Saul wrote back: "Mom says I have to finish school and college first."

After graduating from high school, Saul nevertheless went to study at Harvard. Sile Kripke is the recipient of the Schock Prize, the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in philosophy, and is now considered one of the most prominent modern philosophers.

Michael Kevin Kearney University at 10

24-year-old Michael Kearney is known as the youngest graduate of the university - he was only 10 years old at that time. In addition, in 2008 he won a million dollars in the show "Who wants to be a millionaire."

Born in 1984, Kevin has set many intellectual records in his life and has been a college teacher since the age of 17. The boy said his first words at 4 months, at 6 months he said at the pediatrician's appointment "I have an infection in my left ear" (I'm sure the doctor fainted), and learned to read at the age of 10 months.

When Michael was 4 years old, he successfully passed the Johns Hopkins precocious math program. At the age of 6, Kevin left school, entered Santa Rosa Junior College, and at the age of 10 he graduated with a degree in geology and archeology.

Michael entered the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest university graduate to receive a bachelor's degree in archeology. He also holds the record as the youngest graduate student (at that age, I personally only pulled the pigtails of girls at school and studied in the 3rd grade). In 2006, Michael became famous all over the world after winning the game "Gold Rush" and winning $1 million.

Fabiano Luigi Caruana - chess grandmaster at age 14

In 2007, at the age of 14 years and 11 months, Fabiano received the title of grandmaster, becoming the youngest chess master in the United States and Italy. In April 2009, according to FIDE, he has a rating of 2649 points, which is the highest in the world among players under 18 years of age.

A child prodigy is a concept familiar to everyone. A precocious, highly intelligent child who is significantly ahead of his peers in some or all areas of life. But what are geeks like? How do they become? Is it possible to independently bring up the qualities of a child prodigy in a child, and is it necessary? And how do you know if your child is a child prodigy? Not every adult knows the answers to these questions, but the IQ Club knows for sure.

Everything you wanted to know about geeks, and even more, you will find in this article.

Who are geeks?

The word child prodigy is of German origin. "Wunderkind" - where "Wunder" is translated as "miracle" and "Kind" as a child. Wonderful child! Of course, each parent own child- wonderful, but this word has a slightly different meaning.

A child prodigy is usually called gifted, exceptional children. They stand out significantly from their peers in one or more areas of activity. Their level of intellectual development is noticeably higher than that of other children of their age.

For example, while peers are just learning to add “2 + 2”, a child prodigy solves mathematical problems that are beyond the power of school graduates. Or, while peers barely know how to draw squares on a piece of paper, the child prodigy is already drawing full-fledged pictures that carry artistic value. Giftedness can manifest itself in a variety of areas of activity, whether it is reading, memorizing information, composing music, chess, and the like.

Who are savants?

When it comes to geeks, the concept of "savants" invariably pops up. This is a kind of geeks, not quite ordinary children. They are often said to have savant syndrome. This means that they have exceptional talent in one narrow area, for example, they are good at drawing or composing music, but at the same time they are significantly behind their peers in other areas. Often these are children living with Asperger's or autism.

Do you become a child prodigy or are you born?

Psychologists still have not been able to figure out the exact cause of such a phenomenon as a child prodigy. On this moment, there are 2 versions:

1. Every child is gifted in their own way, and everyone can become a child prodigy. It is only necessary to find the giftedness of the child and choose the right "key" for its development. A version that many psychologists deny due to its low logic. In addition, many child prodigies, growing up, do not retain their amazing abilities, which makes the version even more illogical.
2. Giftedness is a gift “from above”, which a child is endowed with by chance, for no apparent reason. You need to be born a child prodigy, educate him, no matter how hard you try, it will not work.

Thus, right now it is difficult to talk about the nature of the emergence of geeks. They just exist, they are incredibly gifted, and only time and further study will determine exactly where this giftedness comes from.

Famous geeks and their merits

• Marilyn vos Savant. At the age of 10, she took an IQ test, the result was 228. Today, tests using different measurement scales give a result from 167 to 230.
• William James Sidis. At a year and a half he could read newspapers, at 6 he consciously decided on religion, at 8 he already had 4 books written. Has the highest ever recorded IQ of 250-300.
• Arran Fernandez. He received a certificate of secondary education, which ordinary children receive at the age of 16, at the age of 5. At 14, he was accepted into the ranks of the students of Cambridge.
• Kim Un Young. Already at the age of 4 he could speak 4 different languages and solve complex problems in mathematical analysis.
• Michael Kevin Kearney. At 6 months he could speak coherently, at 10 he learned to read. At the age of 4, without prior preparation, he received the highest result in a mathematics test. At the age of 6 he graduated from high school, at 10 he received a bachelor's degree.

Is it good to be a child prodigy?

Unfortunately, genius has its price. Few are ready to accept and understand extremely gifted children, they are considered strange, they are envied. The child prodigy casts a shadow on all the children who are around. Children feel this, and often little geniuses find themselves isolated from their peers: they simply do not want to communicate with them. Little geniuses can also be isolated because they often do not have common interests with peers.

Another factor that can poison the life of a child prodigy is high self-esteem. They are not ready to be in second place, they want to be the best in everything and always be the best. They do not always manage to cope with reality, and bitter disappointments in some cases cause suicide.

Often people geeks are exposed to stress, frustration, depression. It harms the health of geniuses, and the harsh statistics is this: geeks live an average of 15 years less than ordinary people.

How to understand that your child is a child prodigy?

It is quite difficult not to notice the extraordinary giftedness of the child. If your child is truly a child prodigy, this will manifest itself with early age These children are very different from their peers. Watch the child and his habits, the makings of genius are often accompanied by perfectionism, increased curiosity, and extreme independence. Such children are interested in many things, independently trying to learn a skill in which their genius is manifested. In addition, brilliant children from an early age are able to build cause-and-effect relationships, and more people communicate with adults than with children, because with children they have almost no common interests.

If your child is not a child prodigy, this is not a reason to be upset. After all, their birth rate is negligible: only 1-5%. And without the makings of genius, you can raise a smart, developed, versatile child. To do this, encourage the child's craving for knowledge, work with him more often. Effective method develop horizons, memory, attention and thinking - play games at the IQ Club. The child is having fun, and you do not get tired of rejoicing at the success of your son or daughter in studies and creativity.