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| Protegy and their Childhood Characteristics |
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Geniuses may not start as child prodigies. In addition, most individuals who have been recognized as being prodigies in childhood and have also been except-ionally accomplished people when they became adults did NOT display any unusual precocity in their early months. It was not until after they had begun to receive considerable amounts of training or special encouragement from their parents (or another adult) that they started to display abilities that were strikingly advanced for children of their age. This tend to happen after, rather than before, these children had become unusually interested in an activity, and after they had begun to channel their energies in that particular direction. Typically, by this time the child has been encouraged to regard himself or herself as having already gained some degree of competence at his (or her) own special skill. Usually, it was not until after a degree of self-identification with a skilled activity or an area of knowledge had been achieved, and the child had acquired the habit of practicing the activity frequently and enthusiastically, that really exceptional achievements began to be displayed. It is interesting to note how protégés and geniuses were like.
In the world of music where accomplishments of geniuses would stand out like the midnight sun while the runners-up fade into oblivion, Mozart was a typical child protégé. He first composed at the age of four, had 600 or so pieces of music to his credit, and apparently conceived his work as a whole and only had to set it down on paper. He could hear any musical piece once and then play it from memory. What was often overlooked was that his father was an accomplished court musician who started his music education very early. Although he was undoubtedly the best of the lot, his early ability was not unique. Like himself, there were a number of young child music protégés about. Although others might not have survived the pressure, his ability's being shown off at a very early age (he was treated as a novelty and was required to play in the courts as well as performing in concerts) probably enhanced his talent's development greatly.
Ludwig van Beethoven was never a child protégé although he was widely recognized as a music genius even in his own lifetime. Unlike Mozart, his talents took time to develop. He studied with the famous composer Joseph Haydn, and spent most of his life in Vienna, a center of music at the time. Beethoven's character was notoriously irascible. He had numerous titanic struggles with others, and enough disputes with land ladies to induce him to frequently change his address. He began going deaf around age thirty, probably due to syphilis. Some of his greatest pieces, and the most popular of all classical works including at least five of his nine symphonies, were composed when he was stone deaf. Such composition is a tribute to the power of mental imagery. He worked painstakingly to compose, laboring over every note, and revising and revising. But didn't he compose the Moonlight Sonata at a moment's inspiration when playing for a blind girl? Well, marketing strategies has been with us ever since apples were first trial marketed in the Garden of Eden. Beethoven's publisher thought up this little number to promote sales of the Sonata and the story stuck.
Niels Bohr was a brilliant atomic physicist who won the Nobel Prize. He liked Western movies but needed someone to explain the plots. At the conclusion of one film, the story goes that he remarked how fortunate it was that cameras had happened to be there to capture the action.
Did you know that Albert Einstein, every one's idea of a genius, was an accomplished violinist? He was not precocious and his first word only appeared at age four. Legend had it that he had poor grades at school, but the fact was that he did quite well. His school's grading system was changed from descending to ascending order. Ignorant of this, biographers did not accord him the recognition he deserved. He hated formal schooling and examinations and he himself said he was never much good with words. After taking one physics course, the exams had put him off so much that he gave up the subject for a year or so. He thought in images, but had difficulty in translating these imaged ideas into words and mathematics. His mathematical ability was only mediocre as physicists go, and he spent several years being taught the mathematics used for his general theory of relativity. He also did not conceive the theory of relativity in a single brilliant flash of insight. It developed over a long period. Lastly, his best work was done in his twenties and he spent the rest of his life trying to solve a problem that even today remains unsolved - unifying the forces of nature. Einstein got where he did by ability, but also partly by self confidence. This made him willing to tackle difficult problems and gave him sheer perseverance when the going got tough. These are essential traits for geniuses. As Thomas Edison put it, 'genius is 1 per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration'.
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