My mentor Robert J. Sternberg and I discuss how to identify and nurture childhood giftedness and how to broaden our perspectives on talent, creativity, and wisdom.
Excellent ariticle with inspiring info. As a music teacher and wellness coach, I am always encouraging what I now know to be "transformational" giftedness... i.e., what are you bringing to the world? Can't wait to 'review' and share this newsletter in my own newsletter relating to mental fitness for singers. Bravo, and much gratitude.
My 9-year-old son's journey in the public school gifted program has been wonderful. While the testing process may have followed a traditional route, his classroom experience has been refreshingly innovative. His gifted teacher is a true advocate for creativity and critical thinking, encouraging students to explore beyond the norm. The curriculum is outstanding, with project-based assignments that ignite his curiosity and challenge him to think outside the box. What's truly remarkable is witnessing his innate ability to develop solutions that prioritize sustainability and benefit humanity. I do wish this kind of curriculum was offered to all children, and not just to those labeled as gifted.
What a great interview / article! I thoroughly enjoyed it and loved getting a much more thoughtful and in-depth insight into intelligence, wisdom and creativity. I was struggling deeply in life and my elementary teacher said - 'She could be highly intelligent', but I was not tested then. When I was struggling I was holding onto that thought - I may have superior intelligence. It made me do less, as I was grasping many things fast and thought, oh well, that should be enough. At some point in time I realized that a label, irrespective of what it is, is like a supporter of a doing-nothing- and-staying-in-the-rut attitude and that over time, the only thing that works is indeed the mindset of allowing oneself to do, be creative and then to simply do.
I have seen that when people allow themselves to be creative, do what they care about, then this creativity is more often than not used to create a more positive world, so I indeed hope that we put more effort onto bringing not only us but the world forward and solve the big problems of our time.
Nurturing children to use their innate plus learned “gifted ness” towards the common good should bee required in all educational settings otherwise we have what we are seeing manifest recently, and that is a lot of narcissistic tendencies and selfish elitism. 😢
I love the work that Sternberg has done in our field to clarify the differences between what we measure as giftedness and the end result~ life outcomes. I am particularly interested in his theory of 'transformational' giftedness. As a scholar in the field and someone who has worked hard at enabling 'gifted programming/services' to be more equitable over my career, I truly believe that we NEED to focus more attention of how to help individuals develop in a transformational manner. As a society, we need the hearts and minds of people from all communities and cultures to help us solve our problems today and envision what a better future would be for all. Developing 'gifted' behaviors for the 'greater good' should be our focus, not on individual competition and labeling that perpetuates inequities, privilege and a world in which the haves and the have nots are always at odds. Thanks so much for sharing this interview, Scott. As always, you bring us to the edges of our seats with your 'beautiful mind'. always, Joy
Study after study demonstrates EQ outperforms IQ and for good reason, in my view. Obviously, this is not a universal truth. I wouldn't want a brain surgeon with a low IQ.
For some, gifted truly means gifted. The maestro at age 15, the math genius attending MIT at 16. But that is different than our gifts, which are earned, polished, and refined over decades IF they are to become marketable talents. I have many gifts, as do most people I have met over the years. But I have very few talents that rise to the level of an obsession.
The term obsession has a lot of baggage and yet, it's the hallmark trait of mere mortals who evolve into high impact maestros in their given field. Obsession triggers two potent phenomenon. Unrelenting action. Whatever it takes, we'll make it happen. And from the latter, ingenuity, a superpower in its own right that opens impossible doors long closed.
Children should never be told their IQs. If it’s high the ego becomes inordinate. If it’s not high then self esteem suffers. What matters is parent who prepare children for the world. Because, as Naval Ravikant noted: “The only true test of intelligence is if you get what you want out of life.”
The credibility of this entire article is undermined by the first five points describing a gifted person. The assertion that "Whatever you are good at has to be societally valued as worthwhile" is perhaps the most glaring. It implies that to be considered gifted, one must conform to the standards of value dictated by our crumbling dystopian postmodern society. It suggests that you must outsmart the marketing and algorithmic forces to be recognized. This article continues to infuriate me; it reeks of whitewashed nonsense from someone incapable of meaningful transformative analysis.
Excellent ariticle with inspiring info. As a music teacher and wellness coach, I am always encouraging what I now know to be "transformational" giftedness... i.e., what are you bringing to the world? Can't wait to 'review' and share this newsletter in my own newsletter relating to mental fitness for singers. Bravo, and much gratitude.
My 9-year-old son's journey in the public school gifted program has been wonderful. While the testing process may have followed a traditional route, his classroom experience has been refreshingly innovative. His gifted teacher is a true advocate for creativity and critical thinking, encouraging students to explore beyond the norm. The curriculum is outstanding, with project-based assignments that ignite his curiosity and challenge him to think outside the box. What's truly remarkable is witnessing his innate ability to develop solutions that prioritize sustainability and benefit humanity. I do wish this kind of curriculum was offered to all children, and not just to those labeled as gifted.
What a great interview / article! I thoroughly enjoyed it and loved getting a much more thoughtful and in-depth insight into intelligence, wisdom and creativity. I was struggling deeply in life and my elementary teacher said - 'She could be highly intelligent', but I was not tested then. When I was struggling I was holding onto that thought - I may have superior intelligence. It made me do less, as I was grasping many things fast and thought, oh well, that should be enough. At some point in time I realized that a label, irrespective of what it is, is like a supporter of a doing-nothing- and-staying-in-the-rut attitude and that over time, the only thing that works is indeed the mindset of allowing oneself to do, be creative and then to simply do.
I have seen that when people allow themselves to be creative, do what they care about, then this creativity is more often than not used to create a more positive world, so I indeed hope that we put more effort onto bringing not only us but the world forward and solve the big problems of our time.
Nurturing children to use their innate plus learned “gifted ness” towards the common good should bee required in all educational settings otherwise we have what we are seeing manifest recently, and that is a lot of narcissistic tendencies and selfish elitism. 😢
I love the work that Sternberg has done in our field to clarify the differences between what we measure as giftedness and the end result~ life outcomes. I am particularly interested in his theory of 'transformational' giftedness. As a scholar in the field and someone who has worked hard at enabling 'gifted programming/services' to be more equitable over my career, I truly believe that we NEED to focus more attention of how to help individuals develop in a transformational manner. As a society, we need the hearts and minds of people from all communities and cultures to help us solve our problems today and envision what a better future would be for all. Developing 'gifted' behaviors for the 'greater good' should be our focus, not on individual competition and labeling that perpetuates inequities, privilege and a world in which the haves and the have nots are always at odds. Thanks so much for sharing this interview, Scott. As always, you bring us to the edges of our seats with your 'beautiful mind'. always, Joy
Study after study demonstrates EQ outperforms IQ and for good reason, in my view. Obviously, this is not a universal truth. I wouldn't want a brain surgeon with a low IQ.
For some, gifted truly means gifted. The maestro at age 15, the math genius attending MIT at 16. But that is different than our gifts, which are earned, polished, and refined over decades IF they are to become marketable talents. I have many gifts, as do most people I have met over the years. But I have very few talents that rise to the level of an obsession.
The term obsession has a lot of baggage and yet, it's the hallmark trait of mere mortals who evolve into high impact maestros in their given field. Obsession triggers two potent phenomenon. Unrelenting action. Whatever it takes, we'll make it happen. And from the latter, ingenuity, a superpower in its own right that opens impossible doors long closed.
Thank you for the thought provoking piece.
Sternberg's re-framing of intelligence is 🔥🔥🔥
Children should never be told their IQs. If it’s high the ego becomes inordinate. If it’s not high then self esteem suffers. What matters is parent who prepare children for the world. Because, as Naval Ravikant noted: “The only true test of intelligence is if you get what you want out of life.”
The credibility of this entire article is undermined by the first five points describing a gifted person. The assertion that "Whatever you are good at has to be societally valued as worthwhile" is perhaps the most glaring. It implies that to be considered gifted, one must conform to the standards of value dictated by our crumbling dystopian postmodern society. It suggests that you must outsmart the marketing and algorithmic forces to be recognized. This article continues to infuriate me; it reeks of whitewashed nonsense from someone incapable of meaningful transformative analysis.