There's an element of intrinsic motivation that comes into play when you talk about prodigy manifesting in children.
My son's intrinsic motivation with chess has been quite extraordinary to watch. It is one reason I've wondered if he might be a bit of a prodigy. Some kids study chess. DS inhales chess like chocolate.
However, I still feel it's early to tell, though we have intentionally not rushed into hardcore competition.
ETA: Meanwhile, his sister is good at chess at well--much better than she lets on at school--but it is not and never has been intoxicating to her. She could be at least as good as some of the second-tier club players in her grade, which is not at all shabby at her school. But there's not the same spark. She plays because her brother wants to, and she's gotten progressively better because she really hates to lose to her younger sib.
Yes; and see, DD learned to play at about five, but just wasn't that interested once she beat me, her dad, and her grandpa once each.
She definitely lacked motivation or interest in it. She's as proficient as most adults will ever be, but has no interest in
excellence in the domain, basically. She hasn't played in years at this point. Which is kind of disappointing to her friends who are chess geeks, because she is still awfully good-- way better than most people who
are trying.
ETA: This example points up the difference, I think, between "PG" and "prodigy." DD is quite likely the former (I could provide a lot of anecdotal support for the claim that her reasoning ability was that of at least undergraduate level when she was 4-7yo)-- but clearly not the latter. COULD she be in the right domain? Perhaps, but we've certainly not seen anything that lights her fire that way long-term. Mostly, she inhales information and is then 'done' with whatever it is, or dabbles periodically over a longer period of time.
On second thought, she does have a current interest-- marksmanship-- where "prodigy"
could turn out to be the appropriate term. As in, national rankings, possible Olympic level. She's probably going to qualify for nationals this year and she's been shooting for
less than six months. She's passionate about it, and she's very very good. It remains to be seen, though, if she'll sustain the interest when she hits a rough patch. But she
regularly out-shoots everyone on the range except the elite shooters who compete nationally/internationally. They are adults who have been shooting for years, and mostly for decades. She is 14. So yeah-- that might be an example of prodigy-like passion/ability.
Also--
Prodigy is about developing/developed TALENT, the way that I see it.
Giftedness (profound or otherwise) is about
cognitive potential.I'm not sure that the two things are really much related to one another by anything but coincidence.
