Originally Posted by Wren
That is not true. Lang Lang said that many prodigies cannot sustain a professional career through the teens because of social pressures. He said very few continue. They were still prodigies but didn't continue professoinally. I know of 2 violionists who in their midteens, stopped performing professionally and took a different path.
I suspect this may be different depending on what field one is a prodigy. A field where it's important to stay in the public eye perhaps. But many prodigy's make their way into academia particularly those in math & science fields. While it may be true they no longer impress those outside their fields (ie.. win Nobel prizes or such), it doesn't mean they can not sustain a successful career.