And to combine two related themes--childlikeness and curiosity/interest about other people--I find that the most intellectually gifted people I know have little difficulty interacting with children; little ones often love them, and the delight is reciprocated.
Perhaps because the intellectually curious continue to ask "why?" well after they leave the preschool years?
(And on a side note, the presence of early teens in our house has introduced the regular occurrence of indulgent eye-rolling at the silliness of parents...)
