I have seen PG adults burnout. But that has been in a field of work where the pressure is tremendous and people demand results on tight schedules.
My thought about that friend's child is that maybe that child really was PG. And even if his passion was not math, he was able to perform at a high level just because of his LOG. And then, by high school age, he figured out that math was really not what he wanted to do and decided not to pursue it. I have a nephew who is PG and pursued an engineering degree because his family expected him to. Now, at 24, he does not want to work as an engineer and is spending all his time composing music on his guitar and trying to write novels.
I was burnt out by the end of high school. You can perform at a high level just because of your high level of intelligence.
Because I was burnt out, I figure I only performed at about 30% of capacity in college (and law school, for that matter).
I obtained an engineering degree because it was free and my parents decided it was a good idea. I didn't have any actual interest in it.
Granted, I never really found any meaningful interests to pursue whatsoever, so I'm envious of the composer/writer.
