My point, somewhere, is that how smart is smart? With someone like TT, you can do calculus in your head at 10, and I am not taking anything away from this amazing child, and I hope he finds us a green energy source that employs millions, but how many of the brilliant things accomplished were done by prodigies or just the super smart? I actually do not know.
I think you're right to suggest that in general, it's not necessarily the case that the very precocious or prodigies go on to contribute more than other very bright but less conspicuous children, and this is something I think about a lot and to me, it's a reason to try to avoid getting DS5 labelled, if we can - I don't want to set up expectations that might leave him feeling like an underachiever for the rest of his life!
Still, TT is about as far away from being an example of this as can be. He has a Fields medal, that's a pretty good indicator of adult achievement!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_Tao
