Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Any comments of this short MSN article.

Jacob is an exceptional prodigy. He apparently sees certain math problems and their solutions as geometric shapes, a sort of synesthesia similar to Daniel Tammet for whom each number had a unique shape and color. Jacob also proves that his memory is exceptional; even months after being told to memorize lists he can still repeat them backwards and forwards.

I always wonder what such a mind would be like if it did not have such an exceptional memory. How far could it go?

I recommend watching his TED talk, since the media interviews tend to side-show-freak him:

http://tedxteen.com/talks/tedxteen-2012/111-jacob-barnett-forget-what-you-know

That isn't synesthesia.

That's geometric computation.

I just read the book on him that his mother wrote called "The Spark" It was an interesting read, although I don't think I would ever write a book about my child while she was still a child. He is still a child and it is a lot of pressure on him. She states that in the book about Einstein and the Noble Prize so that would be were MSN is getting that from.

If anyone can be predicted to win a Nobel Prize, it would be somebody who can do geometric computation.

Even though she probably doesn't understand exactly what he is doing.

I would love to be able to compute geometrically rather than doing a brute force hack using 1's and 0's, but I have no idea how to use irrational numbers in that manner.

That's just it, though-- even people who KNOW several people who have won them also know five or six times that many people who have not, but deserved to just as much as those that have.

I think that is what Val and I are both suggesting-- that this is like taking a stunningly beautiful child actress, and predicting that she will win a best-actress academy award and have a Vogue cover when she's an adult. Maybe. And maybe not-- because it's not entirely about raw characteristics and ability. A lot is being in the right place at the right time, too.

Many people who are quite outstanding do NOT ever win rare accolades, too. That does not mean that they contribute less, or that their contributions are less important or worthy.

So while it is definitely fair to say that child prodigies like this are "going great places" and to celebrate their passions (particularly in light of any particular difficulties that they may overcome along the way), it's quite another to impose a particular, nearly unattainable standard of "success" which is only partly about skill and ability.

Put it this way-- what would you think if I suggested that my child "will be Chief Justice someday"?

Same kind of thinking, that. Now, it wouldn't SURPRISE me if that were true. Not one bit. Just as I'm sure that it would surprise none of us if this young man WERE to win a Nobel prize.

But it's not the same thing as making it an expectation.

I would point out that you need to rethink your aversion to sending her to Princeton.

I also immediately thought, would Princeton/Harvard Law or Princeton/Yale Law be a better choice? For some reason, I'm leaning toward Princeton/Harvard.

I'd say you caught my Simpsons reference in another thread a few days back...

Well, she is Lisa.

In this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!!



While I think that most people would predict amazing things from most PG/HG+ kids at some point along the line, it only seems fair to let THEM choose how they will define success for themselves, and really-- to change their minds as they mature and grow. (That's my serious footnote to the Simpsons discussion, by the way.)

My daughter also has aspirations to be Krusty the Clown, though she hasn't ruled SCOTUS out, exactly... or, you know, a Fields Medal. I tend to think that all of those outcomes are about as likely as one another, for whatever it's worth, which is good, because Krusty seems like a tough guy to seat at dinner parties.

Part of the reason I put this out there was because I attended college with a kid who father claimed that his son would become a Nobel Prize laureate by age 16. At the time he was the youngest kid to graduate from a 4 yr university in the US at 11. The kid was on 60 minutes and received quite a lot of fame. (I can show citations but I'd rather respect his privacy.) By the time I met the kid when he was 11, he was a real mess partly because of all the stress trying to live up to his dad's expectation. The summer after graduation the situation turned into a real mess that ended up with him living with his mom and back in junior high.

So when I see something like this I start to question the expectations placed on this child. No question he is impressive and a natural mathematician, but I wonder if all the press & expectations are good for him. Although after watching his talk, I am very impressed. Part of this may be because there is a huge difference between and 11 year old and a 14 year old.

Very impressive talk. He is a very impressive young man. I don't know much about him is he homeschooled?