Comments by "" (@brennadickinson2920) on "Why Wunderkinder are not miracles" video.

It's rarely mentioned that prodigies encounter many negative responses; put downs, envy, dislike, criticism, judgement, negation. etc, etc. As a polymath philosopher and a child, I knew that I didn't know anything, and nobody else seemed to, either. I learnt to keep my thoughts to myself. I took refuge in poetry and have written hundreds of poems and let them express my truths and that has to suffice. It has taken a lifetime to accept myself as a philosopher poet. For most of my life, I didn't want to do any of the careers open to women, and I failed at them. Now I accept my true self and I have peace.
18
@JoseighBlogs Yes and no. I agree about intellectual sponges, and I started very early. I was reading at four and read things like Freud's Interpretation of Dreams, before I was nine. I was a voracious reader, and was frequently criticised for always having my head in a book. I couldn't explain that I was looking for answers to questions like, "Can other people read my thoughts?" or "Why are we here?" You'll know you're a philosopher when you have many more questions than answers! Lol!
16
@DWHistoryandCulture Some. I've lost many of them, as I go through computers like crazy. I consider my poems as paper ships I cast upon the waters, and occasionally they come back to me. My only criterion for my work is it has to be true. I don't care what anyone thinks of them.
5
Being a genius doesn't make one brilliant at everything. I was very absent-minded, was hopeless at math and my handwriting and spelling were atrocious. Humility is based on honesty about one's abilities. False modesty is repugnant.
3
@Robin L. Brian It's a dilemma for parents. Whether to let them practice non stop, or ban it altogether? A compromise? Is it even possible to squash it? I don't think so. Guidance?. These children are forces of nature!
3
Yes.
2
@Hadriandidnothingwrong-z8c But only if they are interested in what they are being pushed to do. Being forced to study things I had zero interest in and no aptitude for was a waste. Nothing could keep me away from what I was passionate about and that is true to this day.
2
@michaelblankenau3129 Yes. By eleven I was being IQ tested with absurdly simple means and aced it except for a word test. I didn't know what 'milksop' meant! Lol! Testing went on all through my teens as there was serious distrust going on. Turned out I was good at IQ tests! Lol!
2
@michaelblankenau3129 But why should I "hide my light under a bushel"? I've had to do that my whole life to save other people's feelings. Yours is the nasty, envious kind of put-down that scarred my childhood. I was first tested because I seemed stupid, because I under achieved to avoid being targeted by people who were envious. My school years were hell because teachers felt threatened once they learned my IQ. All the while they were belittling me, they were also pressuring me to do better and better, to reflect their own glory. Am I to live a false life to please others? If I am offending you by my stance, you are free to just ignore me. I'm 76 now and other peoples' opinion of me matters less than ever before.
2
@margaretcorfield9891 Bravo!
1
I wanted to do dress-making and instead got forced into History which didn't interest me at the time. I spent years as a fashion designer and sample maker in the US, long before I learnt anything about men having much higher spatial awareness than women! Lol! Designing is all about spatial thinking.
1
@monakeulen5622 Yes she sounds like me. Poor you! Lol! I often say that about my mother. She was very patient and kind when I pestered her for answers. I was afraid of death too as a child and I now put it down to a fear of dying without having lived and found my answers. I've lived to 76 and am still learning but I don't fear death now because I found lots of answers that were useful to myself and others.
1