Ten of the most mysteriously gifted people in the world. Gifted children: types, characteristics and problems
From August 7 to August 20, a public discussion of the draft resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation “On the identification of gifted children” took place. Victoria Solomonovna YURKEVICH, candidate of psychological sciences, professor at the Moscow City Psychological and Pedagogical University, took part in the development of the draft resolution. Victoria Solomonovna told the correspondent PsyPress portal about the prospects for identifying gifted children in Russia and what the children themselves need.
– Victoria Solomonovna, the draft resolution on identifying gifted children was received at a public discussion a large number of negative reviews. In your opinion, did he deserve such a reaction?
– The bill actually received a lot of negative feedback. But the saddest thing is not their number, but who exactly writes them. Among them, a significant part are fellow psychologists, leading experts in our field, high professionals, for whom I have great respect - Marina Aleksandrovna Kholodnaya, Diana Borisovna Bogoyavlenskaya. You have to argue with your beloved, respected colleagues.
How are gifted children identified now? Basically, with the help of so-called intellectual competitions - these are Olympiads and competitions. And it's not just about glory: the winners All-Russian Olympiads receive significant benefits upon admission to good universities. Of course, if a child honestly won, say, the All-Russian Olympiad, he is most likely gifted. But very often no less, or even more gifted child cannot win. There was not enough specific knowledge, a sports spirit - after all, this, although an intellectual one, is a sport.
The bill does not worsen the situation; it adds another method to the Olympiads - psychological and/or psychological-pedagogical examination, which reveals the intelligence, cognitive motivation and activity of the student. These are not only and not even so much intellectual tests, but also mandatory identification student activity at school and outside of school. Giftedness may not be seen if you don’t know the child, if you don’t see what he is interested in, what things he is interested in. But giftedness does not exist without activity.
Water will find a hole, and talent, if it exists, will definitely show itself somewhere. True, not always at school. And for especially gifted children, it’s often not in school. Many great people disliked school: it rarely provides opportunities for challenging mental activity, especially for creativity, understood as the creation of new ideas. At school, the student must learn the material, preferably in the form and extent that the teacher sets. Therefore, during the examination, it is important to take into account the child’s extracurricular activities.
In addition, during a psychological and pedagogical examination, teachers must be interviewed. Of course, they do not all see gifted children, especially in elementary school. There they excessively demand discipline and order: “Children, sit down! Textbooks are open! Where are you looking, Petrov?!” And at this time he looks out the window, remembers what happened yesterday. By the way, it doesn’t bother anyone. In the lower grades, where reading speed and accuracy in notebooks are required, it is difficult to see talent. But the older the children, the greater the chance that the teacher will recognize a gifted student. Especially in a strong school with strong teachers. In addition, if necessary, managers should also be interviewed. additional education, and even parents. In other words, we're talking about about a multilateral examination, where each individual component cannot give one hundred percent confidence that the child is gifted. But all together is a good approximation to reality.
Unfortunately, the draft resolution used a very unfortunate word – register. It evoked associations with registers of enemies of the people, registers of convicts. Sometimes the word plays a very important role. “What do you call the yacht...” This yacht was named poorly.
– The blogs discussed whether children included in the registry would be released abroad.
- It is not that simple. If, for example, gifted children are paid a scholarship, then I think there must be some kind of obligation. Naturally, if there are restrictions, then, I really hope, not for life, our people are not serfs after all. But devoting a few years to your country is smart. This is done in many countries where gifted students receive special scholarships from the state.
– What are the arguments of those who criticize the project?
– There are several objections.
First objection: we don't have a good measuring instrument. And it is true. We have a thermometer to measure temperature, but we don’t have a “talent meter” to measure giftedness. Psychologists, in principle, do not have a good tool. Man is much more complex than any technical toys. But there is a certain way out - do not trust one test or method, but use a “battery” of tests and methods. And only with a certain agreement of the results make a judgment.
In addition, now, for the most part, special intelligence tests are used, where the result should not depend on cultural characteristics or the extent of the child’s specific knowledge, the so-called free-culture tests. They do not depend on the language or the child’s previous learning. Are there such tests? Yes. One of the most famous is the Raven test. To perform it well, you do not need special knowledge, and you can speak any language. All children find themselves in an equal situation. There are several versions of the Raven's test. The one we use is very complex, it is specifically for the gifted. I test a lot, but in my practice, only three people completed the entire test easily and joyfully. One of them is a tenth grader, the second is a famous mathematician. And the third is a young man who graduated from the Faculty of Computer Science, he was invited to work at Google. When he performed the test, he was surprised how difficult it could be: this is pure logic, what’s so difficult? If a person has completed such a test, there is a high probability that he is gifted in certain respects.
But the main thing during the examination is different: any examination has only one “arm” for analysis, only positive. In other words, when analyzing the results, you need to look only at those results that turned out to be high. If a child does a test poorly, it doesn't mean anything. Here we enter the realm of uncertainty, the zone of absolute question. He may have a different type of intelligence. Maybe this person is socially gifted? Such people are very needed in society.
Or maybe the child failed the test because, for example, his stomach hurt. Or he didn’t like the psychologist. We had such a case: a child was especially gifted, and the psychologist who worked with him, apparently, did not correspond to his ideas. The boy was well-mannered and could not be rude to the psychologist, so he pretended to be a fool and completed all the tasks in reverse. Then he explained to me that he was “kidding.” He has the right; participation in testing is his free will. The psychologist decided that the boy was mentally retarded, and he now works in France, a famous young mathematician. Gifted children are very complex people. They don’t always listen to teachers either. And if you look at a child as a trained animal: “What are you going to show us now? Surprise us,” then nothing will come of it.
The second objection: if you divide children into gifted and non-gifted, it will be “Psychological racism”. This will lead to social tension. But we do not divide children into gifted and non-gifted. We are only saying that one has been identified as gifted, while the other is in a zone of uncertainty. We cannot consider a child with undiagnosed giftedness to be ungifted.
The whole problem is that when we talk about the gifted, by default we think that we are talking about intellectually gifted children. It's not like that. The psychologist must speak loudly and clearly about this: both about the “positive testing arm” and about different types intelligence, and the “zone of uncertainty” that never completely disappears when identifying gifted children. And there will be no scary words like “register”, then there will be no “psychological racism”.
The third objection is that there will be a lot of corruption. It is understandable that many parents will want their child to be considered gifted. And if there are benefits or special scholarships for this, then corruption is inevitable at first. And then she will disappear completely.
The fact is that the bill does not say what the purpose of identifying gifted children is. This error is more serious than using the word "registry". The gifted are not identified for the purpose of giving them scholarships and glorifying them in the press, although fame is good for a gifted child, it then increases his level of ambition. In Russia, the word “ambition” has a negative connotation, but it is wonderful, it means that a person wants to prove himself, he has high level claims.
Then why do they identify the gifted, you know? To give them training appropriate to their giftedness. This means it is difficult, requiring high intellectual and volitional tension. Without such efforts, a gifted child will not have “strong will muscles.” What is the main problem a gifted child has in school? Few failures. By the fourth grade it becomes too simple and boring for them, and then they do not know how to overcome obstacles. A gifted child should be given the opportunity for individual, more complex learning. You can do it “live” or you can do it remotely.
A gifted student needs failures so that he gets used to difficulties and knows that sometimes everything doesn’t work out right away, and that’s okay. This is where all the corruption will end! Let's say you push your child into the gifted class, and as a result, the best mathematicians give him difficult problems. I see how they teach mathematicians in one of the schools; I can’t even always understand their assignments. What will be offered to the gifted is not in the interests of an ordinary child: this is difficult, responsible training and best teachers countries that will skin this child seven times. That's how it should be. True, there will be a kind psychologist who will say in consolation that big ship great swimming.
– Is the school prepared for teaching gifted children?
– You touched serious problem. In some subjects, such as mathematics, we have very good teaching. There are more complex programs in literature. And for some subjects there are no such programs. In some cases there are teachers who do great work, but build on their work curriculum, which other teachers will use - another one, and Herculean task. Blended learning is actively developing; it involves an individual approach to education.
– Are people afraid of student segregation?
– I’m afraid of this myself. It is necessary to explain: just because a person did not run the hundred-meter race the best, does not mean that he is “not a sprinter” in other matters. Olympics high level- this is a hundred meters. Those who have not run through it find themselves in a zone of uncertainty.
There once lived in Germany a boy with a learning disability. speech development, was very slow. The boy did poorly at school; he was not good at languages at all. Only the math teacher realized that the child was thinking, but the boy had to leave this school. It gets worse. In Zurich, he does not enter the Higher Polytechnic School (HIU, in our words) the first time, and after graduation they find it difficult to hire him to work in the patent office. Average guy, nothing special. True, if there had been a psychologist here, he would have noticed that the most striking impression for the boy was an ordinary compass. After seeing him for several days, he could not calm down. Indeed, it’s a miracle: no matter how you turn it, the arrow still points north. I ran with him, trying to understand what was going on. When he later became a world-famous scientist, he began his autobiography with this episode. This is Einstein.
And there was more than one such genius. I have seen so many child prodigies, from whom nothing outstanding came of it. Darwin, for example, loved to run, but did not like books. They said that nothing would come of it. Brodsky did poorly at school and was retained for the second year. Literature lesson, melancholy. He gets up and leaves in the middle of class. And he never returns to school. His parents sent him to work. They didn’t take me anywhere, I went to the morgue as an orderly. He never studied again, anywhere.
– He learned from life.
– Yes, I liked to study on my own. In general he was very capable. Among the emigrants, he was the first to receive a license and loved cars. He quickly mastered the English language and then wrote poetry in it. A psychologist would probably have seen young Brodsky’s talent, and at the Olympics such a child would not have tried diligently to prove that Onegin is an extra person. Particularly gifted people do not always win at the Olympiads; there you need to know a lot. There is a story about how Edison was looking for an assistant, and asked all candidates to answer questions: how many miles from New York to Chicago, what is the heat capacity of aluminum or gas. Einstein, seeing these questions, told him that he himself would never have passed such a selection...
– How many gifted children can be identified if the bill is adopted?
– The identification of giftedness itself is of a conventional nature. There is such a sophism: 10 stones is already a heap or not yet? Psychologists have conventionally worked out the point on the distribution at which giftedness begins. Imagine normal distribution, the very edge on the right. Psychologists have decided that giftedness begins at the 95th percentile. The gifted must do what only five out of a hundred people can do. This is not super-giftedness, but already highly gifted.
– How is it proposed to implement this project?
– There is not a single word in the bill about implementation. I will insist that a child placed on the gifted registry should receive more hard life, corresponding to his talent. Nobody needs detection in itself.
– Maybe this is another reason for so many negative reviews of the bill - the goals are not clearly stated?
- I think yes. If opponents of the resolution understood what awaited a student who was included in the register, many questions would have been removed.
– Returning to the discussion of the conditions in which a gifted child finds himself at school, is it necessary to teach the teacher to “see” these children?
– Not only is it necessary, it is now the responsibility of the teacher. In some children, you cannot discern giftedness based solely on educational results. Talent consists of giftedness and motivation. A child can study very poorly, but spend all day reading books or making something. One boy, already in the 4th grade, constantly ran to the astronomy club to look through the telescope. And it needs to be seen. And the teacher may say: “Well, he likes to run to the observatory, but in my lesson he’s a dunce.” The more gifted a child is, the more difficult it is to see him, oddly enough. A simply gifted child responds brilliantly in class and reads like a hundred adults in first grade. And the more creative and non-standard... In order to discern talent in him, teachers need to be specially prepared for this.
– So the bill proposes to systematically work with children who do not fit into the existing system?
– This bill says nothing about how to work with gifted children. Gifted people need attention and interest from others. Not praise, but love and demandingness. Do you know the Hawthorne effect (interest in the experiment or increased attention to the question being studied leads to a more favorable outcome of the experiment - approx. ed.)? Gifted people need to be seen and celebrated for their successes and failures.
– How do they work with gifted children abroad?
- Differently. Europe is also afraid of “psychological racism”; in some countries they do not say the word “giftedness” because all children are equal. They work best with giftedness in the States and in China, but this does not suit us at all. The Chinese are very ambitious, they want to make their country the richest, and so far they are succeeding. The impression is extraordinary, a parallel of 400 people is divided into 8 groups: the first group is the strongest, the eighth is the weakest. The tension among the students is intense. Every year there is a so-called sorting by rating. If a student rises in the ranking, he moves to a stronger group. If he loses in the ranking, he moves to a weaker group. And from the weakest, eighth group, they are expelled: who needs such people? We tried to repeat this in Russia, but for this, children must compete. Our students did not want to move to another class because they showed better results: friendship turned out to be more important. This is our cultural code. But in Russia there are a lot creative people, high creativity. Interesting work is being done fragmentarily in many countries: in the UK something can be borrowed, in the USA, in California there are several schools for the gifted, and in Singapore. There are a lot of creative people in Russia, a high creativity index. And we once had the best mathematics education in the world. It is still better than, say, in the USA or Europe.
– Are employers interested in hiring gifted people?
– It is also necessary to identify gifted children in order to help the child choose career path. Some companies are interested in obedient, responsible performers. Why do they need gifted employees? They may have problems with socialization and may not communicate well with superiors. Such a person does not have it written on his face that he is gifted, but his difficult character is immediately visible. In such cases, a coach will help. But this complex issue, and we are still far from solving it.
- Thank you for talking!
The conversation took place on August 31, 2015 in the editorial office of the portal website
Interviewed by Anna Shvedovskaya and Maria Samuleeva
Photo: mozgovoyshturm.ru
by Notes of the Wild MistressOn April 1, 1898, William James Sidis was born in New York City into a family of Russian Jewish emigrants. William's parents, Boris and Sarah Sidis, who emigrated to America to escape pogroms, were quite outstanding specialists in their fields. Boris Sidis, who wrote many books, taught psychology at Harvard University. Sarah Sidis was a doctor, but gave up her career to devote all her energy to raising William.
Using their own methods of education, by the way, for which they were very often criticized, the child’s parents wanted to make William an outstanding genius. At the age of 6, William became an atheist, remaining one for the rest of his life. At 18 months he was already reading the New York Times! And before his eighth birthday, he wrote four books! The IQ of a genius is estimated to be between 250 and 300 (the highest IQ ever recorded). At the age of 11 he already entered Harvard.
William James Sidis was the most outstanding child prodigy among the young geniuses studying at Harvard in 1909. And among them were composer Roger Sessions, Norbert Wiener - the father of cybernetics. All his life, Sidis was a socially passive person.
Having devoted his life to developing his own intelligence, instead of caring for girls, he completely abandoned sex. His interests, surprisingly, manifested themselves in very exotic forms. For example, he collected train tickets throughout the country and wrote the study “Alternative History of the United States.” William knew approximately 40 languages (according to some sources - 200 languages), fluently translating from one language to another. IN mature age he worked as an ordinary accountant, and as soon as his genius was discovered, he immediately quit his job. He dressed in ordinary rural clothes.
Many blame Sidis's parents for being very intensive methods development, as well as for the fact that William Sidis is too early age entered the University. If you use modern standards, then scientists classify him as an extremely gifted person. However, some critics use the example of Sidis as an example of the fact that very gifted young people cannot always achieve success in its traditional sense, like adults.
Sidis left behind works in the fields of history, cosmology and psychology. Some works have only recently begun to receive recognition. In a treatise on railway tickets, written under the pseudonym "Franka Falupa", he identified ways in which the capacity of the transport network could be increased. William Sidis in 1930 received a patent for a permanent perpetual calendar that took into account leap years. All his life he hid from journalists and did ordinary accounting work without using their unique mathematical abilities in everyday life. Sidis devoted himself to his only hobby - collecting railway tickets. William James Sidis died in 1944 from a cerebral hemorrhage.
Some biographers of William James Sidis regard him as perhaps the most gifted man who ever lived on the planet. Some moments of Sidis's biography that gave rise to this opinion.
William James Sidis learned to write by the end of his first year.
I read Homer in the original when I was four years old.
At the age of 6 he studied Aristotelian logic.
Between the ages of 4 and 8, he wrote four books, one of which was a monograph on anatomy.
At the age of 7, William successfully passed the anatomy exam at Harvard Medical School.
By the age of 8, he knew eight languages - German, French, English, Greek, Russian, Hebrew, Latin, and one more, invented by himself.
In adulthood, William spoke 40 languages, and according to some authors, this number was 200 languages.
Already at the age of 11, William Sidis successfully entered Harvard University, and very soon began lecturing at the university’s mathematics club.
He graduated from Harvard University at age 16 with honors.
Anything can happen in life. Often the job is not to one’s liking, the area of residence is not the right one, or the family does not treat the person the way he would like. The thought creeps in that this is clearly not the fullest disclosure of our potential. So to speak, living a “C” life is typical for many people nowadays. A Bright expert will tell you what causes this and how to change it. About who he is talented person below.
Expert
Antaram Yeghiazaryan
coach, trainer, licensee of International Applied Education.
Career and Education Consultant
Don't bury what nature has given you.
Today I took my nine-year-old relative to the clinic. On the way, she animatedly told me something, and I diligently pretended to listen, while potential formulations and proposals were spinning in my head, which in the future were to become part of this article. To keep the conversation going, I asked the girl what she thought the word “talent” meant?
To my surprise, she suddenly became terribly serious and said that talent is a special gift that all people, without exception, are endowed with. Some draw talentedly, some embroider, some sing, and some help others. “What if there are no visible signs of talent? - I ask. - No voice, no hearing, no artistic taste, no distinctive features? “No, this does not happen, talent usually manifests itself in childhood, but it can hide, and then the parents must help the child find it. If they haven’t done this, then the talent sleeps until the person himself wakes it up, or until he becomes kind. This is also talent. But there are no people without talents.” That's it, do you understand? There are no people without talents. The opinion of a nine-year-old child that amazed me. Many are sure that people are divided into those who are given and those who are not, sincerely believing in the aphorism “a talented person is talented in everything,” and if not in everything, then he is not talented at all. They do not allow the idea that talent is an indispensable component of any person, like the nose, heart or skin, and not the privilege of the lucky few. A new understanding of the problem raises a number of questions: what then actually is talent? Is it true that people are already born talented, but simply not everyone realizes their potential? And if everyone without exception has talents, then how to find your talent in yourself, how to develop it?
About talent as such
So, let's start from the beginning, “talent” is... Among the ancient Greeks, talent is the highest unit of weight and coin, measured in gold. Origin modern definition"talent" has its roots in New Testament, in the parable of three slaves and three coins - “talents”, one of which was buried, the other was exchanged, and the third was multiplied. It went from there popular expression“bury the talent in the ground,” but by this they mean not a coin, but a Divine gift. The Brockhaus Dictionary gives the following definition: talent is a high natural talent, an outstanding ability to perform in any field. A talented person, accordingly, is one who possesses these outstanding abilities. Who exactly? In what field? The names of famous actors, singers and writers immediately come to mind, of course. But it is simply impossible to single out one person. It is difficult to imagine, for example, modern Hollywood without such actors as Tom Hanks, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Kevin Spacey and many others. Which of them is more talented? Each in their own way. Do you get the point? Talent is an indicator of giftedness, but not chosenness; it is something that can distinguish not only one, but many people, even within the same professional field. What about those who are not representatives of the elite? It’s easy to apply the word “talented” to someone whose name is well-known and whose face, excuse the vulgarity, is in plain sight. But in ordinary life, we also often hear and use this epithet regarding seemingly ordinary people of the most ordinary professions. Why go far for an example? While I was drinking my coffee and thinking about the article, a performance began behind the bar: the bartender was tossing bottles, doing something incredible with a shaker, setting fire, freezing, making cocktails spew out clouds of white dense steam. And it seems like there’s nothing like that here. Many bartenders can do this; there are masters who can put it into their belt in no time. However, all the visitors sincerely and for a long time applauded the boy, and the woman at the next table admired it longer than the rest and eventually summed it up: “Talented boy.” But it’s true, he’s a talented guy, and tricks, in general, have nothing to do with it. His talent lay in himself, and not in practiced and honed skills. First of all, in charm and the ability to charm, which he demonstrated. A sincere smile addressed to each and every individual, a friendly but discreet tone and super attentiveness. Even during tricks, he managed to pour coffee, not forgetting to put a small marshmallow on a saucer near the cup and wish a pleasant evening to each new guest. Isn't this talent? He is. This observation led me to a very logical conclusion. Can be divided talented people by two large groups, which, however, are by no means mutually exclusive. There are people who, through perseverance, improvement of skills, and hard work, develop the inclinations initially inherent in them. And then you get talented lawyers, irreplaceable economists, outstanding chemists and nuclear physicists, amazing designers, Oscar-winning actors, Grammy-winning singers and Pulitzer-winning writers. And there is a second category, in my opinion, no less significant. In our ambiguous times, a special talent is the ability to remain decent, responsive, fair, faithful and kind person, while facing daily immorality and savagery. Even being friendly and friendly is already some kind of separate talent. Cultivating these qualities in oneself requires no less effort and work than professional skills. For better or worse, being a truly compassionate person today is a great and rare talent. However, I repeat that one does not exclude the other. A talented lawyer may well be a sympathetic benefactor, just like a talented nuclear physicist - true friend. So what happens? This means that talent is not only innate talent, it is something that depends entirely on our desire and perseverance. Be it unparalleled kindness towards people or writing skills.
Talented kids
But let's talk about something else. Have you noticed that Lately Are there more and more programs about talented children appearing on TV channels? Much more than about adults. And this is not without reason. Scientists have long proven that almost all children potentially have extraordinary abilities and have a penchant for some type of activity, sometimes several. The task of parents is to recognize and help develop these abilities. They become pronounced at the age of 10-13 years, but there are children who manifest themselves at a very early age. So, I was personally amazed by a baby at one of these shows. At the age of three, he already had a second rank in chess! And another boy found his calling in space exploration. He navigated among the stars and planets as easily as if he had been studying them for many years. Or a girl, who had not yet really learned to speak, could already easily name the capitals of all the countries of the world. What does this mean?
The fact that children really show themselves quite early, and parents need to seize the moment to help their child develop this streak. Of course, in many ways, it was programs like these that contributed to the surge in talented children in the country, but this is probably even a plus, since parents, inspired by the example of others, began to look more closely at their own children and listen to them. But, as has been said, not all parents can see, and not every child knows what he wants. But this is by no means a reason to consider yourself mediocre. You need to try, test yourself. We, adults, are very afraid of seeming funny, afraid of being judged, and therefore we do not risk looking into ourselves, looking for that very thread there. We always think it's too late. But it’s too late - in the next world. This is what I mean. You can’t give up trying to find yourself, no matter how old you are, you shouldn’t be afraid to open yourself to the world with new side. It is important to remember that a person is already talented from the very beginning, you just need to allow the talent to express itself, and then not be lazy to work hard for it.
Results
If we summarize the above stream of thoughts, we get something like this.
1) All people have potential; initially, each of us carries within us a grain of talent.
2) Talent is not only skills brought to perfection, just being human is also a great talent, as is being friendly or responsive. Are you worried that time is passing and your talent is not showing up? Take a critical look at yourself. If it turns out that you are a kind and sympathetic person, if you are the life of the party, if people come to you for advice, and even if you dress stylishly and tastefully without the advice of Evelina Khromchenko, then congratulations, you are already a talented person. Just not in the conventional sense.
3) Learn to “see” your children, great scientists, astronomers, geographers, athletes and ballerinas live in them. And it largely depends on adults how quickly a child can express himself and begin to grow and develop, improving his talent.
4) Adults are big cowards who are afraid to take an extra step or, God forbid, make a mistake. But you need to take steps, first of all, inside yourself. There lives a talented child who is waiting in the wings.
5) Laziness is destructive, just like fear. Therefore, no matter how difficult it is, do not give up your gift, the one who knows how to wait always wins. It will become easier. And don't be lazy.
Zabolotsky has a wonderful poem “Don’t let your soul be lazy...”, it helps me, perhaps it will help you too. Talent has highest point- this is genius. Such great people as Jackson, Chaplin, Tolstoy, Mendeleev and others suffered from it. You know, in addition to genius itself, they are united by another common feature: They're all dead. It’s not for nothing that they say that people become geniuses posthumously. Therefore, live here and now, do not be afraid of anything, listen to yourself, look deep, do not bury what is given to you by nature, and remember: “There are no people without talents.”
Don’t bury what nature has given you!
Recently, various talent shows have become very popular, thanks to which we learned that there are many talents among ordinary people! What is talent?
At first glance, everything is simple. Talent is a manifestation of outstanding abilities in a certain area; it is a special talent that cannot be ignored.
But the question is: is talent a gift that only exceptional individuals are endowed with, or can it be developed in oneself?
Is talent a gift of nature?
In the Brockhaus dictionary, talent is defined as a high natural talent, an outstanding ability to perform in any field.
The names of famous actors, scientists, musicians, and writers immediately come to mind. Dostoevsky, Beethoven, Mendeleev, Mironov - these are the ones who, undoubtedly, can be called talented people, these are the ones whom nature has generously endowed!
A talented scientist, as if living in a world of abstractions, a writer reflecting on a new work, or a composer creating music sometimes seems somewhat strange to other people...
That is, a talented person is special, one who has outstanding abilities from birth? And only a select few can have talents?
Yes, talent is undoubtedly an indicator of special talent. But not chosenness!
And in application to ordinary people We also often use the word “talent”. And even more - every person by nature is talented in some way.
How to find your talent
Not everyone is given the gift of being a genius in one of the sciences or possessing a unique artistic or musical gift. What's stopping you? to an ordinary person start developing the abilities given by nature? But first you need to find them within yourself. How to do it?
Listen to your desires, remember what you dreamed of as a child. After all, abilities are primarily manifested in an irresistible desire to engage in some specific activity, to express oneself in something.
Such a desire may arise in childhood or adolescence. And it happens that the spark of talent flares up in adulthood. In any case, you should not ignore this inner feeling, but trust it.
What are the types of talents?
A talented person - what is he like? And what kinds of talents are there?
Back in 1980, American psychologist Howard Gardner, in his book “Frames of the Mind,” identified seven types of talent. And although more than 30 more species were described after him, these seven are still considered the main ones. Here they are.
Kindness and love for people is also a talent!
Today, people who can truly sympathize, help, and lend a shoulder are becoming increasingly rare. The ability to remain a decent person in our time can also be considered a special and rather rare talent. Even sincere friendliness and friendliness is definitely a talent. And it is no less important for the development of humanity than the talent to move science forward or develop art.
If the ability to be humane is not given by nature, it is worth making an effort to cultivate it.
So it turns out that talent is not only giftedness, given by God; it, first of all, depends on human perseverance and the desire to become more perfect.
Talented children
Almost all children have a special inclination for something, and sometimes show talents in several areas at once. To help a child fan the nascent spark, parents must discover these abilities in time and begin to develop creative talent in the child as early as possible.
After all small man can hardly learn to play musical instrument or paint pictures on his own, even if he has remarkable abilities for these activities. And if a talented person does not have the opportunity to encounter the subject of his talent, then he may never know about his talent.
Therefore, it is so important to let the child test himself in different activities and determine what exactly the baby likes most, what his soul is about.
Children can try their strengths and abilities by visiting various clubs and sections, as well as participating in children's creative competitions, which are organized specifically to find young talents.
And having discovered the rudiments of abilities in a child, they need to be nurtured and developed. After all, if this is not done, he may remain just a person who is passionate about what he loves. Yes, he will delight his loved ones and friends with his talent, but nothing more. But having received proper training and development, talent can dramatically change your entire life.
But talent can be so pronounced and bright that it will not allow itself to be forgotten, it will burst out like a delicate flower breaking through the asphalt, and it will not be possible to “bury it in the ground” even under unfavorable conditions.
Two meanings of the expression “Bury talent in the ground”
Previously, the expression “Bury talent in the ground” had a completely different meaning than the one we put into it today. Like the word “talent” itself, which originally meant the largest monetary unit in Ancient Greece, Persia, Babylon.
The expression “Bury talent in the ground” comes from gospel parable about how one rich man, before leaving for another country, distributed talents (coins) to three of his slaves. He gave 5 talents to one of them, 2 to the second, 1 to the third. The first two slaves invested the coins given to them in the business, and the third buried his silver talent in the ground.
When the master returned, the two slaves gave him more money than they received. The third returned only one coin, which he kept in the ground. Those who did not bury their talents, but multiplied them, received praise. The master called the third one wicked and lazy.
IN modern language“Burying talent in the ground” means not developing the gift given from above.
How to develop talent
The discovered abilities need to be developed, and this requires considerable effort. After all, talent is not only an extraordinary gift given from birth, but also developed under the influence of exercise.
Many people achieve great success and achieve fame due to the fact that they develop the inclinations inherent in nature through hard work and perseverance. It is from these people that over time, outstanding economists and lawyers, outstanding scientists, creative designers, talented musicians, actors and writers emerge.
After all, talent in itself has no power and is of no interest to anyone. It requires processing, as if gem, which, being uncouth, is not visible to anyone. In order for the ability or giftedness inherent in a person to be transformed into talent, a lot of time and effort must be spent. But it's worth it!
Every person contains the seed of talent. We need to be able to recognize in our children the future great scientists, athletes, artists, musicians in order to help them develop and realize their natural abilities.
You also shouldn’t forget that it’s never too late to find talent in yourself, you just have to look at the child inside you and remember what he dreamed of... And the main thing is not to be afraid to realize these dreams! You need to be afraid to bury the talent given by nature.
No less important than extraordinary abilities in science or creativity is the talent to be a Human being - kind, compassionate, sympathetic. If our reader is like that, he is undoubtedly extremely talented.
The first question that gifted adults ask me when they come to training or psychotherapy is: “How do you know that I am gifted?”
First I explain that I just see it and talk about my observations. Then—because I know that gifted adults need to figure things out for themselves—I give them a list of characteristics, ask them to read it and think about whether they recognize themselves in these descriptions. Then we start working.
There are many similar lists, but I compiled this one specifically for the most complete answer to main question, which opens the door to a completely new way of perceiving and understanding yourself and the world as a whole: are you a gifted person?
Read this list and decide for yourself whether you have these traits.
The jokes of gifted people rarely find understanding among the audience
So, gifted adults:
1. Intellectually different from others. Their thinking is more global, sophisticated, they have the ability to draw general conclusions and see complex interactions in the world around them.
2. They are distinguished by an increased ability to perceive beauty, deeply feel the richness of the colors of the world and see harmony in human relationships, nature, and literature.
3. Enjoy exchanging ideas with other gifted adults. Many people love heated intellectual discussions.
4. They have an internal need to meet their own expectations. They feel guilty if they fail to achieve their goal.
5. They have a special sense of humor: they prefer subtle jokes, sarcasm, and puns. The jokes of gifted people rarely find understanding among the audience.
6. Often experience strong feelings. They find it difficult to understand the inconsistent and short-sighted behavior of others. The stupidity, insincerity and danger of many actions are obvious to them.
Talent encourages improvement in intellectual, creative and physically
7. Can predict the consequences of certain actions, understand cause-and-effect relationships, and anticipate problems that are likely to arise.
8. They have difficulty deciding on risky ventures because they are better aware of the risks. In general, they take longer to make a decision.
9. They often invent own ways knowledge and understanding of reality, which can lead to conflicts with those who do not use these methods or do not understand them.
10. They experience anxiety, a feeling of dissatisfaction with themselves, and strive to satisfy personal needs.
11. Have difficulty focusing on one thing: they have too many abilities in different areas, and everywhere they want to succeed.
12. Often feel too much strong pressure creative energy. Talent is drive, pressure, the need to act. It encourages improvement in intellectual, creative and physical terms. The reason is the need to understand how our world works and create your own.
Clarifying thoughts and feelings is not a quick process and requires thoughtful contemplation, solitude and the opportunity to daydream.
13. They need time to understand their inner life and understand themselves. Clarifying thoughts and feelings is a slow process and requires thoughtful contemplation, solitude, and the opportunity to daydream.
14. They treat best those who share their interests.
15. They have a rather narrow circle of friends, but these relationships mean a lot to them.
16. Demonstrate independent thinking and do not automatically obey the decisions of superiors. They fit perfectly into society, whose members participate in the life of society on equal terms, and get along well with those who accept their position and innovations.