In recent years, every once in a while, we can always see some reports about "prodigies" on the news, some about how prodigies are gifted, and some are concerned about their future life development.
So, are these prodigies and talented teenagers who once lived in media reports good in their later lives?
The word prodigy seems to be born with dazzling light. If a person is described as a child prodigy by his teachers and elders when he is young, it often means that he has super high IQ, extraordinary talent and unlimited potential. This also means that he has to live and study with high expectations from the outside world since childhood. Everyone is always curious about the story of genius. Ningbo, once a "junior one", was a child prodigy who lived in media reports since childhood.
Like most prodigies, Ningbo's life has an unusual beginning: at the age of two and a half, he can recite more than 30 poems by Chairman Mao; At the age of three, he could count 65,438+000; At the age of four, he had known more than 400 Chinese characters. Chinese medicine can be prescribed at the age of eight; At the age of nine, he can recite poems; Less than 1977 years old, taking the college entrance examination. Also in that year, Deng Xiaoping delivered a speech on "respecting knowledge and talents", and the slogan "Give talents early, give talents quickly" spread all over the country. Ni Lin, a friend of Ningbo's father and a teacher of Jiangxi Metallurgy College, wrote to Fang Yi, then Vice Premier of the State Council, and recommended this talented boy. Soon, two teachers from China University of Science and Technology came to Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, and found Ningbo, where they made a comprehensive investigation on literature, mathematics, Chinese medicine and even Weiqi. The teenager passed all the tests perfectly, and was lucky enough to be admitted to the Chinese University of Science and Technology, and entered the juvenile class with 20 other young college students with the same talent.
Ningbo (second from left), 13 years old, entered the first juvenile class of China University of Science and Technology.
After entering China University of Science and Technology, Ningbo is still? The focus of media reports often appears in all kinds of news. However, frequent exposure makes Ningbo drift away. According to a teacher who taught Ningbo, once Zhang Guanghou, a master of mathematics, gave a lecture at the Chinese University of Science and Technology, and all the other students went to the master to sign. Only Ningbo was indifferent because "he was angry that Zhang Guanghou didn't know him". The fame of youth also dragged down Ningbo's life. In order to prove that he is still smart, when choosing a major, he gave up astronomy, which he has always been interested in, and chose physics, a major that only people with high IQ can study. 1982, Ningbo graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China. Unlike most students who chose to take the postgraduate entrance examination, at the age of 19, he chose to stay in school to teach and became the youngest university teacher at that time. Many years later, Ningbo mentioned in an interview the reason why he gave up the postgraduate entrance examination: "I was very vain at that time, and felt that even if I didn't go abroad and take the postgraduate entrance examination, I would do well or even better."
Ningbo's life seems to be smooth sailing, but the aura of prodigy always suppresses his true self. 1In May, 998, Ning Bo appeared in the program "Comment on Tell the Truth" and "Prodigy". He is dressed in blue and sitting in the guest seat? On the far right, he criticized China's "child prodigy education" with emotion: "That will kill people!" "We can't do experiments on them." ...
In 2003, 38-year-old Ning Bo chose to become a monk, and many media immediately labeled Ning Bo as a "failure model of child prodigy education". In 2008, the secularized Ningbo went to a Buddhist college to teach, and also obtained a national second-class psychological counselor. A generation of prodigies slowly disappeared from public view. Ningbo is not the only child prodigy who has chosen to become a monk. Liu Zhiyu, a mathematical genius of Peking University, also chose to escape into an empty net after graduating from college, and only came down to earth eight years later to obtain the national third-class psychological consultant license, and used his Buddhism to guide patients' psychological problems.
Of course, after all, there are only a few prodigies who become monks, and a large number of talented teenagers once became famous when they grew up. Fu, a two-time IMO (International Mathematical Olympiad) full mark champion, is a typical example. In the expectation of the public, Fu, as a highly anticipated Olympic mathematical genius, should make some achievements in academic circles: at least eight Fields Prize winners after 2020 have won IMO awards. However, after entering Peking University, Fu failed the physics exam after the make-up exam and finally had to drop out of school. Due to his failure to graduate smoothly, Fu was unable to apply for master's and doctor's degrees normally. In the end, he chose to be a math teacher in two normal universities.
After leaving home, ignoring everyone's embarrassing ending, the experience of some prodigies is even more tragic. /kloc-Xu Yushu, 0/7 years old, was once regarded as a gifted teenager by his father Xu He and his elders: he can read more than 300 words at the age of 2, read five or six picture books every day at the age of 3, and read one or two textbooks every day at the age of 4. After entering middle school, Xu Yushu still maintained excellent grades, but at the same time, his body began to show some initial symptoms of depression. He climbed the window sill in school several times and wanted to jump off the building. Xu, who longed to be a dragon, didn't notice these signs. Teacher Xu Yushu visited the Xu family many times. According to him, "he is more like an education bureau at home. His father is strict with his study, and his attitude is stubborn and rude. I went out to play with my classmates and was asked to come back in 20 minutes. "
Father's strict education did not bring a good ending. On October 3rd, 2065438+0165438+206543810, Xu Yushu, who was suffering from depression, chose to jump from the teaching building, ending his short life, leaving only his miserable parents to continue searching for the cause of his suicide. Examples of the fall of prodigies seem to abound in media reports: Zhang Xinyang, a prodigy in Liaoning, studied for many years but could not graduate; Wei Yongkang, an oriental prodigy, dropped out of college because of his poor self-care ability; /kloc-at the age of 0/4, he passed only one English in the Wang Sihan graduation exam and was punished for dropping out of school.
The media is always keen to report the stories of these prodigies, and the public who once sent them to the altar are willing to sigh again when they see that the once brilliant young genius has gradually become mediocre as an adult.
In fact, compared with these fallen prodigies, there are many successful people among a series of talented teenagers who attract attention. Zhang Yaqin, an old classmate of Ningbo, continued to study after graduating from lower grades. At the age of 34, he became the chief scientist of Microsoft and later became the global vice president of Microsoft. Guo Quji, who also graduated from the junior class of China University of Science and Technology, founded Google China.
The data can also prove this. In an interview, the head of the youth class of the University of Science and Technology of China revealed that by 20 16, the youth class of the University of Science and Technology of China had trained 3 167 people, about 18%-20% stayed in the academic circle, more than 250 people were professors at home and abroad, and six alumni of the youth class won the MacArthur Genius Award.
In fact, when we review the stories of these prodigies, we can easily find that people always pay more attention to the stories of Shang than those geniuses who have made great strides all the way. Interestingly, everyone is keen to see the back of a child prodigy, which is the strong pursuit of "child prodigy" by the media and the public. Everyone wants to see a new genius born. 20 17 "Laiyang prodigy fraud" incident is like this. /kloc-Li Xiangnan, a 0/4-year-old junior high school student, claimed that he was admitted to MIT, and the local education bureau began to vigorously publicize this matter without verifying the truth, saying that it was "glory for Laiyang". However, with more and more people's attention, Li Xiangnan's story was proved to be false news, and a series of operations by the local education bureau also contributed to a ridiculous "child prodigy fraud" incident.
It is not difficult to understand the public's pursuit of prodigies. After all, there are still a few children with superior intelligence. In contrast, why everyone is keen on watching the story of the fall of a child prodigy is more worth pondering. In China's traditional concept, prodigies not only represent their extraordinary talent and intelligence, but more importantly, the public expects these gifted people to use this ability to benefit the society and promote the development of the times.
The juvenile class founded by China University of Science and Technology 1978 is the product of this idea. 1974, physicist Li Zhengdao first put forward the idea of setting up a juvenile class in China to make up for the backward social productivity. The idea was realized in 1978 under the impetus of many parties. Although the purpose of publicity is to "explore the law of training outstanding talents in China", it is actually hoped that elites can be excavated earlier, with fewer but better talents. Organize to make up for the lack of scientific and technological development in China. After all, few schools will set up juvenile classes for liberal arts students. Obviously, in order to achieve this goal, students in juvenile classes occupy more educational resources than other students. In an interview, Tianyi Zhou, a student in the junior class, also mentioned that the resources provided by the school would be better. Whether it is a dormitory, a teaching building or a teacher, the school provides them with the most superior resources. This also makes people have high hopes for the future development of these prodigies and talented teenagers, so that when the performance of prodigies is not as good as expected, people will ridicule him.
Whose responsibility is the avatar?
"Let the children win at the starting line" is a very common concept in China education circle. In recent years, the increasingly fierce dispute between chickens and babies has also advanced this starting line: from primary school to kindergarten, and even nursery and prenatal education. In the eyes of most people, prodigy is the kind of player who is far ahead from the start; However, the reality is often cruel, and the person who has the advantage from the beginning is not necessarily the one who can laugh at the end. Since 1974, Joan Freeman, a professor at the University of middlesex, England, has tracked and investigated 2 10 gifted children, all of whom showed their talents in the fields of mathematics, art and music. Interestingly, after years of follow-up investigation, Freeman found that only six of these children achieved "normal success". The book Legend, Myth and Magic about Artists' Images also points out that among many gifted children, only a few really become artists later, and the reason why we pay attention to the early deeds of these outstanding people is because readers have previously determined that these experiences are harbingers of artists' future success, but they are not necessarily causal.
Many studies also show that most child prodigies are concerned by everyone in childhood, just because some of their brain nervous systems mature earlier than ordinary people and their intelligence develops earlier, which does not prove that they really have unlimited potential and extraordinary talent. Therefore, we may not realize that this is just a natural law when we sigh that prodigies and gifted teenagers are becoming mediocre gradually.
Family education also plays a vital role in the future development of child prodigies. For example, in the famous Shang, the protagonist changed from a talented child prodigy to a mediocre person. One of the important reasons is that his parents didn't give him a good upbringing, and his talent was gradually abandoned.
Interestingly, in recent years, there are fewer and fewer stories about Shang; On the contrary, many prodigies are neglected precisely because their parents have given them too much pressure in family education. In the investigation report, Freeman analyzed that many prodigies were frustrated in their lives because their parents expected too much of them and put a lot of pressure on their children. Some parents will also keep their children away from their peers, which will eventually prevent them from enjoying a normal childhood.
Freeman stressed that prodigies are actually ordinary people, and people should accept them with a peaceful mind, rather than giving unrealistic expectations. "Happiness and creativity in childhood are the foundation of all great achievements."
At the beginning of the 20th century, a Jewish prodigy, william james Sidious, was born in the United States. With an IQ as high as 300, he is recognized as the highest IQ person in the world. He also has amazing talent in mathematics and language. He passed the entrance examination of Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the age of 8, and entered Harvard at the age of 65,438+065,438+0.
However, such a person with extremely high IQ has a very miserable life. Because his father had a strong obsessive-compulsive disorder and made a series of plans for William according to his own theory, William lived under his father's strict control from the age of 2 to 20. What is even more frightening is that because William published an article about "freedom" in 19 19, his father thought that he was mentally ill and forced him to a mental hospital in the suburbs of new york, where he was treated for about two years. After that, William stayed away from academia, no longer? Engaged in research related to mathematics, he has never achieved anything that can match his amazing IQ in his life.
This situation is also common in child prodigy education in China. Once parents discover that their children have unusual talents, they will often lose everything and devote themselves to their children's education and training. For example, Zhang Xinyang, a prodigy in Liaoning, was originally an ordinary worker. After the child 10 was admitted to the university, his mother changed jobs in Langfang, Hebei Province, and his father quit his job to accompany him to school in Tianjin. This also caused him to have no life skills except study. When he was studying for a master's degree, he had not yet come into contact with society, and his mind was still like a child.
Of course, on the other hand, the fall of genius also implies that the definition of "success" is still narrow. Most people think that "success" is often limited to winning prizes or making a lot of money. However, apart from success in the secular sense, everyone has the right to choose his own life path. As bystanders, it is sometimes difficult for us to define whether a child prodigy, a person who chooses to become a monk or return to an ordinary life, has achieved the success he wants.