Customer Reviews

Nature's Gambit: Child Prodigies and the Development of Human Potential (Education and Psychology of the Gifted Series)

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Anyone who has any interest in the phenomenon of child prodigies will find this book a fascinating read. It traces the early development of 6 children who are prodigies (able to work competitively at the adult level) in some field. Of the 6, the fields the children excel in are as follows: 2 are in chess, 1 is a writer, 1 a musician, 1 in mathematics, 1 is extremely gifted overall (one of the highest IQs recorded). The author explains why prodigies are more often found in some fields, such as music or chess, than others (such as writing- the writing prodigy was the only 1 of the 6 children studied who was not working at an adult professional level). The author delves into the "coincidences" of time, place, technology and parenting that allow these prodigies to develop. He draws on other examples of prodigies outside of his own 6 subjects. Among these is a severely handicapped youth who, through the dedication of his adoptive parents, was eventually discovered to have savant ability in music. Some may argue that one or the other child in the study may not be a true prodigy, but they are all interesting children to read about, and the author certainly makes some excellent observations on the development of human potential. I found this book hard to put down.

The negative reviews of this book are unfair. It is far from perfect, but it contains very important information about the various forces that must all meet to create a prodigy. I did find the small amount of material about some of the parents and teachers believing that prodigies are reincarnated geniuses to be absurd. But that did not discount the value of the rest of the book.
The most important point in this book is that contrary to the myth that prodigies are born with their talent and will overcome all obstacles to become great, in reality they must be exposed to a field or art, their interest must be observed and acted upon by a parent, and the parents must work hard to allow a potential prodigy to achieve any significant portion of his potential. This is not a trivial point. And it indicates that only a tiny portion of potential prodigies are ever given a chance.

While "it remains true that the prodigy cries out for explanation," Feldman displays an array of insights which demonstrate that (as he approvingly quotes Richard Feynman): "The thing that doesn't fit is the thing that's the most interesting, the part that doesn't go according to what you expected." By drawing together the interplay, the reciprocal threadings, of physical, psychological, and cultural cultural levels in the development of prodigies, Feldman contends that the "end game" of our evolutionary process is to create conditions which maximally deploy the rich potential expressed in human history. Such an end game thus has survival value to our species by increasing the range of human skills and capacities in meaningfully specific ways. As Feldman states, "Prodigies are masterpieces of timing, individuals who manage to find a fully resonant domain very early in their individual life games." This book sensitively portrays, in a nested cluster of apt metaphors, how such a matching of individual and domain occurs. Any given society provides a fecund bed for very specific types of prodigies to flower. Certain times favor particular forms of talent, yet our prodigies often defy predictability and retain "an element of mystery and uncanniness." And, ironically, for all the efflorescence of talent, the development of a prodigy is intrinsically a fragile event. Feldman's penetrating look at such precocity provides a deeper understanding of its preconditions, structure, and outcomes. And all this is presented in the context of human evolution as psychophysiological-cultural reality. A wonderful, provocative book. Pour a cup of java or tea, and prepare to ponder.

"Nature's Gambit", David Feldman & Lynn Goldsmith, NY, Basic Books, Inc., 1986 ISBN 0-465-04861-7, HC, 251 pg. plus 8 pg. Notes & 8 pg. Index, 9 1/2" x 6 1/2".

With one prior book on cognitive development, Feldman's literary style seems to lack substance, is wordy, apologetic yet pompous & curiously exposes a surreal gambit. In Preface he bespeaks Gruber of Harvard "had once again recognized a deeper theme in my work ..." And, "prodigies had either been ignored entirely...or interpreted as freaks of nature -- exceptions...described but not explained" & he (author) wants "prodigy phenomenon"...recognized as a lawful example of development rather than...anomaly." He believes there is "a dimension to human evolution that is different from evolution in cats or pansies" & his study may teach us "how we might better choreograph our uniquely human dance." As, perhaps, a humble Literary First, Acknowledgements begin: "Although this book bears the name of a single author..." we find cover & title page imprinted "with Lynn T. Goldsmith." (We are told it is his wife).

The 12 Chaps. divided into 3 Parts cover his search, observations & sagacity on 6 prodigies & their gurus & some analyses of cultural encounters & assimilation issues with cohorts, siblings, parents & mentors. He expounds on the term "co-incidence...the major organizing theme...to capture...many sets of forces in development & expression of human potential" which require guidance. The 6 children in study are all boys, the author apologizing thrice for this happening. How "one is Italian" & "one is distinctly Scottish" is far, far beyond me, as is his expose that "Only one...is Jewish, which surprized me" (he fails to reveal if there should me more or none). The 6 prodigies are: Nils (9- music), Franklin (8-chess), Richy (8-chess), Billy (6-math/gen.), Adam (3 1/2- music/Omni), & Randy (6-writer) he observed on occasions over a 10-year period -- & also gleaned reports from one or both parents, sibs & teachers. He confides: "individual potential for prodigious achievement itself is obviously a critical precondition" for a prodigy -- a Pearl of Wisdom? Apologetically, "my wife, Lynn, wanted to be a ballerina, only to learn that her feet were not designed for standing on pointe" but tenders no personal disqualification as stud material. We do learn ages for prodigy domains is, in music (3-4), chess (5-6), math (10-12) & visual arts c. 15-25 & a neologism for multiple domains as "Omnibus prodigy."

Author notes mentor-masters oft use recapitulationistic teachings & "notion of reincarnation is simply an extreme form...of common practice." He decrees: "The reality of occasional deadly typhoons no doubt contributed to the Oriental notion of karma..." Author proffers: "If little Albert (Einstein) had been a girl, I think we would never have heard of her." (If my daughter Jennifer heard this she'd make him apologize).

Part III, Chap. 9 gets weird: "Nonbiological factors may also contribute to the transgeneration transmission of talent and... help explain... talent... tinged... with the unnatural & mystical ...perhaps astrology holds some lessons... although one must remain skeptical of the explanatory power behind astrological accounts... a delicate interplay of forces..."

He discusses zombies, metaphysical, prebirth memories, strong psychic aura, etc. & concludes: "as scientifically risky as it may be to propose broader forces than those of the Darwinian or neo-Darwinian sort, it seems necessary to do so if prodigy is to be comprehended."

Overall, the book falls short of yielding any new information on lives & times of child prodigies -- but exposes an author's prejudices & insecurities to the rest of the world.

Child prodigy which defined in this book as God giving specific gift to achieve some specific task, is indeed nonexistence. The only thing I see in this book is six highly intelligent kids who had been guided to develope some specific skill such as music or chess by their parents and/or their master teachers. The author is a researcher who starts with a wrong assumption, bend his research mathod whenever he likes and at the end, has no courage to admit that his research is misguided and his research subject does not even exist.

The only thing that any parent of gift children can learn from this book is: let your children be, support them but don't push them. The worst thing any parent can do is to behieve like Adam's mother in this book.