The Gifted Community: togetherness is all.

We live in a competitive world. We are trained from an early age to compete, compete, compete. Yet, what effect does this have? We lose - or never learn - the ability to co-operate. That is sad for without togetherness we are much less than we could be.

Why do I speak of this matter? Well, it pertains, most tellingly, to the gifted, to geniuses, to prodigies and even to savants, few though they are. No-one is more alone than the brightest child in the school. If, that is, they are truly much brighter than the others. You see, the brighter a child is, the fewer are their peers - and for the very bright indeed, they may have NO peers in their acquaintance at all. If your gift is at the level of one in a thousand, you may well be the only person in your school at that level. If your gift is at one in ten thousand, it is almost certain that this is the lonely situation. For those whose gift is rarer still, it is likely that they will never meet a peer in their entire lifetimes. That is truly tragic. No wonder the gifted tend to be introverted - for what choice do they have but a watchful silence? That was my way as a child, and I am much the same as an adult: I have no peers to relate to, in my acquaintance. This is the way of life of many gifted people, geniuses or otherwise.

So, what are we to do? First of all, anyone who is moderately gifted, highly gifted, exceptionally gifted, profoundly gifted, academically gifted, scientifically gifted, creatively gifted, athletically gifted, musically gifted, artistically gifted or indeed any other kind of giftedness I have not identified, should co-operate with, befriend and nurture all other gifted people of all kinds. Why is this so? Because any gift sets one apart - but it also gives you something in common with all other gifted people. You may be different in your difference, but you are alike in that you ARE different from the mass of Humanity.

Therefore, set aside competition and think of co-operation. How can you better the lives of the other variously gifted people you encounter in life? Being friends with them costs you nothing and gains something you may not have had before: a peer, in the one very important sense that they, too, are different, they too, are set apart. You may never find a peer with your gifts and interests, special abilities and personal gifts - but you may find a friend or companion who can share with you an understanding that only a gifted person can have: what it is like to be apart from the common stream of Humanity, what it is like to be different to your very core. In doing so, you will improve two lives: yours and theirs.

(For an overview of the blog site and an introduction to Ainan Celeste Cawley, six, a scientific child prodigy, please go to:
http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html )