Do child prodigies get rich?

The question in the title is not my own, but that of a web surfer who came to my blog in search of the answer.

The short answer would be: some do, some don't.

If the child prodigy is a prodigy in a domain that has significant economic value, when allied to good marketing - such as, for instance, music, then, yes, that child prodigy could be become very rich indeed. A case in point is Vanessa Mae, who proclaims herself to have been a child prodigy on her website. She is worth, according to recent estimates a cool 32 million pounds sterling. That is about 100 million Singaporean dollars. Not bad for a girl with a violin.

Another example would be Harry Connick Jr. who was a definite child prodigy musician. His net worth wasn't readily accessible on the internet but is sure to be many millions since he has sold millions of records and appeared in a number of Hollywood films.

Other prodigies tend to enter more academic domains. Such prodigies may not become rich, but will be comfortable in a professional level income sort of way. Their true wealth may come in the form of the influence they have on the world and the fame they acquire for doing so. An example of this class would be Norbert Wiener, a pioneer in cybernetics. He was a child prodigy who became a man of great intellectual influence. His ideas led to fortunes being created in the computing field, if not directly for himself.

Prodigious sportsmen and sportswomen can definitely become very rich. Tiger Woods, for instance, is accounted a prodigy - and is not far from being a dollar billionaire. In 2007, Esquire magazine estimated Tiger's net worth as being in excess of 650 million US dollars. No doubt it has grown since.

Leaving aside the question of why the web searcher wanted to measure child prodigies in terms of net worth and future earnings potential, it can be seen that those who begin life with great gift can become wealthy, if their gifts meet the right opportunities for their expression and development.

Prodigies of the intellectual type, however, tend to become academics of some kind and their wealth is likely to remain on the professorial level - unless they start companies, as some do.

For some prodigies, their period of greatest earning power is actually when they are children. A case of this kind is Macaulay Culkin, whose worth is estimated at 35 million US dollars. Most oddly, from most people's perspective, almost all of this was earned while he was a child. As an adult, he doesn't seem to have much of a career (perhaps he doesn't want one, being wealthy already).

Child prodigies are children of great possibilities - and wealth is certainly one of their potentials - if they are lucky enough to receive the right opportunities.

I hope that answers my searcher's query.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and seven months, and Tiarnan, two years exactly, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

A nation of hidden talents: Singapore.

On Thursday of this week, my wife and I went to a strange kind of party, in Singapore. It was a kind of party I had never been to before.

It was held in someone's HDB flat. HDB stands for the Housing Development Board. It is the government provider of public housing to about 85% to 90 % of all Singaporeans. For those of you who have never been to Singapore, most people here live in apartments in towers of twelve or more stories (some are very much taller). So, this was a normal Singaporean home.

Most people sat on the floor, there being insufficient seating for the, perhaps, 30 or so people in attendance. For the first hour and a half, people mingled and talked, getting acquainted. But then, at about 8.30 pm, something unusual began to happen. One by one, the guests got up to stand to one side of the room, and sang.

I didn't expect much from this, for I had seen the Singapore Idol (a local version of the American Idol) and noted that, although they laboured under the belief that they could, most entrants to that show, could not sing well at all.

Yet, I was surprised. The evening passed in a mixture of classical, pop, rock and country songs sang with passion, love and attention. Some of the performers were nervous before an audience, showing both their youth and inexperience. But some were polished performers, very much at ease. Some of them irritated, somewhat, by preening and admiring themselves as they sang. I am not going to speculate on the cause of such behaviour. But others surprised in other ways: by just being damned good.

One girl, in particular, shone. She was of a delicate build - very, very skinny, in fact, and not at all tall. She introduced herself by saying she had "Never sung this song before" - at which everyone laughed a little, perhaps believing otherwise. Then she began. There emerged from her mouth the most assured, powerful, well-pitched and agile voice I have ever heard in live performance. Quite astonishing. The song she sang was a classical one. Clearly, she had practiced this song endlessly - despite her claim at the outset. The ecstatic applause she received was well-deserved.

There was a very tall man, too, who sang classically and rather well.

What I did note, however, was that those who sang particularly well, could only do so with classical music. They were unable to handle pop or rock. (That included the star singer described above - she was much less assured with a pop tune). Perhaps this is why none of them has ever appeared on Singapore Idol. There was one girl, however, who was comfortable with pop: the one who preened.

I learnt something sad, yet hopeful about this particular gathering of singers and musicians. They exist because they are outside the mainstream. They are unable to open the doors to the few opportunities that exist in Singapore for musical talent - and so, they come together regularly, to sing, at these "secret" soirees.

Singapore is a country that, historically, has had few outlets for creative or performance artists, to express their abilities. It has been a society focussed directly on activities that are more certain to produce an economic return. In this manner, it has been, for much of its history, a city without a thriving culture. In recent years, there has been some effort to change this, the government having recognized that, without a healthy culture, there is not a healthy city. The missing aspect of the arts, is something that diminishes the city's allure for foreigners - and locals alike. So, it has begun to encourage the growth of a local arts scene. Yet, there is much work to do and too few real opportunities for those who would follow an artistic career path of any kind. Quite simply, there is not enough work to make a living, for those who aspire to such a life.

Some of this group are, however, working together to launch two musicals, in Singapore, later this year. I wish them well.

(If you would like to read of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and eight months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and one month, or Tiarnan, eighteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, genetics, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, creatively gifted, gifted children, and gifted adults in general. Thanks.)

Leonardo Da Vinci: Musician

Someone searched today using the term: "Did Leonardo play a musical instrument?". Knowing the answer, I thought I would reply to them, lest they visit this site, again.

Leonardo da Vinci, 1452 - 1519, had many gifts, but one of them was for music. He composed music, spontaneously, improvising freely as he went - and presumably he recorded some of this. However, no written record of his music survives. So we may never know whether he was, in fact, a good composer, to add to all his other wonders.

We do know however that he had a great reputation for being able to play ANY stringed musical instrument, at first sight, even if he had never encountered the particular type of instrument before. Though, his official instrument was the lyre, he was able to play others, too. Presumably, he was physically dextrous and so comfortable with music as an art, that he could respond to the opportunities and constraints of a new instrument well enough to coax adequate music from it.

So, not only could Leonardo da Vinci play an instrument - he had shown himself able to play any stringed instrument of his time.