Opinion

Exceptionally Gifted Children

​Published on December 30, 2025 6:28 AM GMTI gave a talk on exceptionally gifted children at the Reproductive Frontiers Summit at Lighthaven this June.  I believe the subject matter is highly relevant to the experience of many rationalists (e.g. one of Scott’s surveys has put the average IQ of his readers at 137, and although that’s not as extreme as 160+, I think many of the observations generalize to the merely highly gifted).  The talk is on YouTube: I also adapted the talk into an article for the Center for Educational Progress.  It has now been published: https://www.educationprogress.org/p/exceptionally-gifted-childrenI’d say the talk is more fun and more rationalist-focused, while the article is a bit more serious and meant for a wider audience.  But mostly just pick whichever format you prefer.The central policy proposal is that schools should allow students to progress through each subject at whatever rate fits them, and the cheapest implementation is to let them take placement tests and move up or down grade levels as appropriate (so a child might be taking 3rd grade math, 5th grade English, 4th grade history, etc. at once).  I think this would benefit children of all ability levels, and have some systemic benefits as well; but obviously it makes the largest difference at the extremes.Discuss ​Read More

​Published on December 30, 2025 6:28 AM GMTI gave a talk on exceptionally gifted children at the Reproductive Frontiers Summit at Lighthaven this June.  I believe the subject matter is highly relevant to the experience of many rationalists (e.g. one of Scott’s surveys has put the average IQ of his readers at 137, and although that’s not as extreme as 160+, I think many of the observations generalize to the merely highly gifted).  The talk is on YouTube: I also adapted the talk into an article for the Center for Educational Progress.  It has now been published: https://www.educationprogress.org/p/exceptionally-gifted-childrenI’d say the talk is more fun and more rationalist-focused, while the article is a bit more serious and meant for a wider audience.  But mostly just pick whichever format you prefer.The central policy proposal is that schools should allow students to progress through each subject at whatever rate fits them, and the cheapest implementation is to let them take placement tests and move up or down grade levels as appropriate (so a child might be taking 3rd grade math, 5th grade English, 4th grade history, etc. at once).  I think this would benefit children of all ability levels, and have some systemic benefits as well; but obviously it makes the largest difference at the extremes.Discuss ​Read More

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