Some children make remarks very early on that are so pertinent that we tend not to take them seriously, thinking that they are repeating a phrase we have heard, but then where did they get such judicious ideas?
No one admits to having said them and these children still read too poorly to have found them in a newspaper or a book that their parents have not yet opened… They are three years old and are still at a rather laborious stage of deciphering. Sometimes, adults remember these remarks, which can hardly be attributed to chance, especially if this situation is repeated, they are surprised and perhaps prefer to avoid delving into a reaction that is completely beyond them, beyond their control and remains incomprehensible.
His remarks, even though they are relevant, are not taken into account.
The gifted child has said what he had to say and then very quickly, he realizes that the adults are not taking his observations into account: they seem surprised, certainly, but they continue to behave as if they had not heard anything. He, simply wanted to start a conversation dealing with a rather banal subject, without anything special or extraordinary in his eyes, he expected his parents to respond to him as they usually do and not to ignore his remark. Depending on his temperament, this perceptive child resigns himself or gets annoyed, but those around him continue to ignore his interventions, he attributes his reactions to a happy coincidence without realizing that they do not occur at any time.
Adults have forgotten how to think original thoughts.
Yet, if these adults were to delve into their distant memories, they would know that they had experienced the same frustrations, when they were not heard, even if they insisted because it was necessary to warn the adults of the imminence of an event so that they could prepare for it. They would remember how they had gradually given up talking into the void, or only to their pet or their favorite toy so that this content could still be formulated.
They forgot the paths by which they reached these conclusions and why the sequence of events proved them right, they ended up wanting to be like everyone else instead of repeating what their inner voice inspired them, since, clearly, adults were not interested.
To comply with common thought
They adopted the common thought, an attitude dictated by that sort of wisdom which presides over renunciations, they no longer surprised anyone, they spoke like children of their age, applying themselves only to using the right word and to following a syntax which would not betray their thought, striving henceforth to maintain this thought within the strict limits of banality. They stopped tormenting themselves.
Clues from birth
However, there is no shortage of clues from the birth of a gifted child; they could alert his parents, who notice them, without going any further. We know the intensity of these babies’ gaze, they very quickly behave like prodigious observers, they scrutinize their environment and immediately begin to connect certain events together, to associate them, even to interpret them, in order to bring coherence to all this information that they grasp.
This would be the main part of their activity when they are not sleeping: they perceive a quantity of data, tiny, barely perceptible, except for the brand new minds of babies, they keep them in memory since they will be useful to them to understand what is happening around them and to prepare for it. They get into the habit, in their most childish age, of retaining what seems essential to connect it to other data presenting a link with this first event. They capture the feelings and emotions of those close to them, but also those who circulate further away, as if they were modifying the quality of the air: the tone of voices, reactions to unusual sounds, or to the information then commented on.
These tiny data form a whole that can lead to an event that could have been predicted. When these children can express themselves, often still very young, they inform the adults around them of their conclusions, happy to participate, in an already useful way, in the unfolding of existence.
Rigorous logic supports the brilliance of thought
With astonishing certainty and implacable rigor, they drew the most logical conclusion from everything they perceived, they followed their intuition which cannot be wrong, it does not require verification, it skips the steps of a purely logical reasoning which, itself, must progress in this way to avoid going astray, it is only guided by a brilliance which imposes itself, and which one would be hard pressed to explain in detail. All the data which lead to this unique conclusion follow one another with a speed which escapes all control and this unique conclusion imposes itself with absolute certainty.
For gifted children, this is a completely natural way of thinking, they do not imagine that their idea could be questioned since it seems to them as simple as evidence that no one would think of disputing, they are then surprised that no one pays attention to it, that no one takes it into account and they begin to doubt the value of these ideas. Most adults, who are their role models, do not function in this way at all, they think slowly and they refer to ready-made ideas, taken from outside and found by others. This is no longer quite their own way of functioning, they borrow without questioning them, since they are accepted by the majority, therefore considered safe.
What happiness then when they come across an adult using the same functioning, they follow an identical path, without even having to describe the steps. This adult is often a close relative – it is a family characteristic – but the adult has imposed constraints on himself to avoid being too different. He no longer has confidence in himself, he is suspicious.
Little by little, gifted children become more timid when they express their ideas; in any case, they were not believed, they consider it more prudent, wiser, less risky, to act like everyone else and to repress this brilliance which passed through them so easily.
Finally, they are like the others, they repeat with conviction the dominant ideas, they have silenced their inner voice, but they cannot completely get rid of a discreet reserve, they are not completely fooled by what they repeat in chorus, happy not to differentiate themselves, frustrated at having to curb their way of thinking and above all frightened when they sense a catastrophe that no one sees coming.
Some people manage to keep a disguised use of this way of being: through artistic creation, they can express their deep thoughts. All forms of art lend themselves to this: painting, music and the royal road of literature. There, everything is permitted, they have not been forced to keep such an important message to themselves and “let those who have ears hear…” There are professions where this quality is useful, but it remains discreet and these successes are attributed to luck, to a happy coincidence or to the full possession of the profession.
Advice : It is always advisable to listen to children when they say surprising things, this does not mean that they should be considered oracles, but it is better not to stifle this expression of their deep thoughts by arousing, instead, constant doubts.