British boy, 3, admitted to Mensa

British boy, 3, admitted to Mensa

www.upi.com

David Potter and Lynn Goldstraw of Packmoore, England, said their son, William Potter, was accepted to Mensa after scoring an IQ of 140 on the organization's tests, placing him in the 99.6 percentile among Britons, the Daily Mail reported Wednesday.

"He could count to 20 before he was 2 and knew his alphabet and colors
and shapes," Goldstraw said. "When in his pushchair, he'd read car number plates. Now when we go in the car, he's in the back with a map on his knee."

(visit the link for the full news article)

Pretty cool story.

A mere 3 years old, and already an I.Q. of 140? Kid may turn out to be the next Einstein.

Hopefully the parents will keep him out of standard education, so he doesn't get dumbed down by their limited teachings. lol

Always enjoy seeing stories about potential prodogies and future geniuses. We can sure use more of them in today's world...

www.upi.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Actually the kid is probably doomed. How many genisus end up working at dunkin donuts because they were so busy studying and being genisus that they never learned to socialize.

Sounds like the parents are on their way, forcing their kid to read and count at an age where it is not important, because they are wrapping their self esteem in the success of their child.

As John Gottman says, it doesn't matter how much intelligence a person has if they have a tantrum and run out of the room every time a meeting doesnt go their way because they never developed emotional and social intelligence.

sorry, I have seen way to many lonely smart kids to wish that on them. Because their parents and family have made such a todo over their intellect, they didn't teach them anything else. Everyday the child was reminded how much better and smarter they were then everyone else, so that they thought they were better then everyone else and couldn't tolerate commoners.

OR

the other repercussion is that the child glides through school, hits something they may actually have to work on, and get ticked off and quit. Because they never actualy had to struggle before.

My child is right where I want him, Smart, speaks well, has good manners, but not a prodigy. Thank heveans for that.

You know, Mozart wrote twinkle twinkle little star at four. The whole piece is actually four pages long. The version we hear is the very abridged version. He could go to church and go home as a child and write all the organ music note for note with 100% accuracy. He was amazing. And everyone seems to want to give birth to the next Mozart.

Mozart died at what, 24? lonely, broke, and an alcoholic.

To me, the most ironic thing is that Mensa, in spanish, means "Stupid" or "Naive".

reply to post by nixie_nox


I would argue that its not about learning to socialize. He may simply be unable to socialize with others due to the way he thinks. His parents could teach him social skills all day and he may end up approaching it analytically, finding himself having to consciously perform social behaviors that others perform unconsciously. This makes it very difficult outside of a well organized social hierarchy, like the military or clergy, to function.

So I wouldn't blame the parents. They may find that he has problems socializing with them.

I hope the kid doesn't end up like this guy:

The Rise and Fall of William J. Sidis

As William approached his fifth birthday, his spectacular abilities began to draw the attention of the press. He had taught himself to operate the typewriter from his high chair, tapping out a letter to Macy’s regarding an order for toys. He had also taken it upon himself to learn Latin, Greek, Russian, French, German, and Hebrew. His appetite for information seemed endless as he easily chewed through weighty tomes such as Gray’s Anatomy and the works of Homer. He entered grammar school at age six, but in just over half a year he had advanced into high school curriculum. His stunning accomplishments soon became a frequent feature on the first page of the New York Times.

Sidis graduated cum laude at age 16, having grown a bit introverted in response to the sudden fame and pressure. At his graduation, he told the gathered newspapermen, “I want to live the perfect life. The only way to live the perfect life is to live it in seclusion. I have always hated crowds.” He began a lifelong policy of vigorously rejecting sex, art, music, or anything else that would distract him from the pursuit of pure knowledge.

He took up a series of menial jobs working as a clerk and a bookkeeper, moving to a new employer whenever his identity was discovered. “The very sight of a mathematical formula makes me physically ill.” he once said, “All I want to do is run an adding machine, but they won’t let me alone.” On one occasion Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Company hired him and handed him a stack of blueprints and statistics in the hopes that he could improve their system; he was reduced to tears at the prospect of the computations, and quit the new job on his first day.

Forty-six year old Sidis had suffered a massive stroke, and he never again regained consciousness. Such was the end of the one-time prodigy who had astonished a Harvard math audience at age eleven; he died a reclusive, penniless office clerk.

Though he probably would not have put much stock in formal measures of intelligence, it is estimated that William Sidis’s IQ was as high as 300, where 100 is average and over 140 is considered genius. Whatever the reason for his underwhelming output later in life, he was certainly one of the most profoundly gifted human beings who ever lived. There is no telling what William might have accomplished for mathematics and science if only his talents had not been squandered.

Excellent story!

What the kid's parents need to do is keep him away from the television (British TV is notoriously dumb); get him out on the playground with other kids, and keep him away from any system or organization proselytizing any doctrines.
He'll be just fine.

I feel bad for the kid.

His parents have such a huge ego that they pay money so their kid can belong to a group of "smart" people.

That kid doesn't have a chance at leading a normal childhood.

This kids sounds pretty much average, virtually all my close friends could do this at his age. My best friend and I were assembling computers at his age. This just proves my point that society is getting stupider. I blame the schools and the parents. At age 7 they told us that the planets orbit the sun, the liars! Planets and the sun orbit the solar systems centre of mass! And that everything is made of particles, the liars! It's Quarks! It was a good thing I had been educated better.

Counting to 20? Not difficult, one of my favourite games as a toddler (Ignoring the fact I couldn't say "th" for whatever reason) was seeing how high i could count in different languages, FREAKING EASY. Why can't kids these days just see how ridiculously stupid they are and do intensive labour for a living!

reply to post by Incendia vox


You assembled computers when you was 3?

Your one of those people who always tries to one up people aren't you?

If I told a story about how I walked across the US, you would probably tell a story about how you walked around the whole world huh.

reply to post by nixie_nox

Sounds like the only good news for William is that wasnt born to you..he's doomed at 3...

reply to post by Berserker01


Perhaps his parents signed him up for Mensa to allow him the opportunity to talk with people who were his intellectual equal. Having to dumb everything down to fit in is much harder than speaking openly to people who understand you. It's also stunting to a person's growth socially. It's going to be tough for him, without having an intellectual outlet, to fit in - especially if his friends are writing letters to Santa for "SuM LEgo PLEEs", and he's working out the maximum air speed velocity of an eight reindeer powered sleigh based on barometric altitude.

I disagree with the posters who claim he won't be able to socialize or the parents are pushing it on him. My daughter isn't this smart, but she is smarter for her age. Can read a little count, knows her colors, talks very well, knows animals, etc and she's two. We weren't pushing anything on her, she just wanted to learn so we'd play games that also teaches her things. She will be able to socialize because we don't just sit her down in a classroom setting and force her to learn. We make it like a game, playing with her and teaching her how to play with others.
When she gets older she will still have what is considered a normal childhood. She'll still go outside and play and have friends, live, laugh and love.
I think if the parents spend time with the child while they are young, the child will do better because toddlers really are like a sponge. They want to learn everything and their first teacher are their parents. Not the TV. We hardly watch tv, and when we do, it isn't the shows that make kids dumb.

Kid is pretty much screwed, now that the media has his name he will never be able to have a quiet normal life. Everywhere he tuns there will be microphones, reporters, nosy losers who want to know what color his poop was yesterday. Being smart is not the panacea that so many here seem to think, its a lot more enjoyable to go through life average, means people don't expect miracles from you 24x7.

Heck I didn't even speak until I was three and my I.Q. is higher than his.

I would just always nod my head at everything.

Finally, once during a family dinner, I found my milk glass was empty.I looked to see if anyone else had noticed so they could refill it,but no one was paying attention.

I banged my glass on the table and said,"I need more milk!"

Everyone stopped and looked at me.

"Why did you decide to speak now",I was asked?

"Because everything was fine until now",I answered.

reply to post by MikeboydUS


I see what you are saying and I appreciate the argument. And that may be the case in some instances.
But parents do it even when their kids are not geniuses. YOu see parents bragging their 18 month old can do their abcs. You see them making them recite things and memorize things.How fast they learn and how early they do it. Because of the mozart effect, people think that a child doing something like potty training early, shows intelligence. Anything done early is intelligence.
You see parents trying to get their kids to walk early. Intelligence has nothing to do with it, and they age they do it. In fact, getting a child to walk early can be harmful, as the child walks when their bones and joints strengthen enough to support upright weight.

In fact, studies show kids who are intelligent actually potty train late, because they actually figure out you as a parent can't actually force them to do it, and can manipulate you to help them.

I scored high on IQ in school. My school's response? Don't tell her. Because then kids think they can coast on it.

If parents truley wanted to emotional coach their kids, they wouldn't be spending all their time trying to show how intelligent their kids are. They wouldn't be applying to mensa. They wouldn't be an article in the paper. They would be taking their kids on playdates and pretending they are normal. If the child is naturally intelligent, you can't take it away from them. IT is gonna be there.

So if your hearing of it, the parents are promoting it. And where is the emotional coaching if they are too busy promoting? Here honey, we will brag to everyone you are a member of mensa, but go play with the other kids dear.

IT doesn't work like that.

Tiger Woods is another example. On one hand he is a product of being molded from teh age of 3. I can't even get my four year old to hold the golf club right, lol. But Tiger at 3 could do what? Hit holes in one?
But look at his life right now. He has lost all credibility and is a media circus. People have forgotten that he is the greatest golfer in the world. Though a lot of that could be that he got too much fame to handle. Being the first billion dollar athlete is going to do a mind job on you.


I have met one genius and child prodigy, who was normal. He never bragged. He did his solos and shows, so you had to know he was special. In orchestra, when we were playing twinkle twinkle little star he was doing Beethoven's ninth.
I sucked at the violin. It is still the one thing I wish I could do. So I moped and told him in the 7th grade that I wish I could be as good as him. His response: Yes I am good at violin. I came in 9th in the state. (he competed against adults)But I came in 9th. Which means there is someone better then me. ANd there is someone out there better then them. And someone out there better then them. I just enjoy playing the violin.
I thought that was the most mature thing a person of his age and stature could say.

I would love to know how his parents did it. He was a math genius. Got written up in magazines all across the country because while taking a test in high school, he started doodling on the side and solved a problem.

But he is the exception to the rule. I have seen so many smart kids who believed they were too smart for others.

And quite frankly, I think parents don't know how to handle it. And they use their kids as a free ride. Which may also lead to the rebeliousness. When you have an extra special kid, you must take extra special measures. And what parent was given that handbook?

reply to post by Oneolddude


That is a great story.

My step sister was the same way. She didn't speak until three. Came out talking in full sentences. She just didn't have anything she needed to say.

Originally posted by DimensionalDetective


Pretty cool story.

A mere 3 years old, and already an I.Q. of 140? Kid may turn out to be the next Einstein.

Hopefully the parents will keep him out of standard education, so he doesn't get dumbed down by their limited teachings. lol

Always enjoy seeing stories about potential prodogies and future geniuses. We can sure use more of them in today's world...

www.upi.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

We can have all the geniuses in the world but if we don't have a society that is open to there ideals, then .

Awwww, these kids nowadays! LOL








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Haha, I love how positive everyone is in this thread.

I dont really think the childs life is ruined, it could be if the parents handle it the wrong way and pile the pressure on, thinking their kid's going to be the next einstein.
Although it is a bit worrying that the parents are putting the kid through IQ tests at that age. Actually I think its a bit wrong to allow someone that young to be tested, especially when the actual test is performed in a formal exam style.. wouldnt it be more appropriate to wait until the child is at least school age?

I dont quite understand why they've got him into MENSA.. surely the social aspect of it wouldnt really mean anything to a 3 year old?
He might have a high IQ but its still a 3 year old with (I assume) the emotional intelligence of an average 3 year old. And so will probably enjoy the majority of the same things as any other child that age would.