Well, you might just be a child prodigy.

嗯，你可能是神童吧。

Hey, guys. Julia here for DNews.

嗨，我是 DNews 的茱莉。

There’s not any good figures for how many child prodigies there are in the world, but we do know there are enough for plenty of reality shows to be made about child prodigies.

我們沒辦法確定世界上有到底多少神童，但我們可以確定其數量絕對足以應付大量的神童實境秀。

These unique children possess remarkable abilities, in fields like art, music, or math and most possess incredible memories.

這些獨特的孩子們在如藝術、音樂或數學等領域中有著傑出的才能，且大多記憶力驚人。

These abilities at a young age almost seem unnatural, which is actually where the word prodigy comes from.

小小年紀就有這些才能，看起來根本超凡入聖－而這其實就是「神」童這個字的來源。

Seriously. Andrew Solomon, psychology writer, says the word prodigy, comes from Latin for omen, where a “monster that violates the natural order.”

嚴格說來，心理學作家 Andrew Solomon 說，神童 (prodigy) 這個字源自拉丁文，意為預兆，即「破壞自然規則的怪物」。

Now, to define what a prodigy is, we can look to a couple of different sources.

想要定義何為神童，我們可以從一些不同的觀點開始。

Some psychologists consider a prodigy to be anyone under 10 with remarkable abilities in a specific area.

有些心理學家認為神童應是低於 10 歲，並在某些領域有傑出才能的人。

Some are even considered geniuses.

其中有些人甚至可以說是天才。

According to Lewis Terman, who created the IQ concept, the average IQ is about 100.

根據 IQ 理念創造者 Lewis Terman 的說法，人的平均 IQ 大約為 100。

Any score over 110 is considered superior intelligence and anything over 140 is genius.

超過 110 就是非常聰明了，而超過 140 則是天才等級。

Many kids who are considered math prodigies have IQs ranging from 134-147, and music prodigies have IQs of around 108-142, way over what MENSA reports as average.

很多所謂的數學神童，IQ 都在 134 到 147 之間，而音樂神童的 IQ 大多在 108 到 142 之間。這些數值遠遠超過門薩協會所公佈的平均分數 (門薩協會為一家世界頂級智商俱樂部)。

I know, I know, we could debate the merits of IQ, but that’s a whole other episode.

我知道，我知道，我們可以質疑 IQ 測驗的可信度，但那又是另一個議題了。

The thing is the link between IQ and prodigy is hard to pin down. The science of prodigies is hard to pin down.

重點是，IQ 跟神童之間的關聯很難理清。科學很難明確說明神童這個現象。

There’s not a lot of great research into why some children are born with remarkable talents.

我們並沒有對有些孩子生來具有傑出才能這個現象，進行過大量的研究。

One small study of five families, published in the journal Human Heredity shows there might be a link between prodigy and autism.

Human Heredity 期刊有一項對五個家庭的小型研究，並顯示神童可能跟自閉症有關。

Lead researcher, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Ohio State University, Joanne Ruthsatz, believes this link might have to do with the way memory is stored in the brain.

該研究的主導人為俄亥俄州立大學心理學系的助理教授 Joanne Ruthsatz，她認為兩者之間的關聯可能與記憶存於大腦的方式有關。

Typically, we have two places to store memory in our brain. The hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex.

一般人的大腦有兩個儲存記憶的地方，分別為海馬迴和前額葉皮質。

The hippocampus stores long term memories, like facts, dates, names, that sort of thing.

海馬迴儲存長期記憶，例如事實、日期、名字這類事物。

But the prefrontal cortex stores things like riding a bike, tying your shoes, basically muscle memory.

但前額葉皮質則儲存像是騎腳踏車、綁鞋帶等等，基本上都是肌肉記憶。

According to Ruthsatz’s research, prodigies and some people with autism, use the prefrontal cortex to store those long term memories.

根據 Ruthsatz 的研究，神童和一些患有自閉症的人會以前額葉皮質來儲存長期記憶。

So remembering facts, dates, even a piece of music is literally like riding a bike for them, it’s in their muscle memory.

所以背誦事實、日期甚至一小段音樂這些事情，對他們來說就像騎腳踏車一樣，就在他們的肌肉記憶裡。

This is what she believes makes a child prodigy.

這就是她認為神童形成的原因。

So what happens to all these child prodigies when they grow up?

那麼這些神童長大以後會怎麼樣呢？

Well, they’re still there, we just don’t hear about them because, while they might be excelling or at the top of their field in say medicine or computers, that doesn’t make them stand out like a 3 year old playing Mozart.

嗯，他們依然存在，只是我們不再聽到關於他們的事情，因為他們可能在自己擅長的領域中像是醫學或電腦領域中，有優越的表現或是成為權威，但這不會讓他們像三歲小孩彈莫札特這樣令人驚艷。

As psychologist Ellen Winner told the New York Times, "only a fraction of gifted children eventually become revolutionary adult creators".

如同心理學家 Ellen Winner 在紐約時報說的：「只有一小部分的天才兒童最終會成為改變世界的創作者」。

And the reason behind former child prodigies fading into professionally successful obscurity or becoming adult creators, might be thanks to their parents.

而神童在未來能否成就事業或成為創作者，背後的原因可能取決於他們的父母。

Or to be specific, they have too many rules, according to a study published in The Journal of Creative Behavior that looked at highly creative adolescents.

更準確一點說，根據創作行為期刊上一篇與富有創意成人有關的研究指出，這些父母定下了太多規矩。

The study looked at the top 5% of creative kids in a school district and compared their parent’s rule style to the parenting style of less creative kids.

該研究觀察校區裡前 5% 最有創意的小孩，並對比他們的父母與其他較缺乏創意孩子的父母之管教方式。

The authors found that average kids had about 6 rules, while creative kids had less than one!

作者發現一般孩子要遵從約 6 種規定，而有創意的孩子則少於一種！

So if a child prodigy has parents that set a lot of rules, it will stifle their creativity and prevent them from becoming genius "adult creators."

所以如果神童的父母管教嚴格，就會扼殺他們的創意，並導致他們無法成為天才「創作者」。

They’ll grow up following rules and become the best doctor they can be, but won’t break out to once again stand out like they did as a child.

他們可能會隨規定成長並成為最好的醫生，但將無法再像小時候一樣傑出。

Following rules is helpful if you want to play Mozart in Carnegie hall before the age of ten, but it doesn’t help you become Mozart.

如果你想要在十歲以前在卡內基音樂廳裡彈莫札特，那規矩對你就有幫助，但它不會幫助你成為莫札特。

For that, you need passion and the freedom to explore that passion.

想要成為莫札特需要熱情，還有探索這項熱情的自由。

And of course, plain old practice.

當然還有呆板無聊的練習。

So color outside the lines! It just might make you a genius. In fact, one study showed that drawing can indicate genius.

所以盡情地揮灑創意吧！這可能會讓你成為天才。事實上，一項研究顯示，我們能藉由畫畫能看出你的天才程度。

Trace and Tara have the smart scoop in this episode, right here.

Trace 跟 Tara 在這集影片中有獨家說明。

So they had children do this drawing test, and then they tested their intelligence level at age 4, and then again at age 14.

他們讓孩子做了繪畫測驗，並在 4 歲時側了他們的智力程度，並在 14 歲 時再測一次。

Turns out the kids who had higher scores on their drawing at age 4, were also found to be more intelligent.

結果發現 4 歲時繪畫分數較高的孩子們，智力水準也比較高。

So were you a kid genius? Tell me your story down in the comments below.

你曾經是天才兒童嗎？在下面的評論欄留下你的故事吧。

Don't forget to hit those like and subscribe buttons and keep coming back to DNews. We've got new episodes every day of the week.

記得按讚和訂閱，還有繼續鎖定 DNews。我們每天都有新的影片。