What do child prodigies become when they grow up? And why don’t everyone succeed in life?

Children with far above average intelligence are really amazing. From an early age, they reach achievements that not even adults are able to achieve. However, these above-average talents do not always turn out to be something positive. This, unfortunately, has not been confirmed by the life stories of some of the most prominent children in history.

In this post, the awesome.club will tell the story of 10 child prodigies who faced fates very different from what common sense could imagine. In the end, we will present you with a question to which we have not yet found an answer. Maybe you can help us!

At the age of 5, this girl from Pakistan asked her parents to buy her a computer. The little one really wanted to understand how the machine worked, she liked installing new programs and doing different projects. At the age of 9, Arfa became a certified Microsoft application developer. Bill Gates invited her to his company’s headquarters. Upon her return to Pakistan, the girl represented her native country at international technology forums.

However, at the age of 16, Arfa Karim suffered an epileptic seizure and subsequent cardiac arrest. The girl’s brain was affected. She was taken to the hospital and Bill Gates took over all the costs of her treatment. Unfortunately, doctors were unable to save Arfa, who eventually died.

William Sidis was not even 2 years old when he learned to read. At 8, he already mastered several languages ​​and, in the course of his life, he learned 40 different languages. At age 11, Sidis became a student at Harvard University, and at 17, he was already a professor.

Everyone envisioned a dizzying and brilliant career for the young man, but he abandoned science and started working as an accountant. He spent the last years of his life completely isolated.

Nadya was an incredibly talented artist. She created illustrations for classic works, folk tales and ancient Greek myths. She never used any method of erasing, as she said that all the images appeared in her head, and then they were transferred to the paper as if they were watermarks, which only needed to be outlined.

The young artist died at the age of 17 from a congenital aneurysm of the sinus of Valsalva. She left a legacy of 12,000 drawings.

When Akrit Jaswal was 7 years old, he had his first surgery. Her friend, an 8-year-old girl, could not open her fist after suffering a burn. The little girl’s parents couldn’t afford an operation, so Akrit decided to perform the procedure himself. Everything unfolded successfully, and the patient’s finger movements returned.

At age 12, the young surgeon became a student at a medical university. Today, he works on the search for a cure for cancer.

Nika Turbiná suffered from asthma and, during the attacks, could not sleep. On one of those sleepless nights, when she was 4 years old, she asked her mother to write a poem that, according to her, had been dictated by God. The little girl began to create more and more rhymes, and soon became a talented young poet. At age 9, she published her first compilation.

At age 16, Nika had her first nervous breakdown. She went to Switzerland and there married her psychologist, a man 60 years her senior. A year later, Nika returned to Russia without even wanting to talk about her husband.

Over time, Nika began to have problems with alcohol and drugs, and nervous breakdowns became more frequent. She died aged 27 when she fell through a friend’s fifth-story window.

At age 2, Jacob Barnett was diagnosed as autistic. The boy attended a special school, but soon his mother realized that the simplified curriculum bothered her son. He was educated at home and later, with his mother, he began to attend university lectures on physics and astronomy. The exact sciences fascinated the boy.

In just 2 weeks, Barnett learned the entire math school grade and, at 10, entered university. When he was 13, he developed his own theory of relativity and received positive reviews from his peers. Today, he is a renowned astrophysicist.

Polina is a pianist, the daughter of the Soviet writer and director Oleg Osetinsky. He raised the girl following his own method. At the age of 8, Polina was already able to play 30 hours of music, all from memory. Her father claimed that the girl had no talent, and that the achievements obtained by her were the result of a special method of education.

At the age of 13, Polina left home. In reality, she was the victim of mistreatment and could no longer bear to live under parental intimidation. Nowadays, she performs in several concerts, and her colleagues claim that, over the years, her talent has developed more and more.

At the age of 2, the American Gregory Smith learned to read and entered the university at 10. At 12, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize. He currently holds a PhD in Computational Biology. When someone asks him to explain, in simple language, the need for this science, he replies: “To make effective medicines”.

Cleopatra is the daughter of singer Pavel Stratan, who is very popular in Moldova. When she was still a baby, her father took her to a recording studio. As he sang, the girl said, “I also know the words.” They gave her a microphone, which enchanted those present with her voice.

At the age of 3, Cleopatra Stratan recorded her first album, which went platinum. Today she still sings, and has recorded 4 albums.

At 4 months, Michael Kearney uttered his first words, and learned to read at 10. At 6, the boy finished elementary school, at 8 he graduated from high school and at 10, at university. For these achievements, he earned a mention in the Book of Records as the youngest person to obtain a degree. At age 14, Kearney became a science teacher, and by age 17, he was teaching at the university. He continues to dedicate himself to science, but he also discovered an interesting and lucrative hobby: participating in intellectual games, such as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Michael even got to snatch the main prize: 1 million dollars.

And now comes our question: in your opinion, why is intelligence not always a guarantee of success in life? Leave a comment!