Bloom was convinced that talent was innate and what we call expertise (mastery) is the result of talented individuals identified early, then encouraged to blossom. Afterward, though, the data told a different story. Few of Bloom’s research subjects showed any great promise as children. No Mozart concertos before the age of three; no solving for pi from the crib. Instead, the one commonality was encouragement, a lot of encouragement. In each case, there was a parent or close relative who rewarded any display of talent, and ignored or punished the opposite. Prodigies, it seemed, were made, not
...more
