Opinion: Where are the literary boy geniuses? - Los Angeles Times
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Opinion L.A.

Opinion: Where are the literary boy geniuses?

By Michael McGough
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Time magazine’s website profiles Jacob Barnett, an 11-year-old genius, a Doogie Howser without the medical degree, who may be about to disprove Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. The kids knows his stuff -- I guess, since I’m a mathematical semi-literate. If you want to see the little know-it-all in action, Time has a video of him teaching calculus II techniques.

I always have the same question when I read one of these stories: Where are the verbal prodigies? A 12-year-old who can disprove relativity is pretty special, but so would be a 12-year-old who wrote a sublime sonnet or the great American novel. Yet you almost never see that sort of wunderkind on TV.

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My theory: Producing great literature requires experience and reflection, not just an IQ of 170.

-- Michael McGough

Opinion L.A.
Michael McGough

Michael McGough is the Los Angeles Times’ former senior editorial writer, based in Washington, D.C. He wrote editorials for The Times from 2006 to 2021. Before that, McGough worked for 30 years for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as a reporter, editorial writer, editorial page editor and Washington correspondent. He wrote about law, national security, politics, foreign policy and religion. McGough is a graduate of Allegheny College and also attended the University of Kent at Canterbury in England and Yale Law School, where he received a master of studies in law degree.

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