Stories by Scott Barry Kaufman

An alarming report on the current state of excellence in the United States has been released today. The conclusion of the report "Talent on the Sidelines: Excellence Gaps and the Persistence of America's Permanent Talent Underclass" is that the United States is relying on less than half of its talent, with large percentages of our brightest students [...]

From her earliest memories, Catherine Good was good at math. By second grade she was performing at the fourth grade level, sometimes even helping the teacher grade other students’ work.

One of the longest standing assumptions about the nature of human intelligence has just been seriously challenged. According to the traditional “investment” theory, intelligence can be classified into two main categories: fluid and crystallized.

Brain training: yay or nay? It’s not so simple. Traversing the swamp of studies on cognitive training is bound to give even the boldest explorer a migraine.

“There is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not mad.”          —Salvador Dali The romantic notion that mental illness and creativity are linked is so prominent in the public consciousness that it is rarely challenged. So before I continue, let me nip this in the bud: Mental illness is neither necessary nor sufficient for creativity.

Once accused of being absent-minded, the founder of American Psychology, William James, quipped that he was really just present-minded to his own thoughts.

Education needs more radioactive spiders. Stay with me. Remember Peter Parker? His childhood wasn’t easy. Both of his parents– Richard and Mary– were killed on a mission as double agents.

In 2012, a study found that a desire for fame solely for the sake of being famous was the most popular future goal among a group of 10-12 year olds, overshadowing hopes for financial success, achievement, and a sense of community.

“The time is right for Michael Jackson, because American culture has gotten better at handling sex and playing with gender roles. He gives you the sense that you can play with anything– with being a man or a woman, black or white, scared or scary, or some funny combination of all of them.”  –Marshall Berman in All That [...]

50 years ago today, Martin Luther King inspired a nation with his I Have A Dream Speech. What if Martin Luther King was never allowed to put his revolutionary dream into action, stifled by an educational climate that promotes conformity, efficiency, and standardization?

If I see one more listicle about introversion, I’m going to cry. It started out with the fairly reasonable “31 Unmistakable Signs That You’re An Introvert.” Sure, many of the items on the list offered an exaggerated version of introversion, but there were some real gems that had a large grain of truth. Like this one: [...]

What do IQ tests measure? Can intelligence be improved? How should we select students for gifted and talented programs? How well do IQ tests predict success in life?

So yea, you know how the left brain is really realistic, analytical, practical, organized, and logical, and the right brain is so darn creative, passionate, sensual, tasteful, colorful, vivid, and poetic?