<p>While us crazy Americans spend $221K to raise a kid and constantly shuttle our offspring from ballet to basketball practices in hopes that the little one will develop a talent for something (or at least stays out of trouble), the Chinese take no chances and use the scientific approach:</p>
<p>There is certainly a lot written in our genes… But looking at 11 genes? Give me a break! Will need many more whole genome association studies before this is done in a meaningful way…</p>
<p>May companies currently use SNP pretty successfully.</p>
<p>Well, I’d say that the article amply illustrates the comment of the lab’s technical director, “China is different from Western countries.” On the other hand, I suppose that you could find at least 30 Americans of non-Asian descent who would sign up to have their children tested. It’s worth remembering that Richard Feynman had a tested IQ of 124 (or maybe it was 123?)–and thanks to the Flynn effect, an identical right/wrong performance today on an IQ test would yield an even lower score. I’m already a bit scared of the three-year-old quoted at the end of the article.</p>
<p>Ever hear of the termites? The Stanford-Binet IQ test was developed by Dr. Terman. he did a longitudinal study of gifted children. Thousands of children were dragged to Stanford to be tested by Dr. Terman. The “lucky” few became “termites,” officially designated as genuises who might change the world. Dr. Terman also purported to give parents child-rearing advice in raising these special children. </p>
<p>End result? While many of the termites grew up to be successful professionals, none accomplished the sort of thing that gets your name in the encyclopedia. </p>
<p>At least two of the “rejected,” i.e., children tested by Dr. Terman at their parents’ request who were not deemed sufficiently “gifted” to be included in his study, became Nobel Prize winners. </p>