I absolutely agree that children should be exposed to interesting people and environments, be self-directed, be tutored, and have apprenticeships.
But given that thousands of people had these experiences contemporaneously with geniuses, and only dozens are geniuses, I think the genetics are the secret sauce.
Also, genetic geniuses with non-exceptional experiences may have been just as much a genius as the famous ones, but did not have a chance to become famous, so again the experiences help with the fame, not necessarily the base characteristic of genius.
The lesson then is if you have a child who is a genius, do these things. Unfortunately, very few of us can take advantage of that advice. Fortunately, we should all try to do these things regardless of whether our children are geniuses.
I absolutely agree that children should be exposed to interesting people and environments, be self-directed, be tutored, and have apprenticeships.
But given that thousands of people had these experiences contemporaneously with geniuses, and only dozens are geniuses, I think the genetics are the secret sauce.
Also, genetic geniuses with non-exceptional experiences may have been just as much a genius as the famous ones, but did not have a chance to become famous, so again the experiences help with the fame, not necessarily the base characteristic of genius.
The lesson then is if you have a child who is a genius, do these things. Unfortunately, very few of us can take advantage of that advice. Fortunately, we should all try to do these things regardless of whether our children are geniuses.