A deeply religious Hindu, Ramanujan credited his substantial mathematical capacities to divinity, and stated that the mathematical knowledge he displayed was revealed to him by his family goddess. Ramanujan's first Indian biographers describe him as a rigorously orthodox Hindu. He credited his acumen to his family goddess, Mahalakshmi of Namakkal. He looked to her for inspiration in his work and said he dreamed of blood drops that symbolised her consort, Narasimha. Afterward he would receive visions of scrolls of complex mathematical content unfolding before his eyes
Kanigel, Robert (1991). The Man Who Knew Infinity: a Life of the Genius Ramanujan
PS: I'm atheist.
Not that folks shouldn't try. Just don't have expectations that someone that capable will have obviously applicable methods for everyone else.
Saying that, I can hope to be wrong. :)
That strikes me as an unrealistic evaluation of the system. The safe assumption is if a child isn't thriving, we haven't learned how to teach them to do so.
I disagree with this. The fact that some young prodigies proved it early and eventually became productive adult geniuses is not, to me, evidence that young prodigies will show themselves. Rather, I would expect that there are more young Einsteins who do not receive adequate mentorship, resources, or opportunities to become old Einsteins.
Some make it anyway. Ramanujan is an interesting case. By Hardy's estimate, he was one of the best mathematical minds of the 20th century, and he demonstrated clear mathematical talent by high school age. And he still barely made it, thanks to a fragile chain of people who recognized his talent and drive. It's very easy for me to imagine a world in which Ramanujan stays in India and remains a bureaucrat doing math on the side.
But as I understand it, pedagogy for young Einsteins is still not that well understood.