> 50% of the variance in intelligence is heritable
Note that this is a population-wide number, however real it is, and it doesn't really have anything to do with upper-end intelligence. You can't take a 95th percentile kid and make him an Einstein. What you can do is try to give every kid a non-abusive education system that treats them like somebody who can accomplish something. I think early age gifted programs are more useful in their role of not boring the smarter kids than, say, causing them to be educated faster.
Note that this is a population-wide number, however real it is, and it doesn't really have anything to do with upper-end intelligence. You can't take a 95th percentile kid and make him an Einstein. What you can do is try to give every kid a non-abusive education system that treats them like somebody who can accomplish something. I think early age gifted programs are more useful in their role of not boring the smarter kids than, say, causing them to be educated faster.