Signs of scientific talent are cues for curiosity, not a diagnosis and not a caste stamp.
Tests measure a sample already shaped by teaching and invitation. False positives are part of the identification problem.
Early cues
- 3–6 — Question that wants a test — Not only “why” — “how would we know?”
- 7–9 — Record-keeping — A dated list, a jar, a tally.
- 10–13 — Anomaly stickiness — The leftover bothers them.
- 14–17 — Instrument love — Tools, not only facts.
- Adult — Public correction — They change a claim when the trial fails.
Tests & tasks
- Design-a-test task — Given a claim, write a check.
- Error-talk interview — What would falsify this?
- Olympiad paper — Contest craft, not a lab.
- IQ only — Too global.
Environments
- A place to be wrong — Failed trials are displayed.
- Instruments on a shelf — Measurement is possible.
- A critic — A teacher who asks for the control.
- Time that is not only a fair deadline — Slow questions allowed.
False positives
- Parent-built fair project — A family product.
- Fact-quiz stardom — Memory, not method.
- One pretty graph — A sample of software.
- Stereotype lab coat — Who gets handed the pipette.
Scientific talent: a cue is information. A label without a review date is a caste.