Giftedness as it is usually conceived of is a transactional personal characteristic. Certain young people are identified as "gifted." In exchange for this identification, they are expected to perform well in school and, later, in their jobs, and to excel in other culturally prescribed criteria. In exchange, they receive special benefits, such as faster tracks in school, often better teachers, superior college and university admissions, better jobs, and more income. The problem with this transaction between the individual and the school is that it takes into account the egocentric needs of the individual but not, sufficiently, the common good of the world. Too many gifted youths are making a Faustian bargain, receiving benefits in exchange for jobs such as finding ways of addicting children to social media, creating more and more powerful munitions for aggressive and right, now, unforgivable wars, and generating the industrial output that will increase global climate change. I suggest in the talk that we pay more attention to the identification and especially the development of transformational giftedness, which is giftedness directed toward creating a better world--toward making a positive, meaningful, and enduring difference to the world as a whole. The world no longer can afford to develop giftedness that benefits only individuals and not the collective good of humankind and the diverse species that populate the Earth. And it certainly cannot afford to develop the kind of pseudo-transformational, toxic giftedness that so many leaders show in the world today. These toxic leaders pretend to benefit their followers, when in fact they only care about the accrual of power and resources to themselves.
