Some years ago (at least 2 or 3), I read a long article somewhere in which a study or two looked at prominent figures - many politicians, Hollywood stars, that sort of thing - in the arts and sciences, and mentioned that a lot of them had childhoods filled with neglect or abuse. I think the author also suggested that this was not correlation, but causation as well, from the latter to the former.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to remember where I read this, and looking through my Evernote, don't find it there, nor do Google searches help. I thought I might've read it in The Atlantic, but looking through a few hundred hits there, I didn't find anything.

If this rings any bells for anyone, I'd appreciate a pointer. (I was going to write a Hansonesque article arguing for systematized child abuse/neglect of smart kids.)

EDIT: Also tried asking the Sociology subreddit.