Presented is the curriculum theory designed for 400 gifted boys and girls, from rising junior and senior classes in high school, who attend the 8-week summer Governor's School (GS) of North Carolina. The main aim of the GS is given to be inspiring and guiding future leaders by providing opportunities for special aptitude, general conceptual, and personal/social development. The curriculum theory is said to challenge gifted students' theoretical ability with up-to-date theories in various fields of arts and sciences. It is maintained that theory rather than facts helps students cope with world views on the new physical universe of space-time and fluent process, new depth psychology concerning human behavior, and new moral and theological doctrines concerning man in the universe. Differential and learning characteristics of the gifted are reviewed to indicate the GS's rationale for centering on "conceptual intelligence". Examined in detail is an abstractive model of the mind which requires progressive inward movement from the concrete through stages of inspection (sensory), perception, imagination, and intellection to the undifferentiated continuum (unconscious or preconscious level) where the creative process occurs, and return to the concrete armed with interpretative theory. Reference is made to the concept of withdrawal and return of A. Toynbee. Area II for general conceptual development is seen to include reorganization of the logical structure of thought and avoidance of old types of language for interpreting reality. Area III is said to focus on teaching students the mechanisms of creativity and anxiety through use of the model. (Included is a streamlined illustration of a lesson in 20th century music showing in dialog form how the teacher leads students through deeper levels of thought to the abstract.) (MC)