The reports of my demise have been greatly exaggurated. And here is the latest University of Life lecture answering the burning question: are children smarter than adults? latest University of life lecture (yes I am in germany now)
I beleive so. I think every generation evolves further than the generation before. BUT, that does NOT mean that persons youger than myself automatically are smarter! No, nobody will ever be!
new born babies must be the smartest humans then. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! hi sp, how are you and your gf and germany.?
No, though some children are smarter than most adults. And sometimes smart children are born to stupid parents. So in some situations it may appear that children are smarter than adults. On average it's about equal.
note: the above information was based on personal opinion and observance and not on any actual statistical analysis.
Careful ..you could be right! Well, it is a very subjective dilemma. For those of you “Adults” that think that children are smarter then you. I just have to agree entirely with you!Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
What a silly question; of course children are smarter than adults. For instance, I don't know any children that have a mortgage, a job, a wife, and children. ~Raithere
Native Americans believe that young kids are closer to the spirit world than a middle-aged person, so they have a certain level of spiritual knowledge than their parents. At least until they turn six or so, when they have been here for so long that they have lost touch with the spirit realm. From the evolutionary perspective, overall, yes, each generation should be smarter than the last. However, is is based on survival of the fittest, where individuals who are slightly smarter are also more likely to reproduce. Social interaction interfeaces with this basic concept, allowing two individuals to mate and have offspring from reasons other than fitness (similar social levels, similar physical or mental differences, alcohol, etc). So it's impossible to say that kids are smarter than their parents, or to say that someone younger than you will be smarter. overall, it is very likely that I am smarter than someone born in 10,000 years ago, however, intelligence (as a genetically inherited item, IME) is going to be very hard to measure as a seperate item from knowledge. Knowledge is based on what is already known; by learning from your elders, you can avoid having to spend the time repeating their mistakes, freeing up your time for trying out new stuff. In this area, yes every generation is more knowledgable than the last, as lessons can be passed from one generation to the next. The written word is a big part of this, allowing for the retention of knowledge which people had forgotten, so it can be re-discovered, instead of re-learned from scratch. Are people better off for all this knowledge? THat's open for debate. I know alot more stupid people who are happy than I do smart people who are happy. The ability to be lost in glee seems directly tied to the ability to be unaware. I didn't read the link yet, sorry if this is redundant info. I'll read the article once I get home tonight. RW edit: I just read the article: and interesting theory Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I can follow that! Particularly from the angle or assumption of rebirth or Reincarnation, I guess it takes some years before we lose touch on where we were parked before our parents had an orgasm. You make an interesting point River-Wind and I’m glad that you don’t fall in the “Adult” category that think children are smarter then them. ...But there’s some truth on that Native American believe, when we are born we see things upside down (like they probably are in the first place) and we spent a life time in trying to put them upright. Also, our sensitivity in the optical spectrum goes as low as 200nm and as high as 900nm turning darkness into full daylight, and it is common knowledge that during the first few months we even see old mates that haven’t reincarnated. Babies giggle to those (spirits) while they communicate in thoughts and joke about the new assignment. With this assumption we could suggest that the more stupid the more happy. Therefore the masses are stupidly happy! …I’m extremely sad.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! You are mixing with the wrong crowdPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
jes jes my child is smarter than meeeeee, he has a big head compared to his body so that means he is smart right? all little have big heads so they are superior
Realizing that hopefully english isn't your first language, still that post makes me have to agree that indeed your child is most likely smarter than you. At least one can hope.
riverwind.. good post. How can children be more intelligent than their adult conter-parts? what age ranges? Subsequent generations have more knowledge as already mentioned by river-wind. Overall however, I think too many variables exist that since civilization first started in the nile valley and mesopotatmia, human intelligence has been relatively unchanged.
As always, children can be more intelligent than their adult counterparts by applying selective criteria. An adult will favour adult criteria, such as knowledge and wisdom. A child can merely point out its superior creativity, flexibility and capability for learning. They never do of course, since they are supposed to respect the adults and the adults seem easily superior to them in the field of intelligence since the entire educational system seems to be mostly based on adult criteria. Hence a teacher easily seems superior to its students.
I believe that parents try to teach their children things they want them to learn to not make the same errors that they did. By teaching children as much as possible that the adults have learned eventually the children will become smarter but not necessarily wiser than their parents. Today however the rich people are getting “better” educations which keep them in control of the business and professional worlds. Many countries don’t have good educational systems like in Africa and certain South American countries. When only the few get education then the many become left behind and ignorant of just how things really work. That is why public education is at least helping some people to try to keep up with what is happening around them and to get a better job and earn more money to rise up in the world of business.