"Kids are dumb." Agree or Disagree?

[MRaverz]

Some kids are, some kids aren't. It depends on the individual.

To extend this, I'd add that the same is true for the reverse.

Not all adults are limited by accepted 'ways of thinking' etc.

 

[Andiferous]

What exactly is meant by intelligence, then? Is it problem solving or standardised North American IQ tests of a certain brand, or something of the sort? Memory, processing capacity or quickness, observation, abstract reasoning, etc? Most experts can't even agree on the accuracy or usefullness of any test for measuring a person's intelligence, and they are rather culturally biased and not universally accepted, even for people of the same age.

I doubt it is a matter of kids having an 'empty head' but rather the fact that children have internalised and accepted a state of more intense observation and learning because they are, well, children, and that's their job. Adults can be ignorant old badgers and really, while you can 'gain' IQ points and 'lose' them just the same by falling out of practise, I find that adults lapse on their learning, fall into stubborn habits, and lose that capacity to process most stuff with efficiency. I like to discuss stuff here and stay involved in current politics and events to guard against that, really.

I'm sure adults can be ridiculously absorbant with quick processes, but most really neglect that... But it's a natural state of childhood.

 

[MRaverz]

What exactly is meant by intelligence, then?

It's the ability of being able to appear to know something which someone else does not.

 

[Andiferous]

What exactly is meant by intelligence, then?

It's the ability of being able to appear to know something which someone else does not.

Afraid that does not do much to refine and narrow the possibilities... I know of a lot of really smart people though! :lol:

 

[MRaverz]

Afraid that does not do much to refine and narrow the possibilities... I know of a lot of really smart people though! :lol:

I think the nature of intelligence as it's culturally referred to isn't specific enough to be worth talking about. If anything the appearance of being intelligent is somewhat of an illusion, we say that people appear 'bright' when we are trying to say that they're aware of what's going on around them.

Perhaps intelligence is the ability to be concious of your surroundings and the application of that knowledge naturally follows?

 

[Andiferous]

I completely agree with you. If I have to use the term 'intelligence,' I see it as an efficiency of processing and learning and remembering... all things that can be trained or forgotten when out of practice.

 

[Laurens]

I have had 'child-proof' lighters in the past, which, I think drastically underestimate the intelligence of children. They rely upon the assumption that a kid could never possibly work out that there is a little bit on the side that you have to push in to make it work. I think that most children above the age of 3 could decipher this mechanism relatively quickly...

I'm not quite sure what point I'm trying to make here, just basically that children are often more perceptive and intelligent than we give them credit for.... And a little clicky bit on the side of a lighter isn't going to baffle a child for long :mrgreen: