You got to be the dumbest smart kid I know.

On Facebook Anthony Bradley asked the following question:

If every one's little toddler is so "smart" then what happens when the "smart" kid hits middle school, high school, college, or jail, and so on when they magically become mediocre and/or do really, really stupid things, get a "D" on a math test, get college rejection letters, get an STD, etc? What happens?

Everyone seems to have the smartest kid, way beyond grade level or the aptitude of his/her peers. Some of us may have even been guilty of this borderline child-idolatry.

He got some interesting answers, some of which I'll share below, but I thought my answer noteworthy as well. I immediately thought of the heredity vs. environment argument.

"I'm sure most parents will switch from seeing smarts as hereditary to being a product of environment as their children age and are impacted by the environment."

In other words, they attribute their toddlers' intelligence to their good genetics, but it must be the environment that sucks away their inherited smarts. Surely, it can't be that they are average, like everybody else.

Some other responses Anthony Bradley got:

1. "Isn't a lot of it how we do schooling in the west?"
2. "Then they are like the rest of us, normal."
3. "Then hopefully they will finally embrace the reality that they missed when their child was born. They are a depraved sinner, an enemy of God who needs the saving grace of God through Christ."
4. "The vaccinations suck the intelligence right out of them, once the government chip is implanted and activated."
5. "I'm not sure I understand the question. I haven't really known that many smart toddlers, except mine."
6. "Clearly, this is a side effect of all the hormones we put in our food these days. Kids are actually smarter at the age of 2 than they are at the age of 22; somethings we may never know."
7. "What happens is that it is all becomes 'somebody else's fault' ... and usually somebody dumb."

How would you respond to Dr. Bradley's question?


See also:

• If Everyone’s Kids Are the Smart Ones, Then Whose Are the Not So Smart Ones?
• when everyone's super ... no one will be.