Hello!
I was wondering what do you guys think about intelligence. Do you believe that is genetic?, what do you think about some kids that have not had as much stimulation by their parents and yet prove to be as smart or smarter than the rest?
Do you believe that there are different types of intelligence?
Thanks for your opinions!
I think genetics and environment both play a role.
I agree with patrieche. Environment and teaching play a huge role but some people are just gifted. On my degree course there was one guy who never turned up to any lectures, had no notes but he just knew how to solve equations - he was just gifted. (My degree was in Chemical Engineering - something I definitely could not do without notes/lectures!)
When I was in elementary school there was this boy that was so brilliant, he was way ahead of everyone else, and his family didn’t seem to spend a lot of resources on making him brilliant, he just was.
And I still see kids that their parents seem to be clueless on how to educate the kids, but yet some kids turn out just fine.
But I asked this because I remember reading that genetics do not play a role in intelligence, that is nit something you can inherit. And I always wonder, if parents raise the same way their kids, why is it some kids seem to ahead of their siblings?
Well, I don’t have any evidence for this, but I don’t think being “gifted” needs to be inherited - otherwise only gifted parents would give rise to gifted progeny?
At some age the child’s motivation becomes more important that what the parents teach or expose their kids to. Some children want to excel, while others are lazy.
Some of it is the brain the child is born with not necessarily genetics (smart kids are born from not so smart parents), some of it is their personality and motivation, and some of it is environment. Even at this young age I see motivation to learn playing a major role. Some kids are like a sponge and soak up everything a parent can teach them and some kids are more interested in physical activity or something else. I think the brain is still a mystery and an area that many advances will be made in the future.
But I do think early education is essential. It is like teaching your child manners, safety, etc. If education is not important and shown to them at an early age it probably won’t be important to them when they get older either.
I know when I was growing up my parents never told me what they expected but I had my own idea based on my environment what was expected of me for education, boyfreinds etc. It was my concept of what my parents expected that motivated me. I had three brothers and two were much less motivated although at least one probably had more natural intelligence. Motivation is a key but certain amount is what you are born with. So the environment needs to be not only one that teaches but that motivates them to learn.
I am a kind of person who believes in efforts, if a child is raised with a discipline based on efforts, for sure this child will be considered intelligent because she reviews what she learns everyday and assimilate this, increase more and so on.
I asked my friend and biologist working in genetics, and she said yes, and that if you are smart, has a son and stimulates your child when your child has children, they tended to be more intelligent. But if you are smart and create your child in a bubble, his intelligence will be limited in which he lives.
I personally believe it’s about 50/50.
One way to look at it is like everyone is dealt a hand of cards. Some people get better cards than others (genetics). But after a few rounds, you can improve your hand if you work at it (nurture). A terrible hand can become a ‘not-bad’ hand or even a good hand, and a good hand can become an excellent hand.