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chaoslindsay:

How Baby #80: Savant

I was having this conversation with some friends the other day about how smart a
toddler can be, while also being dumber than a bag of birds. Momo seems
to grasp things intuitively, as all toddlers do. I mean, no one ever
tells a toddler that the sounds coming out of our mouths mean things;
they just independently invent the whole field of linguistics
themselves. They are so smart, and often in ways that we’ve forgotten
how to be smart: by trusting their experiences and constantly shifting
their worldview to compensate.

I don’t give much truck to any argument that hinges on something
being wrong because of that old refrain, “how am I supposed to explain
that to my children??” I mean… the same way you explain other concepts
to them… or, not at all, and they’ll figure it out. It’s when we get all
our adult baggage into the conversation that it obfuscates the truth
that they understand intuitively.

And then, of course… there are the times they’re dumber than a bag of birds.

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