Warning: Rant Ahead

Ok, I’m on a link tirade. New link reported from the Washington Post today:

Breast-Feeding and IQ: No Link

Yes, apparently, you still have to teach kids when they are young if you want them to appreciate and pursue learning in later years.  I wonder how much money we spent studying this BS.

Here’s a thought: I’ll bet studies show that breast-feeding babies until they are full results in babies that are not hungry for at least 2 hours.  Of course, I don’t have breasts so I cannot prove this.  It is purely speculative and hypothetical theory.

It never ceases to amaze me that we forget Ockham’s razor - the principle that the simplest solution is usually the correct solution.  Kids have or don’t have more knowledge because they either were or were not exposed to more knowledge.  I know it’s too simple, but wrap your arms around that thought and embrace it for a minute.

Ask anyone who has raised or trained elephants (surely you know people) and they will tell you that you can control a 10,000-lb elephant with a 1/2 inch rope.  You condition them as babies with a 1/2 inch rope that they cannot budge and they will stop trying as adults - when a 1/2 inch rope would be no match.  Conditioning.  Pavlov’s dog.  Ring the bell, give food enough times and when you ring the bell, the dog salivates in preparation for food.  Conditioning.

So, here’s a thought.  Let’s spend millions of research dollars to encourage parents to create a supportive, conducive environment to learning and show parents how to condition enthusiasm with learning and let kids follow their natural interests.  How much do you want to bet that kids in this model would demonstrate higher IQs?

IQs are not a measure of potential.  They are a measure of current knowledge and interest in the test at hand.  You want higher IQs?  Give your children more knowledge, open their eyes to patterns and possibilities and show them how exciting it is to understand the environment they live in.  IQ = Intelligence Quotient.  Quotient is a comparison expressed by dividing numbers.  In the case of IQ, it is a comparison between your test score (your ‘mental age’) against your real age.  If you answered as many questions correctly as most 12 year olds and you are actually 10 years old, your IQ is 12/10 * 100 or 120.

So, if you want your kids IQ or mental age to be higher, give them more information at a younger age.  Don’t shrug off those awkward questions or those questions you can’t explain.  It doesn’t take millions of dollars to discover that kids with lower IQs (mental ages) spend more time around people who didn’t have time or resources to answer their questions about melting ice, static electricity, boobies, where babies come from, Santa Claus and all those others vexing inquisitions.  Answer the questions you can, research the one’s you cannot, but answer them all.  Half the fun of parenting is learning.

Most children are not born with mental handicaps so don’t give them any.  Whether you think your child can or cannot handle the answers, you are right.