My child can over simplify complex issues what a little genius

[jackfaire]

Look I get it the Emperor isn't wearing any clothes and we were idiots not calling him on it out of fear of oh I don't know being thrown in the dungeon for calling the Emperor a moron cuz you know those guys never have an ego or anything.

The thing is yes a simplistic evaluation of world politics by a child is cute yes but genius uhm well no.

Your son wonders why others can spend money they don't have while you can't and rather than explain the concept of credit to him you applaud him on his genius grasp of finances and gush to all of your friends about what the little genius he is.

One of your kids tells you how a car works and while imaginative they get most of the facts wrong and their explanation violates several laws of physics. Cute yes. Genius no.

I don't mind if you want to point out something your kid said as cute but when you want to point out something they said as the "common sense" solution we all need then all that makes me think is that you understand the topic as little as your child does. He is 11 what's your excuse?

[HYHYBT]

Are you making up hypotheticals here, or has anyone really claimed either of those as an example of genius?

They just seem overly far-fetched; if they are not real, would you mind providing real examples?

(And if they are real, I apologize, and the people you know are extra-special idiots.)

[jackfaire]

Are you making up hypotheticals here, or has anyone really claimed either of those as an example of genius?

The first one is what sparked the thread. A friend of mine was on FB bragging about her son's statement about how the government can borrow money and spend money they don't have.

But to the kid his thought was "if they don't have the money how can they spend it when if we don't have the money we can't spend it"

Which is an oversimplification of complex finances.

The second was a made up example to try and keep this from turning into a political debate. It's more about how I am expected to acknowledge a kid as a genius for taking and ignoring half of an issue and stating the remaining half in a simplified fashion.

[Boozy]

I totally agree. The problem doesn't seem to be parents thinking their normal children are geniuses, but that most people tend to oversimplify complex issues, even as adults.

Of course people can spend money they don't have -- and in some cases, it's practical and sensible. It made sense for my husband and I to accrue student debt, for example. We earn far more now than we would have otherwise. It didn't make sense to "save up" to attend college while working minimum wage jobs, when we could borrow and pay off the debt far quicker while in good careers.

Sometimes kids do come up with "simple truths" about life, but more often, they just haven't grasped how complex things really are. That's the marvelous thing about children. Their innocence.

[DrFaroohk]

I sometimes think my kids are really smart, not because what they said was such a deep, complex line of thought...but it was a deep, complex thought for their age group. If most kids learn to walk at 1 and your kid is walking at 2 months old, you kid is probably very advanced.

[jackfaire]

I get thinking your kid's smart for their age group. However part of what bothers me is when you think that what that kid said wasn't just advanced for their age but is the miracle solution that should blow my mind as an adult.

That was the implication in the friend's post that their child had just done the equivalent of solving world hunger with a well placed observation.