Are babies actually smarter than we think they are?

[Anonymous]

This baby girl tries hard to mimic her daddy’s singing, watching his mouth move then trying to move hers, and you can hear her trying to let her voice out. Are babies actually smart?

[NamerOfStars]

Of course; they're humans, no? And they're humans brought into a world they have almost NO understanding of, so their little brains are BLAZINGLY fast, way more than yours or mine; they have HUGE amounts of sensory data to process, and no idea what's important and what isn't.

I have a theory (though it's just a theory) that if you were to look at the active parts of a baby's brain processing information in a new situation, it'd look a lot more like an autist's than an allist's; they don't have the experience to know what to include and what not to.

[Asker]

yeah that's a realistic comparison.

[nolabels]

Not knowing much about the development of the human mind, having heard that babies' brains continue to develop as they grow, I would still certainly hazard a guess that babies are smarter than many adults might know.

I don't recall ever having had an injection of intelligence during my childhood.

The trolls may now enter the arena if they so dare.

[whirled_up_girl]

Absolutley! That's a cute video. They are constantly learning, in fact they usually meet milestones along the way as they get older. https://www.parents.com/baby/development/

[slatyb]

That depends on the baby and how smart someone thinks they are. My baby was understanding a lot of speech at one and talking quite clearly at eighteen months.

[Asker]

Yes all babies develop differently. My cousin's baby rarely crawled and went straight to walking before even turning 8 months old.
Was your baby a boy or girl? I hear sometimes when it's a girl, the baby is an early speaker.

[slatyb]

A girl, but she was quite precocious -- reading at 3-1/2. Somehow she learned from Sesame Street or from being read to, or perhaps her mother taught her phonics when I wasn't watching.

[Asker]

For some reason, most of the cases of a toddler talking later are in boys but rarely does that happens in girls. Our verbal skills are developed earlier for some reason. Outside influences also helps out too.

[Summeroflove]

yes. Kids brains aren’t fully developed yet. But they aren’t stupid

[jshm2]

No. Don't be daft.

A human baby can barely see until around 2 or three. So it's laughable to assume the clip is what you think it is.

[Asker]

That baby girl seemed to be looking directly towards her dad.

[genericname85]

babies are dumber than grown ravens or dolphins. obviously they have "some" ammount of cognitive ability. they're not a stone. but they also do not have much in terms of intelligence. maybe more than some animals but that's it.

[shortster]

Your intelligence doesn't get better with age; you just gain knowledge. If I knew what I know now when I was 6 months old; I could have easily done calculus.

[BJP21]

Have you ever argued with a 5 year old when they get there? I guarantee you will lose.

[dustybiker]

Of course.

[Asker]

True. They come into the world knowing nothing but are smart enough to mimic us.

[dustybiker]

How quickly they absorb too, pretty amazing.