making babies 'smarter' vs. nurturing intelligence and curiosity?

Question

Here's an interesting article. I take issue with the writer's conclusions.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20070403/tc_usatoday/reportputsapacifieronsmarterbabydebate

Do you think it possible that the issue is mistated. Could it be that it is not about 'making babies smarter' with all of its typical competitive connotations, but rather good to stimulate babies with interesting things entirely to arouse their curiosity. Shouldn't that be a sufficient benefit. Why does 'smarter' seem like the only condition appreciated by the writer...

How about admitting that stimulation is better than inertia and isolation?

Your thoughts?

Answer 1

This is an excellent question.

I'm a social worker who does therapy in a clinic full of psychiatrists, and I sure notice that, since their field is the brain itself, they forget that they're working with more than batteries and wiring.

As for your question, I think we all can think of really intelligent people with no motivation to learn. Education DEPENDS on fostering creativity and curiosity rather than throwing books and "cutting edge tools" at them and crossing fingers for high IQ scores and performance on standardized tests.

I have to wonder if this speaks to the abysmal state of our public education system...

Answer 2

You know, my take on this article is that the writer is saying that stimulation, particularly early stimulation is extremely important for an infant's cognitive development, but that there is nothing special about the kind of stimulation programs that are being marketed to make your baby "smarter.' So, stimulating your baby by playing music is great; playing Beethoven doesn't make it better. Toys that are of different colours and shapes are great - it doesn't have to be "Einstein cubes" or whatever to provide good stimulation. So, I don't think the writer is saying anything against stimulation. The writer is merely suggesting that there is no proof that any of the stimulation programs marketed as making a baby smarter have any more effect that the natural stimulation that most good parents would provide. I think the writer is pretty much agreeing with your point.