Poll: Are you smarter than your parents?

[OmniscientOstrich]

Now I'm no epistemologist, but I'm of the belief that intelligence can not be quantified, different people excel in different areas and while I wouldn't consider myself too cerebral I'm happy with being a relatively articulate and intelligent individual.

 

[robert022614]

I definitely think I am smarter academic wise and common sense wise, but as far as life experience goes they had the chance to learn from so many mistakes that they know how to do a lot of crap I dont know how to and that is the kind of stuff I want them to pass on to me.

 

[teebeeohh]

my dad dropped out of school at age 14 to get away from his father so i am probably smarter in an academic way than he is. My mum aced her university buy sometimes lacks in people skills, also called social intelligence so maybe.

 

[thedevilscousin]

I'm by far smarter than my mother(maybe not now, haven't talked to her irl in years, but i was the smarter one back then), and am smarter than my father in many aspects, he may have knowledge about steering a fishing ship, but he probably has no idea what a large hydron collider is.

 

[Fbuh]

It's a tricky question. Intelligence is based on varying levels of what one knows. In that case, my stepfather is a mechanic, and therefore knows quite a lot about machines, cars, and even computers, much more so than I know. However, there is quite a bit related to history, the English language, philosophy, and a numbe rof other things that I am quite sure he knows very little about. So you see, in some aspects, yes, I am smarter, but in others, I am not.

I think a more accurate question would be: Do you have the capacity to be smarter than you parents?

In that case, yes, I do, because I do not limit myself to what I wish to learn. My parents, however, have compunctions regarding regligion and politics that will always leave keep them from exploring new and interesting ideas.

 

[VSSAKJ]

In terms of education, flat intelligence, and capacity for learning, yes, almost certainly. In terms of life experience, of course not. In their fields of expertise (construction, business analysis, business management, travel business), not at all.

 

[alandavidson]

It depends on the context. My dad knows more about flood planes and topography than most people alive. My mom knows more about the business side of medicine than anyone I know.

Me? I'm an actor/director. I am very well-versed in my trade, so I obviously know more about it than my parents.

We've all gone out of our way to have a basic understanding of what the other family members do so that we can communicate with one another.

Like I said, it all depends on the context.

 

[Revenge Revisited]

My mom says that I'm smarter than her but she's definatly wiser than I am.

 

[Zyst]

I am majoring on physics in the best school in Science-related stuff in Mexico. That's not much, but only 1 in 80 get in at most, and most don't do too well. On the other hand my father and my mother just finished High School, so hell yeah!

 

[Alon Shechter]

I'm smarter than half of my parents.
One half of my parents is stupid and the other half is very clever, and I'm clever, so I fall in between.

 

[Tsaba]

snip

The problem with parents are that they have lived through so much more than we have. It's not they treat you like a moron, it's that your their child, and that it just happens they don't treat you as an equal but as that baby boy/girl that they raised. I have this problem with my mother, even though I'm 26 and served two tours in Iraq, she doesn't treat me as an adult, but, as her child, my father on the other hand (who is retired army) treats me much differently.

The only advice I can give you is to not get angry, but, say "Mom, Dad, I'm in my mid 20's, I understand I haven't lived through what you have, but, I'm an adult now and wish to be treated as one." (from experiences that I've had or seen this is the best approach to take to be taken seriously, some times it works, others it won't. This is just my advice to you.)

 

[Ca3zar416]

GAHHHHHHHH too many parents!!!!!! I believe I'm smarter than more than half of them. My count of parents is at 6 although I've never met 2 of them but it's probably very likely that I'm smarter than them given that they were impoverished people in Honduras.

 

[Singularly Datarific]

My parents both have bachelor's degrees in art or something, and I'm already thinking of tacking Grad School onto my plans to be an engineer. I think I still got the genes for drawing, though. It runs in the family.

 

[LuckyClover95]

Sort of. Definately smarter than my mum, who's the kind of woman who either doesn't have an opinion or just latches onto others opinions, she cannot think for herself and doesn't seem to think at all. My dad isn't like that though. Acedemically yes, I'm the first person in my entire family to do education past 16 years old. Ironically I have spent acedemically wrong.

 

[Fiad]

I answered yes. Mostly because my mom is a lost cause at anything that involves more than two buttons and basic math. My dad is smarter than me at some things and I am smarter than him at some things.

 

[Sariteiya]

With every passing year I realize how stupid I've been up until now. I'm not saying I'm an idiot, but just that it's easy to think you're smarter than your parents until you find yourself where they are, and realize you didn't really have all the answers like you thought.

In a very simple sense, I still feel like my parents are well informed, intelligent and free thinking people. I used to sit up and have philosophical conversations with my mom until 2 in the morning sometimes. Me and Dad like to intellectually spar every now and again.

 

[Xaio30]

The answer depends on what you mean by "smarter". My parents often come to me for help with English translations and I've reached math classes that they did not go to when they were young.

Knowledge wise, yes I am.

Experience wise, no I'm not.

 

[electric_warrior]

My dad's a customs officer, who failed at a-levels then joined the army, and is smarter than my mum, who is a nurse who did well through effort. I'm smarter than both of them, academically speaking, and am definitely smarter than my mum, although me and my dad are probably fairly similar.

 

[War Penguin]

Oh god no! My dad is a political science professor and my mom is a grade school teacher [small](which I learned takes much more skill than you think!)[/small]. Of course I'm not smarter than my parents!

 

[Joseph Valdez]

We all have a college degree (or I will in May),

Congratulations