Medicine

The documentary shown in class entitled “Smart Babies” was basically about whether teaching kids during their early years would actually improve and multiply their intelligence. The video showed an institute in Philadelphia, named the Better Baby Institute, which offers a course for parents on how to fully develop their child’s potential. The institute was founded based on three arguments: 1) that synapses in the brain are formed immensely during the childhood years, so the capacity to learn is limitless during these years; 2) that there exists a critical period in development, which is during the childhood years, wherein there is greatest potential to learn or acquire skills; and 3) that in an enriched environment, there would be better brain development. The premises of the institute seem very convincing at first; however, towards the latter part of the documentary, counter arguments from various experts disputed these premises.

One counter argument was that more brain synapses does not necessarily translate to a higher intelligence. In fact, studies show that as we grow older, the number of synapses in our brain actually decline. The critical period was also questioned, as the expert in the film said that this critical period only exists for basic systems like seeing, walking and talking, and not for higher order processes. For the enriched environment, they argued that learning in an enriched environment is actually helpful throughout life, and not just during the early years. Finally, one study pointed out that there was essentially no difference in the learning and/or intelligence of the children who were subjected to the early teaching method as compared to those who were not. It was also very controversial that the Better Baby Institute has not actually named a genius that was produced using their methods.

Personally, although I think that the premises of the Better Baby Institute are very convincing, I think that the whole idea is just a big money-making scam. The owners of the institute are just capitalizing on the parents’ concern for their children’s welfare, on the parents’ want for their children to develop their full potential. And it was clear from the film that the institute does not actually produce children with encyclopedic intelligence. Most of the children forgot the