Increasing Intelligence in Toddlers

A few days ago, I came across this set of videos on Youtube. It got me thinking.

This one is about a geography genius - Lily


This is about a 17 month old girl who can read


This is about a little Thai Violinist - Dhanat Plewtianyingthawee


When I was a kid, which was about two decades ago, I was no where near these kids. That is not surprising. What was really different was that in those days, I did not even hear about such kids. It seems that the 'general level of intelligence' was lower in those days and it is getting higher over the years.

In those days, a four year old reciting the alphabet flawlessly was a genius. Now-a-days, every other two year old does that. My six year old niece talks about her class on 'Environmental Studies'. When I was six, I would have wondered "Envy What?".

Granted that today's children are better exposed to the world. (The merits and demerits of which is not the point of discussion here.) But, I feel that a better exposure would make them much more aware compared to the children of yesteryears. It does not necessarily improve the inherent talent or intelligence.

What is the prime factor, then? Is it evolution working? Are our children a species, slightly different from us?  Researchers working in genetic engineering have not found any anomalies or differences in the genetic make up of humans building over the years. According to them, we are all the same and have been the same for over 10000 years and all apparent differences are skin deep only.

Yet, history has it that 'experts' can often be incorrect (as listed in this Wikipedia article).

If it is not nature, is it nurture? But, in most of the cases, the parents are quite 'ordinary' and have giving nothing much other than encouragement and support to their bright wards. I am still thinking...