Son,

A national magazine recently had an article titled ‘Babies Vs. Chimps.” It felt like I was reading an article on ‘Babies Vs. American Politicians.” The study examined theories of general-intelligence versus cultural-intelligence.

The different study groups “performed about equally well on ‘physical learning’ – locating hidden objects…understanding concepts of more and less, using a stick to get something that’s out of reach” The kids were 2 1/2 years old. “But when it came to ‘social learning’ tasks – such as understanding how to solve a problem by watching someone else do it, figuring out someone else’s state of mind from their actions, or using nonverbal communication to explain or understand how to find something – the kids made monkeys of the” politicians.

When asked about how wars are avoided, or how live within a budget …

Dad