Slow Starters Have Higher IQ?

lockefire writes "Science Daily is reporting that children with 'superior' IQ's tend to have a slow start in the development of their cortex. These children have a 'delayed but prolonged' spurt that causes their cortex thickness to peak later than their peers and thin much quicker. This effect is most evident in the pre-frontal cortex. 'People with very agile minds tend to have a very agile cortex,' says Dr. Philip Shaw of the NIMH."

Comments

But can they tell us what we really want to know?

[Drathus]

Do they know The Secret of NIMH?

*hides*

What does that say

[Philip K Dickhead]

About "first posters", versus "slow starters"?

Yeah, baby...

[identity0]

Yeah, baby, it'll be higher than all the other guys', you just have to give me some time...

Re:Yeah, baby...

[UserGoogol]

There is a literary device called a double entendre, where through the careful choice of words, a sentence is constructed with two different interpretations: a primary one which is literal and generally benign, and a secondary one which implies something a bit naughtier. The act of saying one thing but meaning the other is a practice very common in literature, politics, and (most relevantly to this particular example) joke-telling.

Mr. Identity's particular example of a double entendre is rather interesting, in that the primary meaning of a man telling "baby" that his IQ will be higher in due time doesn't actually make much sense. Indeed, the secondary meaning, that of discussing penis size, is far more meaningful. Of course, this how double entrendres tend to work; most people write double entendres so as to deliver the ironic second meaning, and thus the primary meaning can often go undeveloped.

That said, there is some ambiguity to the secondary meaning as well. Does the text refer to a "grower," a person whose penis size increases dramatically during arousal, or does it refer to a person who is still in the stages of penile development? The latter would fit more with the story, but the style of writing implies a slightly older person whose penis has long ago stopped growing. I think that the "grower" interpretation was closer to the author's goal, but at the same time, I doubt he cared very much. The joke was simple enough that deeper analysis is silly, and anyone who doesn't get the joke to begin with is an idiot. :)

Re:Nature vs. Nurture?

[pandrijeczko]

Women adore the 'delayed but prolonged' spurt. :-)

Give me a shout if you hear of any wanting the "early but quick" one, will ya?

good, i'm really s genius!

[MikeFM]

And here I was worried that by 30 I hadn't became a genius yet. Nice to know that with this delay I'm sure to be the worlds biggest supper genius when my time comes! Bwahahaha.

I dint know mice were so smart

[Audent]

All my life I wantid to be smart and not dumb and my mom always tolld me to try and lern just like Miss Kinnian tells me but its very hard to be smart and even when I lern something in Miss Kinnians class at the school I ferget alot.

I understand what the article is saying.

[TechnoGuyRob]

I am one of those slow starter people. For example, I am going to think of something very contributive and helpful to add to this Slashdot discussion. It is going to happen, it's just going to take me a while. So mod me up ahead of time for my potential wisdom.

Wow. Just... wow.

[Anthony Boyd]

These children have a 'delayed but prolonged' spurt that causes their cortex thickness to peak later than their peers and thin much quicker.

I would give anything to have a "delayed but prolonged spurt."

Mario Kart

[Databass]

Similarly, in Mario Kart, Bowser and Donkey Kong, (and lately Wario), have the slowest accelerations, but achieve the highest top speeds!