You have to be smart enough to learn to read but that is a good 95% of the human race. And the more you read the more you think. The more you think the smarter you are.
We are born with nice smooth brains. It is our job to get them all wrinkly with thinking and doing.
People do not like the idea that we build our brains because then you have all those uncomfortable questions about people who are apparently NOT thinking. They prefer to try to put it off on something else. In fact they prefer to put it off on anything else.
The latest thing is that there is a limited amount of "smart" and so if parents do thing with their kids that improves their smarts then they are taking it from someone else.
Don't laugh. I have had a social worker sit across from me and tell me that home schooling my youngest was wrong for that very reason. If she got smarter other kids would be dumber.
Exactly, And for parents, whose children are struggling to learn, one uncomfortable question would be, "Did I do something wrong?" For adults, who have not reached their full potential, the uncomfortable question is, "Should I have studied more?" A small percentage of people have real learning disabilities. Otherwise, most of us are capable of learning much more. But, people would rather believe that intelligence is an inherent trait that cannot be changed. That way, no one is to blame.