In the United Kingdom, the average age of fathers is 32.6. In 1990 that age was 30.8. The average age of mothers in the UK is 29.7, and in 1990 used to be 27.7. The average age of first time parents in the European Union is 27.7, in the United States 25.65, in Japan 28.71. Data indicating the average age of fathers and mothers (not necessarily with regards to first-borns) in other developed nations was not found. However, given the similarity in demographic data within this theme, it would not be completely ludicrous to assume that average parent age would not deviate more than two years that from what has been found in the United Kingdom.
With this in mind an idea should enter into debate. And please do understand that the following hypothesis is nothing more than an idea, as no conclusive statistical work (in fact, what was been carried out is a very rudimentary data collection to say the least) has been completed. Nonetheless, it is rather interesting to note the consistent older age at which humanity’s geniuses were conceived. From the following sample of 52 great minds, we find that the average age of the father was 36.73, with the average age of the mother to be 29.55. The median age of the father lays at 37, while the median age of a genius mother is 28. While the average and median for both parents combined is 33.29 and 32.50 respectively. This becomes even more considerable when we factor in the fact that life expectancy and average parent age consistently increases over time.
Name
|
Age of Father
|
Age of Mother
|
Name
|
Age of Father
|
Age of Mother
|
Adam Smith
|
23
|
29
|
Kierkegaard
|
57
|
45
|
Aldous Huxley
|
34
|
32
|
Lincoln
|
31
|
25
|
B. Franklin
|
49
|
39
|
Michelangelo
|
31
|
|
Bach
|
40
|
41
|
Mozart
|
37
|
36
|
Beethoven
|
31
|
24
|
Newton
|
37
|
20
|
Bertrand Russell
|
30
|
28
|
Nietzsche
|
31
|
18
|
Brahms
|
27
|
44
|
Orwell
|
46
|
28
|
Carl Jung
|
33
|
27
|
Pascal
|
35
|
27
|
Cervantes
|
38
|
27
|
Poe
|
25
|
22
|
Da Vinci
|
25
|
Raphael
|
48
|
||
Dali
|
32
|
30
|
Rembrandt
|
38
|
37
|
Dante Alighieri
|
55
|
S. Hawking
|
37
|
27
|
|
Darwin
|
43
|
44
|
Schiller
|
36
|
27
|
Descartes
|
33
|
30
|
schopenhauer
|
41
|
22
|
Dickens
|
27
|
23
|
Schubert
|
34
|
41
|
Dostoyevsky
|
32
|
21
|
Shakespeare
|
33
|
27
|
Einstein
|
32
|
21
|
Stuart Mill
|
33
|
|
Freud
|
41
|
21
|
Tchaikovsky
|
45
|
28
|
Galileo
|
44
|
26
|
Tesla
|
37
|
34
|
Goethe
|
39
|
18
|
Thomas Edison
|
43
|
37
|
Hegel
|
37
|
29
|
Tolstoy
|
31
|
38
|
Hitchens
|
40
|
28
|
Twain
|
37
|
32
|
Jefferson
|
35
|
22
|
Verdi
|
28
|
26
|
John Locke
|
26?
|
35
|
Voltaire
|
44
|
34
|
Kant
|
42
|
27
|
Von Humboldt
|
49
|
28
|
Kepler
|
24
|
25
|
Wagner
|
43
|
39
|
So, what can we make of this data? Absolutely nothing as far as a scientific method is concerned. But it nevertheless should be taken into account because science on this matter tells us about the relationship between parent age and child disease and birth defects. The older the parent, science tells us, the greater the likelihood of some undesirable characteristic in the child. However, data collection in this study suggests otherwise: The older the parent, the greater the likelihood of producing a genius.
The hope of this study is for its hypothesis to be tested with rigor. There is, of course, the fact that older parents usually build more stable homes, where a child can develop more at ease and with greater stimulus; a socioeconomic explanation. There might also be a biological explanation whereby the age of parents, as has already been proven by current science, affects the likelihood of genetic distortion in the newborn. However, this could also mean increased likelihood of genius, and not only undesirable outcomes like autism, Down syndrome or schizophrenia.
In any case, this underdeveloped analysis would prove valuable if it can act as a seed for a better study that can produce conclusions that provide a greater understanding of our existence.
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