Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Genius and Age of Parents

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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