Clever father, clever daughter. Clever mother, clever son.

[Strawberrybubblegum]

It's a russian proverb, and I was wondering whether it matches people's experience. And if so, whether you think it's due to genetics or upbringing.

My family experience does seem to follow that rule:

• I'm probably in between my parents in intelligence (would have been considered gifted at school if it had existed then, but in an ordinary way). My brother has a truly exceptional mind, as does my mother. My brother's daughter also seems very able (only 5 so too young to tell) whereas his son is bright but perhaps not unusually so.
• My DH and his siblings also seem to follow the pattern. 2 boys and 2 girls - both boys are in intellectually challenging professions, one sister is in a not-so-intellectual profession, and the other is in unskilled work. DH's mother is more academically able than his father.

I'm not sure whether it's inbuilt or cultural though. Perhaps something along the lines of relationships between father/daughter or mother/son being more relaxed, which means the higher quality parental input from the cleverer parent is concentrated on the opposite gender children?

My mum was closer to my brother than to me as we were growing up, and I was closer to my father. But that may well have been due to our differences rather than the cause of them! I certainly feel my brother and I had similar opportunities. In DH's family, DMIL is lovely, but has fairly traditional gender views, and almost certainly had different expectations for her sons and daughters. She really values education though, and pushed all 4 in that direction.

So how about you - how is it in your family?

This is just idle curiosity, by the way! Obviously it's only going to be anecdotal, and not really very important: I certainly don't think intelligence is the most important thing about a person! Just think it's fun to think about, and see if any pattern emerges.

One thing that interests me is a school in a village in Wales (years ago) that had a huge number (proportionally) number of successful people - I wish I could remember the name of it. (Shows I'm not one of the people!) And that school also in Wales where Ruth Jones, Catherine Zeta Jones and Rob Bryden went at the same time - I love to think of the teachers having a huge influence there.

That is interesting, imperial. Seems unlikely to be a genetic influence, although not impossible (especially in an area with little population movement historically, where genetic traits such as good acting skills or a particular physical appearance might accumulate).

But it seems much more likely to be environmental. It's worth noting that those 3 actors are quite close in age (born 1966, 1969 and 1965 respectively).

But what?? And how can we recreate it?

Could be an exceptional teacher.

Could be the students learning from each other. this story about Indian slum children teaching each other to use computers has always stayed with me.

Most likely imo is that there was a happy combination of very good (but not necessarily extraordinary) teachers and students who clicked exceptionally well and all fed off each other in a virtuous cycle.

And the example that it was possible must have helped - both for the teachers and parents (who might otherwise have discouraged a risky career choice) and for the students themselves (who must have needed a lot of persistence and courage to succeed in acting)

I never doubted my paternity before

Oh, the temptation! I have two clever sons, and I'm their mother! So, obviously they must have got it from me. Take that DH!