The opposite extreme is when a smart child cannot solve a math problem, because despite having interest and some cool insights, and making a few hopeful steps, they predictably fail at one of the "2 + 3 = ?" steps.
Also, smart kids who hate memorizing are often really bad at languages. Which are mostly memorization; there is no way to derive the language from the first principles. But I guess if one's first language is English, this is not a big problem.
I get it: memorizing stuff doesn't signal how smart you are. But at some moment, the lack of factual knowledge is going to overcome the advantage of being smart. You will start making logically correct conclusions from factually wrong premises, and you will be proud that you didn't fill your brain with garbage.
I agree. That’s why there I some truth to the stereotype of Chinese kids being better in Math.
Mandarin has 5 tones and having a keen ear to identify each tone and then recognizing it and memorizing it and matching sound to meaning is an enormous advantage.
Also...teaching music..to recognize diff sounds/tones..musical notes(Bach would do) also gives mandarain/language/math students an edge.
I had a hard time getting in the habit of learning French but I adapted to it when I had to. However, as I've mentioned in another comment, shoddy arithmetic in particular was never an issue for me in real math contexts.
Also, smart kids who hate memorizing are often really bad at languages. Which are mostly memorization; there is no way to derive the language from the first principles. But I guess if one's first language is English, this is not a big problem.
I get it: memorizing stuff doesn't signal how smart you are. But at some moment, the lack of factual knowledge is going to overcome the advantage of being smart. You will start making logically correct conclusions from factually wrong premises, and you will be proud that you didn't fill your brain with garbage.