12-Year-Old Egyptian Boy Flabbergasts An Interviewer

Originally posted by caitlinfae
Just an incredible guy....I hope so much he has a future in politics somehow. I'm kinda gobsmacked actually, at his level of knowledge and absolute clarity of thought, and his guts for not shying away from a discussion. I pride myself a wee bit on having a hefty IQ, and that I'm fairly articulate, but now I just feel so dim next to him!

Whether Egypt aligns itself with the Koran or not, he has no reason to not have guts. He is defending the Koran by supporting the coup of Morsi, because they were imposing a harsh Islamic rule that is in opposition to Koran scripture.

It takes children to bring forth truth.

Coincidence that someone here has a moniker or subhandle called The Only Truth and the abbreviation for that is TOT. Tot is a child.

It takes adults like Morsi and the Taliban to pervert the Koran and use compulsion and fear to rule people when the Koran says there is "no compulsion in religion".

we used to have kids like that in western society as well, isn't that how "out of the mouths of babes" came about?

this kid's got more of a handle on what's going on than most adults, i liked it so much i've shared it on the dreaded fb just in the hopes that some people are inspired by it, like me. thanks for posting it OP

in comparison, this speech from an old man.
Makes one wonder, what happened that one can carry so much hate within him that innocent people have to suffer for their gain.

I love that video, what an inspirational young man!

It seems hard for people to imagine, but there are young geniuses all over the world. We see children as young as 5 learning drums, 10 year old's becoming pianists, 15 year old's becoming mathematicians... but many seem to forget that in a country where their expressions and use of such intelligence is limited, they are likely to become outspoken and highly interested on the basic issues of society.

If he had been born in China, Japan, America, Europe or any other modern nation with opportunities beyond the bare basics, he would probably be a classical violinist or a pianist by now, because these are the things that geniuses do when there are so many opportunities.

In Egypt, there is no chance of him focusing his abilities on something creative like that, but his cognitive abilities aren't wasted because of that. While a 10 year old kid in China might be able to play music like Mozart, they probably can't tell you about the social problems of their country or debate like an adult about such a thing. And the opposite is true in this little guys world.

He's amazing, and although several other nations on the whole shame the US, UK and many other nations in their kids education and abilities, this guy is something special.

Originally posted by earthling42
in comparison, this speech from an old man.
Makes one wonder, what happened that one can carry so much hate within him that innocent people have to suffer for their gain.

Same as everywhere else - religious insanity.

This is what happens when people are raised to believe in fairy tales and fantastical sky wizards, and it's drummed into them all their lives as "fact". They are incapable of actually using their brains for reasoned and logical thought, relying entirely on that religious frame of reference.

We have it too, just to a different degree. Our religious factions might not be blowing themselves and others up, but they are using their religious beliefs to try to force others to live as they want people to live, influencing laws, pressuring governments, preaching their nonsense on TV to the rest of society etc.

Thankfully, the increasingly secular nature of our societies is pushing this nonsense out of our schools and people are less and less able to create little brainwashed religious kids like they used to. The freedom of the internet is also helping to wake people up and enlighten youth so that even if they are raised in that kind of strict religious environment they soon find out there is a world out there entirely different to what they've been told.

The only difference between religion and cult is the label used to describe it.

Originally posted by earthling42

in comparison, this speech from an old man.
Makes one wonder, what happened that one can carry so much hate within him that innocent people have to suffer for their gain.

religious indoctrination in a POWERFUL influence on a weak mind.

fool a man into believing fairy tales are reality, and he will give his life for them.

Thanks to the OP for bringing attention to the video of the young Egyptian student who has such a clear overview of political issues in Egypt. He doesn't speak to the more shaded international dimension of Egyptian politics but he speaks very well on the level of "electoral politics".

There is a great article on student government in Egypt, which makes clear how much government interference there is in student affairs.

There is a five stage process by which students elect national representatives to the ESU (Egyptian Student Union) and only in the first stage are they permitted to vote directly for representatives.

The remaining levels of representation are the result of political deals.

www.egyptindependent.com...

“If we take Minya University as an example, we’d see that independent students who allied with non-Islamist students won 68 percent of the vote, while the Brotherhood won 30 percent of the votes. Yet the Brotherhood managed — through political deals — to convince those independents to vote for them in the fifth stage. This allowed Brotherhood students to win the post of secretary general in the university’s student union,” he explains.

Egyptian governments are very afraid of students. A country can't live without them, but some administrations can't live with them either.

Lol, he was later arrested and charged with "blasphemy" for thinking for himself and utilizing common sense.

This 12-year-old boy's intelligence and common sense is a grave threat to the local Imams and Mullahs looking to brainwash him. Good for him. Revolt against mental slavery and oppression from the dark ages...

I know ATS is too ignorant to accept my viewpoint. But I believe this kid is only intelligent enough to parrot what he has already heard and been taught to remember from adults. He has obviously been trained to fathom all this knowledge, which isn;t a bad thing. Actually i wish more children were this concsious of the world at large.

But i dont believe it was him "using his brain" and teaching himself.

reply to post by sparrowstail


One thing you cannot expect to see or hear on US dominated airwaves is a 12 year old Muslim Brotherhood kid expounding on their beliefs as that would be unsuitable for tender American ears. It only goes to show that kids are as easily polarized as their parents, although some parents don't allow their children to be exploited for political expediency. This boy was not born with these beliefs, they were taught to him by adults with those beliefs.

Just something to keep in mind.

Originally posted by combatmaster
I know ATS is too ignorant to accept my viewpoint. But I believe this kid is only intelligent enough to parrot what he has already heard and been taught to remember from adults. He has obviously been trained to fathom all this knowledge, which isn;t a bad thing. Actually i wish more children were this concsious of the world at large.

But i dont believe it was him "using his brain" and teaching himself.

You beat me to it.

Originally posted by combatmaster
I know ATS is too ignorant to accept my viewpoint. But I believe this kid is only intelligent enough to parrot what he has already heard and been taught to remember from adults. He has obviously been trained to fathom all this knowledge, which isn;t a bad thing. Actually i wish more children were this concsious of the world at large.

But i dont believe it was him "using his brain" and teaching himself.

To be honest it's very rare that anything is "self taught" anymore so what you said is correct but for the most part it is 99% correct across the world is it not? But regardless of who he is listening to they are passing the right message to him it seems and that's great to hear. It's what this boy does with the information as he grows that could make him great. Many other children likely get the same information but only a few are able to actually understand it's true meaning.

reply to post by HawkeyeNation

for the most part it is 99% correct across the world is it not?

For the most part it is 99% BELIEVED by certain segments of the world, the US being a big chunk of the believers. Its what they've been taught to believe, just as the young man in the video was taught to believe.

A balanced reporter would have also aired the opposing viewpoint to allow people to make up their own minds instead of having their minds made up for them. That's what's sorely missing in our education system and our news/entertainment media ~ balance.

reply to post by Rocker2013



Yes, you're right, everyone who is actively trying to change others or even the society

reply to post by Daedalus


Maybe this old man has been indoctrinated from early childhood, children have no freedom because parents decide for them.

But still, even if one has been indoctrinated his whole life, this is pure hatred coming from his mouth..

Originally posted by earthling42
reply to post by Daedalus

 

Maybe this old man has been indoctrinated from early childhood, children have no freedom because parents decide for them.

But still, even if one has been indoctrinated his whole life, this is pure hatred coming from his mouth..

and what, exactly, is your point?

i didn't think the fact that what he is pushing is pure ignorant hatred, was in dispute....

my point was that religious indoctrination is a power influence over a weak mind...once you're in, you seldom get out, so you just get more ridiculous over time...

Originally posted by muzzleflash
All human children have this potential and more, much more.

But people don't care that much and they don't believe in them.
People talk down to kids.

This kid told everyone how it works. He cared and thought about things, read up on issues through various sources and listened to people talk and discuss things.

I am appalled we don't all prod our children towards this.

Oh and did you notice where he mentioned government public education was instrumental in his development ? I didn't either. That speaks volumes in itself.

But government public education was instrumental in his development. He was presumably taught to read by a public school.

Could be a shock but government public education is celebrated in most countries as a beacon of the advanced world. For many kids, especially outside of the western world, public education is the only real, widespread, accessible means of learning.

The anti-school movement is primarily an American thing.

Happy to see that there are still young kids who use their brains instead of turning it to mush, by being controlled with video games, and non educative programs such as reality TV. etc... way to go buddy, and this is why eventually kids in America and other nations with to much TV and Video games will be completly left behind. there is still time to change but its shrinking

Inb4 everyone realizes he's talking about ice cream and someone added misleading subtitles.

2nd

Originally posted by GrandStrategy

Originally posted by muzzleflash
All human children have this potential and more, much more.

But people don't care that much and they don't believe in them.
People talk down to kids.

This kid told everyone how it works. He cared and thought about things, read up on issues through various sources and listened to people talk and discuss things.

I am appalled we don't all prod our children towards this.

Oh and did you notice where he mentioned government public education was instrumental in his development ? I didn't either. That speaks volumes in itself.

But government public education was instrumental in his development. He was presumably taught to read by a public school.

Could be a shock but government public education is celebrated in most countries as a beacon of the advanced world. For many kids, especially outside of the western world, public education is the only real, widespread, accessible means of learning.

The anti-school movement is primarily an American thing.

Prior to modern times, most never had access to books much less an institution built on them. What information did exist was guarded jealously often times.

In recent history "nation states" developed "public funded school networks" which is not exemplary of the majority of human history.

Not only that, but if you go look up all of the great thinkers, you will find the majority learned to read and do math by their parents or other family or private tutors.

Nearly all of the great artists, inventors, statesmen, orators, etc through history were home schooled. The wealthy ones could afford various types of 'tutors' that would give personal direct instructions.

The reason the system actually worked so well is because 1 on 1 instruction is the fastest most efficient way to catch a kid up to speed on everything. Having 1 teacher for 30 kids slows and complicates the process unreasonably.

"Public School" as we know it today, is an "industrial age" advent of the sorts, meant to give "industry workers" a place to leave their kids safely to learn while they work. This replaced the older systems where things were much more personable.

Of course there are exceptions but overall that is how history seems to have played out.

And if you compare today's "great minds" with the great minds of the Renaissance and Enlightenment periods, it becomes clear how great the differences really are. Of course there are exceptions but the ratio of great thinkers today per population doesn't quite feel as high as it used to be. I do admit that is a guesstimate.

The interviewer didn't know what a fascist Theocracy was? The reporter was trying to bait the kid into revealing he was coached, I guess "gotcha' journalism" isn't just for American politics.

Good for that kid, not only is he extremely intelligent but he was able to put a condescending adult in her place on live TV!