Why do adults laugh when a child says something intelligent?

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I remember getting in trouble with my parents for correcting my teachers. To this day I still cannout understand why it was so wrong to correct her when she was giving faluse information. If I was there to learn as I was told I was I assumed the other kids were too and I didn't think it was right for them to be taught faluse information. I will never understand why it is wrong to correct someone when they are giving others false information.

The responses I read so far are quite interesting. Many posters offered good explanations for the laughter. Still, the ones who said "because it's cute" bothered me a little, as if a child talking about astronomy is somehow "less than" an adult talking about astronomy. Maybe that's why adults around me couldn't stop themselves from laughing when I talked about intellectual stuff. My parents' explanation "it's a laughter of approval" seemed like a poorly planned cop-out at best. I believed that laughter can't possibly mean approval, except for people working as comedians or clowns. If anything, laughing at someone was a way of expressing one's disapproval, or worse, superiority or low opinion.

Interestingly, I was not hurt or offended in the slightest when children my age laughed at me when I talked about intellectual things. Their laughter had a perfectly rational explanation: they never heard that stuff before, so when they hear it for the first time, it sounds absurd to them and makes them laugh as a result. I didn't expect them to know that Saturn's rings weren't solid, so I didn't blame them for laughing when I told them they're made of many pieces of rock and ice. Heck, one kid argued with me that they're made of plastic; don't know if he actually believed it or was just trying to fool me.

Then again, I'd probably find it funny too if my neighbors' 7-year-old son or daughter starting talking to me about the benefits of upgrading my wireless network from 802.11g to 802.11n. But knowing how hurtful laughter can feel to a child, I'd limit myself to simply smiling in response or better yet, adding to the conversation.

I remember people starting "play fights" with me as a kid. Usually other kids would insult and generally do stuff to provoke me and laugh when I tried to defend myself or if I cried. Whenever I told an adult (like you are told to when you are getting picked on). I would get told that they were just playing and not to be so sensitive.

I hear it's considered rude and one aspie here told me why people don't like to be corrected but I can't dig through my old posts to find her post because I don't remember if I said it as LG or SG. I don't even remember what she told me when she was telling me why.

I think it's because people feel stupid when they get corrected because they were wrong and they want to be right. Even none aspies can be black and white and it has to do with pride so they get upset when they get corrected because they can't accept they were wrong and they don't like to be wrong or it means they're stupid.

its because u migth be babbling so it was really hard to get what u were saying so they just thought u being cute

It's because they don't take the child seriously, they have this awful little titter they do. They do it for a child doing anything they believe is the domain of adults, not just intelligence. They do the same for adults with just about any form of developmental disability. And, indeed, for parrots (who, if language is used normally around them, do not, in fact, "just parrot").

I had that issue in high school. My shrink told me kids in my school don't take me seriously. I hope he was wrong.

That's right. Imagine that you tell your friend Let's talk about politics! and you hear a parrot saying I hate Putin, Merkel and Obama! I'm pretty sure that you'd laugh to stomach pain
Adults treat children the same way.

Sometimes, there's resentment. I haven't noticed too many people laughing at articulate kids, unless it's a nervous chuckle, which isn't really laughter. I think that has to do with them not knowing how to respond. I have seen kids in school correcting teachers, and I guess I am lucky because the teachers were understanding about being corrected and immediately validated the child doing the correcting. It depends on the child. If a shy kid corrects every now and then, the teacher is encouraging, but if the teacher knows the child has all the answers, she will say, "yes, ____________ thank you for that" or "let someone besides ____________ answer this", it's like they don't want one kid hogging all the questions. That's happened to me and I've seen it happen to others as well.

If I have laughed, it's because I'm happy to see that a child is thinking with that level of insight. I usually follow up by complementing the child on his/her thought or idea...just so he/she knows I wasn't mocking him/her.

Most old people think lots of things children do are cute, so that was probably the reason.

Think about why people think things are 'cute', though. The "cute" feeling you get when you see an infant or a young animal is an instinctive "protect the young" drive that we all have. I don't think it's so horrible to get that triggered when a little child is saying something intelligent--why wouldn't you want to protect a youngster like that? There's a sort of pleasant surprise about seeing a child do something you wouldn't normally expect he'd be able to do. I think it's the same sort of surprise you get when you figure out a joke, because it causes you to suddenly see a perspective you hadn't seen before.

On the other hand, I know some people mix up the protective feelings with the idea of hierarchy and "I'm the adult; you're the child". And when they laugh, they often seem to think that the child is there for their entertainment. You can often tell the difference, because the sort of person whose "cute" reflex just got activated will interact with the child and try to learn more about them; but the person who's got the idea that the child is inferior to him will just try to get the child to perform more.

Because it's incongruous (surprising) and cute.

Adults don't expect kids to notice anything or say anything relevant. Sad, but true.

It isn't, but they sound more concerned about the teacher's embarrassment than about accuracy.

Even with the explanation, the "cute" thing still bothers me. Thinking that something a child does is "cute" essentially means that it's somehow "less than" or "not for real". So, when I was talking about how Neptune has 1500-mph winds (in a conversation with my older sister on a city bus), an elderly couple who overheard me burst into uproarious laughter. How's that "wanting to protect a smart child" if you're just laughing at him? All it did it is make me stop talking about astronomy in public when people were around. Heck, if a 7-year-old child told me about the benefits of 802.11n over 802.11g, I wouldn't think it's "cute". I'd either ask the child more questions to see how he learned it, or compliment him and leave it at that. Come to think of it, the 20-somethings I dealt with probably felt the same way, and therefore didn't laugh. (They probably had a "oh wow, he knows that stuff" reaction or didn't care, either of which was fine with me.)

i don't have an answer to your question, but i agree it's patronizing.

i also don't like when adults "deliberately lose" when playing games with kids. another patronizing (and dishonest) act. but i've met children who don't seem to mind (or notice) this. they would rather win than play honestly. i hated it when i was a child.