According to Osho, intelligence is inborn in all life; children are naturally intelligent, even more so before society layers them with ego. Education and ambition harden a defensive ego that suffocates intelligence’s delicate, open, rebellious quality. When allowed openness, play, and vulnerability, a child’s intrinsic awareness flowers; when forced into competitiveness and conformity, that living intelligence stagnates.
Yes—kids are born smart like all living things, but adults often cover their light with a hard shell called ego by pushing ambition and conformity.