Kids in Laos and India

We have seen loads of very competent and confident small children in Laos and India. 7 year olds carrying 2 year olds and looking after them with no parents in sight. 5 year olds swimming confidently is a fast flowing river. Many more examples which I will try to note as we continue our journey.

However something happens as kids in these countries grow up.

Many adults live in houses that are in a terrible state of repair. Many repairs cost money, but a lot of maintenance and general tidiness and hygiene is free.

Guest houses have bed bugs, and loose wires hanging out. Shower water stinks of sewage. In the Maldives, we stayed in someone's house where the shower water stank. They said it had been like that for 3 years. It took 2 hours to connect a pipe and fix the problem permanently.

Most people everywhere do about the minimum necessary to get by. Under qualified people in welfare countries take benefits because its enough to get by and easier than working a crappy job.

This could just be my limited experience, but the general condition of the human environment in both countries also supports the following idea.

This is what I have observed in India, Bali, Maldives and India. This is just my observation and could well be due to the selection of people I have met in these countries. Outside Europe, most people I have met are in the hospitality industry. Hotel staff, drivers, restaurant staff. I have also worked with plenty of Indian, Nepalese, Bangladeshi IT workers. I have also worked with IT workers and other freelancers around Europe.

1. Kids have a lot of freedom and are more capable, confident and independent than kids in Europe. They are more self reliant and display more initiative.

2. Adults do the minimum. They do things in inefficient ways. They are inflexible, show little initative and require more direction than adults in Europe.

So my question is, what happens between about 7 years old and adulthood in these countries, and how is that different to what happens in the same age range in Europe.

The state of the countries supports the idea that something negative happens in these years, but it could also be down to governments and general lack of freedom. India has the caste system, Laos is communist and Maldives lacks communications and natural resources. Also all these countries are hot, and it is hard to get stuff done when you have sweat dripping in your eyes.

While thinking about this I found a study comparing IQ by country - full list here http://www.photius.com/rankings/national_iq_scores_country_ranks.html - but the countries relevant to this article are as follows:
UK - 100
Sweden - 99
Maldives - 81

India - 82

Indonesia - 87

Malaysia - 92

Laos - 89

So again, smart kids grow into not so smart adults. But why?

I'm off to Equatorial Guinea to experience Idiocracy first hand.....