I sometimes wonder: what do you think Jaden Smith would be doing if he actually had gone to school and been allowed to be a normal kid for much of his adolescence? It’s not that Jaden comes across as a BAD kid. Not at all. He seems polite, well-mannered and kind of like one of those head-in-the-clouds kids who just can’t concentrate. But whenever I read any kind of interview with him, I wince. He has some kind of intelligence there, and I wonder what would have happened if he was educated in a traditional way. All of which to say, Jaden sat down with HuffPo to talk about his thoughts behind some of his most famously bizarre tweets. You can read HuffPo’s full piece here. Some highlights:
Tweet: “How can mirrors be real if our eyes aren’t real.”
Jaden: “This one comes from a study that a scientist was saying, that the way that the eyes perceive reality is not the way we actually see it,” he said. “So, like, we can only see three base colors, but there’s so much more on the electromagnetic spectrum of light that we could see, but our eyes are just not capable of seeing, which brought me to the realization that what we see on an everyday basis is not actually what’s there. It’s actually only what we can take in. And I also took in another study, that … our eyes are kind of like mirrors in a sense to where they perceive things and then they flip. We take in the information upside down and then the brain flips it right side up so that we can see it right side up … and I was like, if we take in the raw visual information upside down and mirrors portray things in reverse, then they’re not real. We’re living in the Matrix.”Tweet: “I am not a human and I don’t speak English.”
Jaden: “That’s true! That’s true!” he said. “Because I’m not gonna be categorized as a human. Oh, humans are supposed to do this or act like this or people are supposed to act like this or people are supposed to be this. I’m my own thing. Don’t judge me off some standards that were made up before I was born. I’m doing my own thing.”Tweet: “The biggest flex anyone will ever have is dying.”
Jaden: “Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was a sad one,” he said. “But it’s true. Because when someone leaves, that’s when everybody starts to care about them.”Tweet: “If a cup cake falls from a tree how far away will it be from down. #Jupiter”
Jaden: “That one? I really don’t know where my head was at with that one,” he said, laughing. “Yeah, I love that one. That was like an abstract painting in the form of words. The visuals that get created in your mind when you say that sentence, I created those visuals in your mind.”
It’s like he’s high on marijuana and he’s just saying random stoner sh-t, only I don’t think he even gets high. As for this: “I’m not gonna be categorized as a human. Oh, humans are supposed to do this or act like this or people are supposed to act like this or people are supposed to be this. I’m my own thing. Don’t judge me off some standards that were made up before I was born.” LMAO. I’m still cracking up about that, truly. I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU CALLED ME HUMAN. DON’T PUT YOUR LABELS ON ME. I was not even born when the “human” standard was made up out of thin air!
Anyway… I just wish he had some kind of educational framework. I know that’s very bourgeois of me, but you got me. I’m a teacher’s daughter. I hate to see a bright kid who thinks he’s too smart for school. And I hate that his parents just shrugged about educating their children too.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Well think of it this way…the Kardashian sisters went to private school…
I think Jaden is very smart…he’s a good kid…and talented. I’d rather have 10000 Jadens, than one Kardashian or Jenner.
There’s not much of a difference between them. I think the kardashians are more fame hungry, but that’s about it. He’s even friends with the Kardashian/Jenners. I think they’re equally annoying and ridiculous. This is what happens when children are born into unlimited wealth and freedom.
I respect your opinion, but I see major differences.
in both families it seems there were not any expectations from them about schools, younger people either rich or poor, do not care about education usually because their parents do not care about education whatsoever.
This young man is such a cliche, in the way he does not want to be one, he’s an adult already, but he speaks like a young teen. he might live off his very rich parents forever or he might find a non human high paying gig in this millennial era, who knows?
If he did not have money, he’d be working his non-human butt wherever he could.
Not a Kardashian fan, but what the Kardashian’s are has nothing to do with education. The Kardashians manage to do some creative and smart business and marketing ideas. However, as people they are just very shallow. Whatever you say about Jaden, even in his pseudo maybe pot induced tweets, he’s not shallow. Jaden seems really smart and with an education could have productively contributed to society, something more than just being a non-human celebrity. This is Jada and Will’s issue though. Will was really smart too, and yes left academia for a music career, but I can’t believe he didn’t see and think maybe his kids could do something else. To all these parents who allowed and probably pushed their kids into their career at least let them be older before you push it and give them the opportunity to learn other things. Maybe he would have found another path, but you don’t know when you let them make their decision before they are teens.
The Kardashian sisters cheated in their private school, a fact that their mother thought made a very amusing story to tell on tv (instead of taking the shameful secret to her grave, as my mom would have).
Who knows how Kim got through, but Khloe dropped out at about 15 and didn’t bother to tell her parents. She looked for the easiest online course she could take to satisfy the law until she was 16 and presented the plan to Demon Mother when eventually the private school got around to contacting the parents. And of course Kendall and Kylie Jenner ended up doing the same with Demon Mother’s encouragement, when they told her that all the modeling work they were doing kept them out of school so much they were impossibly behind. Never once entered Demon Mother’s mind to cut back on modeling so it didn’t Interfere with school.
Don’t forget about Bruce. He went along with what Demon Mother wanted. He is just as guilty for failing to parent Kendall and Kylie.
I think he thinks he’s very smart and desperate to show people how brilliant he is but nothing he’s said here indicates above average intelligence or comprehension of the scientific articles he’s read and is sure he understands
Right?? Visual information from the eyes is flipped in the vertical plane, whereas mirrors flip images in the horizontal plane. You don’t even need to “take in a study” to understand this stuff. Just read a basic elementary level biology textbook.
he’s the insular, uninformed rich kid’s version of an intellectual. aka…not an intellectual.
marijuana is a fun drug eh?
“ I wonder what would have happened if he was educated in a traditional way”
Hell, forget traditional, even a decent homeschooling education from a sane and empowered private tutor would have helped.
Yes you will be categorized, you absolutely will be categorized. That’s what the world does. And people judge. That’s what they do. The trick is to learn to navigate that. The vast majority of the world doesn’t care about “your thing”. He’s 20. This isn’t going to be cute for much longer.
It’s not his education. It’s the lack of parenting which has been documented. He’s been raised in a free range style in California with other kids that are too rich for their own good. When you’re taught to make up your own beliefs, this is what happens.
A lot of kids want the ultra rich lifestyles they see in the media and have no interest in education because they see it as the pathway to mediocrity.
He’s still young, maybe he can get some formal education once he gets some of his art out of his system. He performed at Lollapalooza in Chicago yesterday to surprisingly positive reviews.
You’re too kind. This is scientology babble to make them feel special but not too clever so they keep giving the money.
But compared to the other celeb offspring, the Pinkett-Smith kids are at least curious and semi-literate.
We don’t see the world as it is.
Words and concepts were here before us.
Duh.
Human is our species, so, it’s kind of hard to be categorized as something else, since we are all Homo sapiens on the biology scale. Probably he just never heard of Darwin or science.
I am not sure he goes beyond quote books and trivial pursuit questions🧐?
HAHA Slowsnow “trivial pursuit questions” is about the best description of him i’ve ever heard.
Given the way so many humans are acting these days I’m starting to think he’s got a point about rejecting that label!
This is special little snowflake syndrome taken to the extreme. Yesterday on the CZ Jones and daughter thread, all I could think about was how the Smith kids have been ‘nepotized’ since birth. Will often spoke of wanting to start a family dynasty. He’s been pimping them on the red carpet since birth and started putting them in his films as soon as they could talk. I will never forget Jaden’s sullen, petulant appearance as a presenter on the Oscars. Why was he so angry?
The point is, I don’t like Will Smith (homophobe) and his son at least (avoided the daughter) seems like a real jerk and certainly not as intelligent as he thinks he is.
Sorry, Jaden. You’re a human.
Both he and his sister show that they are intellectually curious and that should be encouraged through further education – i think they would thrive in it as it can be very creative. Am not a fan of Jaden, i find him quite whiney, arrogant and entitled – I much prefer Willow. She comes across as quite grounded and mature.
If a person his age wasn’t the kid of rich and famous parents, this wackiness would be considered extremely bizarre and something to worry about. “I am not a human and I don’t speak English “? Wtf?! You are what you are, Jaden, and you’re a human being speaking and tweeting in the English language
Maybe he doesn’t know any other language? So maybe his idea is that English is normal rather than just another language.
I hate to pick on him considering he’s still very young, but every time he opens his mouth, my eyes roll back so far in my head that I can see my own brain.
I can’t with this kid. I feel like he’s trying to come across as smarter and more spiritual than others, when he just sounds like a huge moron. Where will he be in 15 years?? I’m getting a Corey Feldman type vibe. Ha.
Jaden seems pretty ENTITLED even for a Hollywood rich kid.
Why am I surprised, Jada is EXTRA herself.
I miss the Will Smith before he got together with Jada, he seemed very talented, good looking and down to earth kind of guy, he is not quite the same today.
It’s sad to see how many people don’t get higher education when they really could, it’s not just being in class and having your nose in the book, it’s also about meeting people from different walks of life, living away from your parents and things that are familiar to you.
It’s about opening your horizons for Jaden and others, getting out of the bubble of Hollywood and the entertainment industry.
Education is also about having other people challenge your ideas and how you express them. My guess is that Jaden talks like that in front of his equally undereducated bubble friends, and they are awestruck. They don’t know that you can say words in sentence-like structures but that doesn’t guarantee the words are meaningful.
He picks up a few facts here and there but seems doomed to always be a flighty dabbler. It’s too bad, because he shows some interest in the world. He just needs some real education to be even a happy amateur.
I still remember when he said something about Kylie Jenner that was so insightful and kind – she had gone all plastic surgery, and he was sad about it because she was already beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him or his sister say an unkind word about anybody. That’s quite an accomplishment today. So their parents managed to do something right by them.
I would worry about his dying remark, though. He may not be as happy go lucky as he seems. Does he think people don’t really care about him?
Both kids seem very thoughtful. I’d encourage them both to take time off from their lives and pursue a university education. I think it would do tremendous things for them as people and bring them back to reality.
They would need remedial work first, but quite a few colleges do have facilities and courses to help educationally-deprived students get up to speed for the regular curriculum. Some high schools aren’t very good and their graduates are just not prepared for serious college work. I had students in college classes who could barely read or who did not understand that 1/5 of a pie plus 1/2 of a pie just can’t possibly add up to 1/7 of a pie.
But the Smith progeny don’t have to graduate in four years, they have the money to do it at whatever pace they need.
I get second hand embarrassment for him every time he opens his mouth.
Entitled spoiled rich brat no one would write about if he weren’t the child of famous parents who pimp. I just can’t anymore with these kids. Now we have plain looking Carys Douglas as the next lucky rich kid to be handed a career.
I honestly just can’t anymore. My kid works three jobs (one is full time for the benefits) to put herself through grad school and these kids just waltz through life on a magic carpet with a never-ending ATM machine at their fingertips.
Preach.
This whole family is extra, but everytime a celebrity dies and I see the outpouring of grief I wonder, were they actually celebrated in life? Did they know what they meant to people? We do celebrate more after death it seems…
Nepotism at its worst.
Don’t you mean that we all wonder what Jaden would be like if he hadn’t been raised in the Scientology cult? Scientology is child abuse.
Agreed. The cult is absolute child abuse. I pity second generation members. And Jaden’s parents can’t even admit how deep they and the kids are in the cult. Why trying to hide it, if everything is great with the CoS?
He’s just making an attempt to sound intelligent…don’t confuse his argument of “abstract thinking” with true intelligence. It’s insulting to all artists and great minds out there. In my opinion, he’s dumb, he sounds dumb and most of the time he looks dumb…tries to be avant garde, not happening. He very well might be a decent person (Human??), but when it comes down to it, if he had to wait in line for something like the rest of us peasants, he’d probably act like a petulant brat.
He doesn’t look very happy. He should have gone to college and majored in philosophy, cuz he is the child of millionaires so he can afford a vanity major–and he’d have met lots of people just like him with whom he could argue ad nauseam about whether or not things are “real” and if “down” is a legitimate concept and what it means to be “human” or not.
At least he is not out there harming anyone.
It really bugs me when adults who benefited from, and had access to, good education can’t be bothered to seek out the same for their children. Will’s mother was a school board administrator, he attended private elementary school, a public high school of semi-famous alums, and got a scholarship to MIT. It seems like Jaden would have benefited from some structure and critical thinking skills.
He may have some difficulties in the “learning disabilities” category, which could be dealt with today if diagnosed properly. His parents very definitely took the Scientology approach to education, which was especially deadly for Jaden. Structure in the traditional sense doesn’t have to be crushing for creativity, on the contrary it can be very liberating. Especially if your parents are so rich they can send you to schools with good teachers and small classes.
I will always, always come down on the side of a formal education. That doesn’t necessarily mean traditional school, it can be homeschooling, or private tutors, whatever. But I think it’s beneficial to be taught by educated people who can bring out the best in students and challenge them, not merely indulge them.
I agree. My son’s high-school literature teacher has very high standards and as a result the work he has produced in her class has been amazing.
Every time I read about him he makes me cringe, if that’s the right word. And his explanations makes me think of one of my student. I thought him brillant but too much and somehow weird. And one day he went of his med and I realized he had mental illness.
He’s cute
Give me a break with his nonsense. It’s easy to do your own thing when you’re independently wealthy. The edibles are strong in California.
There’s nothing random or “stoner shit” about what he said regarding the electric magnetic spectrum or how your brain flips things right side up. Scientifically speaking he’s spot on. His conclusion about living in the Matrix is suspect, but he’s obviously a bright kid. He just needs some structure in his education.
If people want to criticize what he’s saying, pick a point of his and rationally argue for or against, don’t just attack him and call him dumb.
I agree. Nothing he said about how the eyes perceive light is stoner speak. He mentioned the study and actually, those concepts are well supported and documented theories. I actually get what he was trying to say about being human. I believe he wanted to talk more about the metaphysical limits of the human form and proclaim that he is trying to move as a spiritual being but that is a difficult type of conversation to have because it requires several levels of understanding. So the short form of his thoughts come across as hippy-dippy stoner speak. I’m an educator, I’m currently working on my Ph.D. and I can, from personal experience, say that traditional education, especially for African American children, can be a hindrance. If I had the resources I would most definitely choose a non-traditional route for my child but I can’t so it is what it is.
Don’t you think that, without the context of an overall education, it’s just cherrypicked articles from here and there? Schools exist for a reason, no? For example, I for one can read all the articles I want but nothing integrates my worldview like flipping through a whole newspaper every week. There’s no substitute. Otherwise, it’s just infinite scrolling without any conclusion or point. You have to develop critical thinking and the ability to integrate what you learn, or you end up spouting nonsense like this kid.
It’s sad that Jaden didn’t have more structure as far as education goes because I think he’s a really bright and talented kid who seriously needs to be grounded in reality. His pseudo-profound quotes are entertaining but just so much bullsh*t.
Does anyone else have their mental health radar go off when he talks like this? My ex was bipolar and this sounds EXACTLY like the kind of crap he’d go on and on about.
yeah. the self aggrandizement is real with this one. is he secretly kanye’s kid?
he’s just soooo post post modern you guys. you just don’t vibrate at his frequency or whatever.