In my world, I have a species that is born essentially as adults with fully developed instincts and motor skills. However, when these creatures emerge, there is still a learning period for things that are not basic instincts, such as language, food acquisition, empathy, and other skills. Assuming for an otherwise fully adult brain and that these creatures live roughly the same amount of time as humans do, how long would it take for these creatures to be indistinguishable from a 25-year old human?
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$\begingroup$ How long do these creatures lives? Short-lived animals tend to learn things faster, so it can be quite decisive in the final call. Also, note that to have an intelligence truly indistinguishable from an human, you might consider their anatomy and social structure, because animals have different perceptions of their world, so they develop different intelligences :). $\endgroup$– Tortliena - inactiveCommented May 30, 2021 at 10:28
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$\begingroup$ @tortliena These creatures have roughly the same lifespan of a human being, maybe trending a bit older on average excluding disease $\endgroup$– spinningCirclesCommented May 30, 2021 at 10:40
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1$\begingroup$ Thanks, can you add this element in your question? As seen in the help center, comments are more used as side-notes or temporary stuff, and people might miss this useful intel ;). $\endgroup$– Tortliena - inactiveCommented May 30, 2021 at 12:00
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$\begingroup$ In real life, those creatures are called birds. $\endgroup$– AlexPCommented May 30, 2021 at 12:52
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$\begingroup$ Are your creatures basically humans with a different method of reproduction? $\endgroup$– OtkinCommented May 30, 2021 at 19:52
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Biggest problem is brain size and development. If this individual has a adult human brain size then that means a adult size head. This is going to make birth very difficult assuming the mother has the same biology as a human woman .
For the body. Ignoring that it really depends on how fast he or she goes through puberty. I was mistaken for some one in his twenties when I was 17, 18 so mid to late teens early twenties at most.
For the mind.
Again this depends on how fast they learn. Human babies mind learning much fast then adults. If they manage to keep the same speed but have the adult level of intelligence then maybe a year maybe 2. A child can be pretty functional with only 2 or 3 years I would expect that adult level intelligence with the same speed and flexibility of child would only speed things up.
answered May 30, 2021 at 13:38
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$\begingroup$ As a remark, brain size is not directly correlated with intelligence., otherwise Craniometry would still be a field. Human males have on average a large brain than females but that does not make them smarter. Females on the other hand have more dense neurons, but that is also not the sole factor for intelligence. I would read "fully adult brain" in the question as the capability to do the same stuff as a 25 year old instead of as a size metric. $\endgroup$ Commented May 30, 2021 at 14:06
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1$\begingroup$ Not all learning can be sped up. Some things need to be experienced in order to be learnt. Mental adulthood is not just about knowledge (i.e. acquisition of information and its assimilation) but also about wisdom (i.e. accumulated experiences). $\endgroup$– OtkinCommented May 30, 2021 at 19:49