Originally Posted by
Photolysis
I'll readily admit I'm struggling to explain exactly how I feel about this in words.
With animals, I'm also making the assumption they are of 'mating age', and are as 'mature' as they're going to get, intelligence-wise. The decision is being made with as much thought as they are able to put in, or close enough. They are able to make the decision to the best of their abilities.
With a child, they are clearly not old enough, and no way near mature enough (out of their potential intelligence/maturity/whatever). In most places this value is somewhat arbitrary, but we'll stick with it. In most cases they will be nowhere near being best able to make the decision.
With intelligence, it depends on how you define it and what criteria. But I don't think that's the problem