If circumstances were reversed

[TLW]

I think I recall that Sheldon has stated at least once he wished he had been raised by Beverly's method of raising children.  Do you think his life would have been better or not? Or would things have turned out badly for him?

In that same vein, what if Leonard had been raised in a relatively normal household with a loving mother like Mary?

[HeWolf]

18 hours ago, TLW said:

I think I recall that Sheldon has stated at least once he wished he had been raised by Beverly's method of raising children.  Do you think his life would have been better or not? Or would things have turned out badly for him?

In that same vein, what if Leonard had been raised in a relatively normal household with a loving mother like Mary?

I am skeptical that Sheldon would have found it all that pleasant being raised by Beverly. The atmosphere of the home may have been more in tune with his academic mind, but it would not have been loving. Beverly appreciates certain aspects of Sheldon's personality and admires his intellect. She has not had to deal with his idiosyncracies and quirks and doesn't strike me as one who would accomodate them. George and Mary certainly struggled with Sheldon's uniqueness but they were patient with him. The Hofstadter home might have suited him intellectually but there is no guarantee he would not have come out childhood just as damaged as Leonard.

In Leonard's case I think he would have benefited greatly from growing up in the Cooper home. 

[SRAM]

19 hours ago, TLW said:

I think I recall that Sheldon has stated at least once he wished he had been raised by Beverly's method of raising children.  Do you think his life would have been better or not? Or would things have turned out badly for him?

In that same vein, what if Leonard had been raised in a relatively normal household with a loving mother like Mary?

I think Sheldon would have been even less successful with dealing with people than he was in the show if Beverly raised him.  Mary and his family forced him to deal with the normal world and to grow up with some parts of a normal childhood which forced him to interact with people and the world around him.  Beverly would have raised him in a sterile academic world, not carrying very much about the mundane things like interpersonal relationships or family which would have increased his problems dealing with the world around him.  I seriously doubt that Sheldon would have been able to function in the real work after Beverly was done with him and he would have probably needed a guardian or controlling figure to even survive his adult years.

[TLW]

2 hours ago, SRAM said:

I think Sheldon would have been even less successful with dealing with people than he was in the show if Beverly raised him.  Mary and his family forced him to deal with the normal world and to grow up with some parts of a normal childhood which forced him to interact with people and the world around him.  Beverly would have raised him in a sterile academic world, not carrying very much about the mundane things like interpersonal relationships or family which would have increased his problems dealing with the world around him.  I seriously doubt that Sheldon would have been able to function in the real work after Beverly was done with him and he would have probably needed a guardian or controlling figure to even survive his adult years.

Well at least one time I can think of when if he hadn't had Leonard with him he might have gotten in trouble. That time he went to either the library or bookstore looking for a book on how to make friends. He struck up a conversation with a little girl. And the guy at the desk was getting suspicious. So Leonard told him they should leave. It was the episode where he was trying to figure out how to make friends with Kripke so he could get some time on a certain computer. 

So even with being raised by Mary, he had difficulties with social interactions. As you said it could have been much, much worse if Beverly had raised him.

[TLW]

So I saw a question similar to this on Reddit. And most of the answers there seem to think that if Leonard was raised by Mary he would not have reached his full potential. So any thoughts. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/bigbangtheory/comments/1191lvn/how_would_leonard_and_sheldon_have_turned_out_if/

 

[chucky]

36 minutes ago, TLW said:

So I saw a question similar to this on Reddit. And most of the answers there seem to think that if Leonard was raised by Mary he would not have reached his full potential. So any thoughts. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/bigbangtheory/comments/1191lvn/how_would_leonard_and_sheldon_have_turned_out_if/

 

I think he would have reached his full potential. Beverly didn't give him but a push in the right direction. A loving mother could do that just as well. 

[HeWolf]

1 hour ago, TLW said:

So I saw a question similar to this on Reddit. And most of the answers there seem to think that if Leonard was raised by Mary he would not have reached his full potential. So any thoughts. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/bigbangtheory/comments/1191lvn/how_would_leonard_and_sheldon_have_turned_out_if/

 

I see no reason to think Leonard would not have achieved intellectually and academically if he had been George and Mary's child. He is brilliant in his own right and does not have all of Sheldon's quirky issues. The Coopers managed to raise and guide Sheldon despite of the difficulties it presented. Leonard would have been a breeze for them in comparison. Almost as smart but not nearly as difficult.

Edited February 23 by HeWolf

[TLW]

23 minutes ago, HeWolf said:

I see no reason to think Leonard would not have achieved intellectually and academically if he had been George and Mary's child. He is brilliant in his own right and does not have all of Sheldon's quirky issues. The Coopers managed to raise and guide Sheldon despite of the difficulties it presented. Leonard would have been a breeze for them in comparison. Almost as smart but not nearly as difficult.

That's what I think also. 

[Mario D.]

1 hour ago, TLW said:

So I saw a question similar to this on Reddit. And most of the answers there seem to think that if Leonard was raised by Mary he would not have reached his full potential. So any thoughts. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/bigbangtheory/comments/1191lvn/how_would_leonard_and_sheldon_have_turned_out_if/

 

I think Leonard would have reached his potential even if raised by Mary Cooper. He would not have all the baggage of insecurity and low esteem of himself that he had to endure. As for Sheldon being raised by Beverly, I don't believe he would have turned out differently maybe even more robotic without feelings or friends. I recall an episode when both mothers met and sort of dissed on each other. Subsequently, Sheldon and Beverly went for coffee and Beverly asked him if he would have thrived in that academic atmosphere of the Hofstadter family. He replied possibly, "but his mom made him spaghetti with little hot dogs cut up in it" so he really didn't care. I believe Sheldon was coddled too much because of his intellect and it stunted his growth from childhood to adulthood.

[TLW]

Some of the people that answered in that thread from Reddit seemed to think that Leonard was born with his emotional problems (being clingy, low self esteem, low self confidence) and that Mary would have enabled these issues. But it's the way Beverly raised him that caused these things. IMO.

[chucky]

4 hours ago, TLW said:

Some of the people that answered in that thread from Reddit seemed to think that Leonard was born with his emotional problems (being clingy, low self esteem, low self confidence) and that Mary would have enabled these issues. But it's the way Beverly raised him that caused these things. IMO.

The only thing Leonard was born with was the medical issues. The low self confidence, low self esteem and insecurity was all due to Beverly. Just my opinion.