Willow and Jaden Smith, the progeny of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, recently sat down with the New York Times‘ T magazine to talk about their new albums. Mostly, though, they spouted the kind of over-the-top philosophical wisdom that’s recently made Jaden’s Twitter account an endless source of Internet amusement. But, not one to let her brother do all the navel-gazing, Willow — she of “Whip My Hair” fame — also got a little metaphysical. Below are the highlights — read the full interview here.
They make formidable book club members: When asked what they’ve been reading lately, Willow says “quantum physics,” while Jaden says “ancient texts [that] can’t be pre-dated.” Maybe pass on inviting them to your Jonathan Franzen discussion group, then.
Willow is a magical being who can control time even though time is not actually real to her: “I mean, time for me, I can make it go slow or fast, however I please,” she says. “That’s how I know it doesn’t exist.”
Jaden really likes Apple products and also maybe should be kept away from electrical outlets: “Something that’s worth buying to me is like Final Cut Pro or Logic … Anything that you can shock somebody with. The only way to change something is to shock it. If you want your muscles to grow, you have to shock them. If you want society to change, you have to shock them.”
Willow is allegedly 14 in human years but already mourns her infancy: “When they’re in the stomach, [babies are] so aware, putting all their bones together, putting all their ligaments together. But they’re shocked by this harsh world … As they grow up, they start losing.”
Jaden, 16, is very concerned with the state of drivers’ ed: “Think about how many car accidents happen every day,” he says. “Driver’s ed? What’s up? I still haven’t been to driver’s ed because if everybody I know has been in an accident, I can’t see how driver’s ed is really helping them out.”
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Write to Nolan Feeney at nolan.feeney@time.com