Are Elves Dumb?

Quote from heydanseegil >>

All the long lived species take years to become adults and it left me pondering about the intelligence of such species. Why does it take an elf 120 years so accomplish what a human will in 18? I don't know but all of a sudden I have this picture of 14 year old elves still trying to learn their ABCs.

 If we look at it from a skill perspective, an Elf who takes 50 years to master an instrument isn't 'dumb'—they're likely learning the physics of sound, crafting their own instrument, and mastering 10 different styles! If Elves learned at human speed for 500 years, every Elf NPC would be a level 20 archmage. How do you balance this narrative longevity with gameplay balance in your homebrew worlds?

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