The mental processes of children is not ‘miniature adult’ thinking. If (if) we adults are accurately interpreting the mental processes of children, here are two of the differences:
They do not appear to be capable of understanding / learning / remembering that objects outside of their vision continue to exist. That’s why peek-a-boo is so magical in infants.
They do not appear to be capable of understanding / learning / remembering that objects that change size can keep the same mass. If you have two balls of clay that are roughly spherical and the same size, children age 7-12 will say they are ‘the same.’ If you manipulate one sphere into a different shape, they will say one of the pieces of clay has more clay in it now.
As alien as these are to adult thinking, these little aliens turn into adults. And we only sort-of remember those earlier ways of thinking.
If within our own lifetime we undergo such alien thought changes, alien thoughts in actual aliens will be alien indeed.
And then there’s the mentally ill, those with brain damage, people on drugs, and don’t forget that most strange of all mental states, plain old sleep and dreaming.
If within our own lifetime we undergo such alien thought changes, alien thoughts in actual aliens will be alien indeed.
Indeed. However, I am beginning to think that by emphasizing the magnitude of the alienness of alien thought, we are intending to avoid complacency but we are also creating another kind of “woo.”
The mental processes of children is not ‘miniature adult’ thinking. If (if) we adults are accurately interpreting the mental processes of children, here are two of the differences:
They do not appear to be capable of understanding / learning / remembering that objects outside of their vision continue to exist. That’s why peek-a-boo is so magical in infants.
They do not appear to be capable of understanding / learning / remembering that objects that change size can keep the same mass. If you have two balls of clay that are roughly spherical and the same size, children age 7-12 will say they are ‘the same.’ If you manipulate one sphere into a different shape, they will say one of the pieces of clay has more clay in it now.
As alien as these are to adult thinking, these little aliens turn into adults. And we only sort-of remember those earlier ways of thinking.
If within our own lifetime we undergo such alien thought changes, alien thoughts in actual aliens will be alien indeed.
And then there’s the mentally ill, those with brain damage, people on drugs, and don’t forget that most strange of all mental states, plain old sleep and dreaming.
Indeed. However, I am beginning to think that by emphasizing the magnitude of the alienness of alien thought, we are intending to avoid complacency but we are also creating another kind of “woo.”