Little Minds

Babies are fun to watch. You can almost see the gears of their brains whirring at a mile a minute as they gape at some novel situation parents put them in. But modern psychology has shown us that they are not doing much actual thinking at this point. In fact, until about age two, most of the brains development goes to physical coordination. This means that the cognitive function is limited in scope until age two. This creates some strange cognitive effects. For example, an infant's realm of existance extends only as far as their senses go. In other words, if they can't see, hear, or smell you, you dont exist.

How many of you have ever worried or been anxious about anything? If you didn't raise your hand, you are a lier and can go sit in the corner. Stressing about things has become a central component of modern existance. But if you don't know about anything beyond your immediate surroundings, do you stress? For example, if I told you there was a nuclear halocaust occuring on a planet on the edges of the galaxy, would you be concerned? No, the threat didn't exist for you. So, if a baby's world is only as large as the room its in, does that means that this is the only time in the baby's whole life that will be free from stress. If you are over the age of 8 months, you will never be truly carefree again. Sorry.

But once physical development is achieved, the brain begins to form a shape we would recognize. But again, the process takes time, and until then, the brain continues to pull tricks. The ability to sympathize is gained around age 3. Until then, children assume that everyone else thinks like they do. Everyone is an automaton, except for them. And the minute they realize that other people can think and feel, that's when children begin to tease each other. That's right. As soon as you realize that others can feel pain, you do your darndest to inflict as much pain as possible. If there was ever evidence of humans being fundamentally evil, there it is.

Ahem.